Hello Council 1-2022 Screenshot © INTERKULTUR China

“Hello Council”: Chinese Tiger Spring Festival Edition

Pedagogical Strategy for Chinese University Choirs

World Choir Council

"Hello Council" is a series of Live Talks and Pedagogical Online Workshops organized by INTERKULTUR China with the support of INTERKULTUR and the World Choir Council. The 9th "Hello Council" edition went live on January 14, with guest speakers Mr Ren Baoping, Vice President of the China Chorus Association, and three young Chinese conductors. Named “Chinese Tiger Spring Festival Edition”, this live event focuses on the topic of a "Pedagogical Strategy for University Choirs". Nearly 200 Chinese viewers participated in the live broadcast, and more than 10,000 people watched the recording.

"There are nearly 3,000 colleges and universities in China. With the increasing popularity of aesthetic education in recent years, more and more excellent university choirs in China emerge," Li Qixuan, the Project Manager, said. "I participated in the World Choir Games as a member of the Student Choir of Nankai University, and the choir members were all non music majors. How should a conductor choose pedagogical strategies for us?"

Under the chairmanship of Ms. Iris Huting, Project Director, Mr. Ren Baoping shared his concepts and experience in teaching university choirs. "The success of a university choir is inseparable from three elements - conductor, works and choral sound. Conductors should pay particular attention to the creation of a choral sound, not blindly follow a trend when selecting a repertoire, and pursue the unique characteristics of the choir", Mr. Ren Baoping pointed out.

In the OX statements discussion, Wu Muxiao, a young teacher at Jiangsu Normal University, introduced the problems faced by Chinese university choirs under COVID-19 and initiated discussions on how to further develop online chorus training. Mr. Ma Yong, a young teacher of Guizhou Normal University, explained: "We can hold online classes with the help of Apps such as GarageBand, which can also play a role in cultivating students' polyphonic listening to a certain extent, but this is incomparable with the effect of an offline rehearsal." Ms. Gao Muzi, a young teacher of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, mentioned: "We can teach choral history and Solfeggio training, and share chorus works by MP3s and online videos to enhance the aesthetic level, which are rather more suitable to be carried out by using online teaching."

In addition, the guests also had an interactive discussion on how to motivate students to participate in choral activities, how to use chorus formation to improve choral sound, how to conduct sight-singing and ear training for non-music majors and practical suggestions for the development of choral teaching in colleges and universities.

At the end of this live broadcast, Artistic Director Mr. Fred Sjöberg also sent his best wishes for the New Year, looking forward to presenting more relevant topics with practical value to the audience in this year's "Hello Council" series of live events.

Happy New Year 2022!

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