Tucson: Enjoying the chorus, the most important thing is participation - written after the 2011 autumn SASO concert (picture)

Tucson: enjoying the chorus, the important thing is participation - written after the 2011 autumn SASO concert (picture) Author: Qu Ning The autumn of 2011, for...

Author: Qu Ning

The autumn of 2011, for the Tucson Huasheng Chorus, can be described as a busy and fruitful season. After just participating in the annual Tucson_Meet_Yourself cultural festival held in the golden autumn of October; after enjoying the Mid-Autumn Festival with delicious mooncakes produced by the choir; and after participating in the collective outing of the choir's annual brand? After weeks of intensive rehearsals, two full days of intense rehearsals, and two SASO concerts last weekend on November 19th and 20th, we finally brought the Tucson Huasheng Choir’s autumn 2011 choir season to a successful conclusion. The perfection and shock of the SASO concert, especially the symphony work "Lu You and Tang Wan", moved the American audience, including ourselves, far beyond the expectations of many of us.

What I want to say is: This feeling of warmth and touch is so good!

Zhuo Liying from our choir expressed her feelings as a live audience in the following words: "Although you are very excited to sing on the stage, you will still have regrets. Because you don't know how good you are at singing. I am lucky enough to sit on the stage and appreciate our singing for the first time. I am truly and deeply moved by your singing. Oh, fall_in beautiful_song抮iver, almost drowned. One word: 'Beautiful'! Beautiful people, beautiful clothes, beautiful singing. No. Enough, Spring Festival Gala, let’s sing again!”

As Mr. Liang lamented: “This concert can be regarded as a milestone for the Tucson Huasheng Choir!”

As Director Lang said: “This kind of improvement can only be achieved with good works, strict rehearsals, and a relatively high-level audience atmosphere.”

This is indeed the case. I personally feel that this SASO concert is the first time in the nearly five years since the establishment of Huasheng that we have truly participated in a complete Chinese symphony work, perfectly performed by an American symphony orchestra, and presented it in a concert with an entire American audience. When this 15-minute long symphonic masterpiece "Lu You and Tang Wan" composed by the famous composer and "Butterfly Lovers" composer He Zhanhao suddenly ended in a moment of silence with the passionate rest of the guzheng player Mr. Liang Zhengqiang; when the entire audience stood up and applauded for a long time; when the thunderous applause lasted for a long time..., What they conveyed is undoubtedly the American audience’s understanding and emotion of this Chinese work; it is their sincere admiration for Mr. Liang’s superb guzheng acting skills; at the same time, they will definitely be able to gain more love for this work from Marcia’s soulful and charming SOLO. Of course, although our choir may not be the protagonist in the performance of the entire work, we must be a cadenza movement of this work and an indispensable and important part of the entire work. Because of the addition of our chorus, we inject a beautiful artistic conception into the work.

In recent times, everyone has overcome many difficulties and put in countless efforts to prepare for and participate in this concert, and I am deeply moved. It is particularly worth mentioning that Chen Yi, even though Bajia was pregnant, still appeared on the stage and stood in the chorus line. This pure beauty and participation became the most heartwarming image at the concert.

Every detail is visible to all; every detail of our family treasures will be remembered by us!

Enjoy the chorus, the most important thing is to participate. It is the Tucson Chinese community, thanks to countless such teams and the enthusiastic participation of many friends, that has brought about the continuous prosperity of community cultural life; and it is these rich and colorful cultural lives that constitute a beautiful cultural landscape of our overseas Chinese community far away from home.

After a short break, the Huasheng Choir will start rehearsing the chorus for the 2012 Tucson Spring Festival Gala. In the 2012 Spring Festival Gala, there will be top-notch choirs composed of Tucson Huasheng Choir, Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra (SASO), UA Faculty & Staff Choir, Sons of Orpheus (Men’s Chorus), Southern Arizona Women’s Chorus, CFHS Chorus and Tucson Boy Choir to jointly participate in and complete Chinese and English choral works from China and the United States. By then, it is speculated that the symphony work "Lu You and Tang Wan" will be put on the stage again.

Let us look forward to it together!

(The 2012 Arizona Spring Festival Gala will feature a wonderful performance by the Tucson Chorus in Phoenix!)

(Reprinted from: Tucson Chinese Liaison Newsletter)