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The Student Choir of Nankai University performs in Farewell to My Concubine, which won the gold medal at the 8th World Choir Games held in Latvia in July. Wang Zhifang / Provided for China Daily
Zhou Yujie realized there was more to college than just focusing on her majors - and as a result discovered a challenging yet satisfying world of hard work and travel with an award-winning choir.
The 19-year-old student at Nankai University in Tianjin took to the stage and performed in an opera that won international prizes.
"It is a great honor to dress in classical opera costume and present traditional Chinese culture on the world stage," said Zhou, a member of the Nankai University choir.
Zhou starred in the lead role as Lady Yu in a production of Farewell My Concubine, which was adapted from traditional Beijing Opera.
The play won a gold medal at the eighth World Choir Games in Latvia in July.
The choral staging combined traditional Chinese culture and history with modern performance techniques.
The choir won three gold medals in Latvia - for mixed choral, folksongs and religious songs.
Meng Chaomei, who conducts the choir and is a professor at the university's school of literature, said this was the second time the Chinese flag had been raised at the World Choir Games by the university following its success at the 2002 World Choir Games in Busan, South Korea.
The students devote a great deal of time to rehearsals and work with professional Beijing Opera actors to learn basic skills such as acting, singing, speaking and acrobatics. They are versed in the history of Farewell My Concubine and its social context.
"We created a new performance mode that combined traditional Beijing Opera and modern choral skills," said Meng.
"I feel proud of my students. We are the champions."
Zhou was delighted that all the hard work paid off.
"One minute on stage is one year of rehearsals," she said. "But all the sweat and tears were worth it."
This year's World Choir Games attracted 460 choirs from 73 countries and 27,000 singers took part. The folk choral competition was contested by 21 choirs in the later stages and Nankai University Choir won with a score of 96.
The choir was founded in 1995 and has almost 100 members, all of whom are undergraduates, graduates and PhD candidates from various majors other than music.
It has entertained audiences worldwide, including appearances in Canada, Germany, Japan, South Korea and France, and has won several major prizes.
In 2001, it took three gold medals - male chorus, female chorus and mixed chorus without accompaniment - at a competition in Grado, Italy.
This was followed by golds for folksongs choral without accompaniment and a silver for youth mixed choral in Busan.
The choir has staged a number of exclusive concerts nationwide, including one called A Bouquet of Violet for You at the Beijing Concert Hall.
Bao Yuankai, a professor at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music, said, "Participating in a choir at university helps students to learn how to integrate and how to balance their life between their studies and their interests."
(MONDAY,July 28,2014 By Bao Wanxian in Tianjin )
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