“Hello Council”: Rational Analysis and Perceptual Understanding

"Hello Council" is the series of live talks and pedagogical online workshops organized by INTERKULTUR China with support of INTERKULTUR and the World Choir Council. The 15th "Hello Council" was broadcasted live on December 15, including guest speakers Mr. Diao Zhijun and Ms. Xu Liangliang, both famous Chinese conductors whose choirs won a Champions title at the World Choir Games event. This live talk focused on the topic of "Preparing for the World Choir Games". More than 3000 Chinese viewers watched the live broadcast, and more than 10,000 people watched the review video.

In order to address the challenges of the World Choir Games 2024 and thus guide the participating choirs, the guests shared and discussed the event’s main challenges and issues, such as selecting categories and songs and improving the quality of rehearsals.

While explaining the rules of the World Choir Games 2024 for the audience, Mr. Diao Zhijun emphasized the importance of repertoire choice: "When selecting songs, you should follow the evaluation standards of the 'Musica Mundi' or World Choir Games Evaluation System. You need to determine what you are good at, focus on showcasing the comprehensive strength of the choir from different perspectives and balance technical and artistic aspects."

"Regardless of which piece you choose, in the end you have to return to the level of human nature, and I suggest that the first song should always be chosen as a 'most confident performance', i.e., something you are really good at, so that the choristers' enthusiasm can be expressed in the first place; the judges and the audience need to be treated to a 'change of atmosphere' in the course of the performance and the repertoire arrangement should have at least one song to assume the role of 'breathing and relaxation”, Ms.Xu Liangliang added with regards to a perceptional approach.

Regarding the preparation for rehearsals, both guests emphasized the importance of providing accurate instructions to singers and contributing to a common understanding during the first period of rehearsals. They also put forward their own suggestions for a phased rehearsal mode based on their own choir’s experience of winning the Champions titles.

The live broadcast especially invited the Chinese choir ensemble RUSingers, a group that will join in the 13th World Choir Games, to participate in the interactive part. Taking the actual scenario of their preparation as an example, they further discussed with the guests on the two aspects of selecting and arranging songs and rehearsal enhancement, which provided new ideas for the subsequent preparation for the competition.

At the end of the last episode of “Hello Council” in 2023, Ms. Li Qixuan, the project manager, expressed the sincerest gratitude to the fans: "Next year's “Hello Council” ill be even more tailored to the needs of the audience, focusing on more practical topics such as interpreting the competition rules, and furthermore increasing fans' participation and interaction. We wish you all a Happy New Year!"