第二届 华夏合唱节

Special report: 第二届 华夏合唱节

Background of the author: It is said that everyone has his/her weaknesses. One of mine is being susceptible to propagandas. After 14 years in USA, my music library still consists only of songs from before, during and shortly after the Cultural Revulution. And these songs can always lift my spirits and make my blood boil. 15 years ago, I was already a "big-age-youth". I thought I had hit the gold in my life when I lured a girl fresh from college to be my wife with my visa and scholarship. But it soon turned out to be a cultural disaster: we seemed from different generations and there is no "same song" in my family. Recently she had formed a united front with our two older kids and banned my songs from being "publicly played" at home. I was thus ecstatic when I learned about 第二届 华夏合唱节 to be sung by people mostly from my generation: yes, my time had finally come.

第二届 华夏合唱节 took place in Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC)' Edward Nash Theatre, which is only 10 minutes from my home. This is a commercial Theatre with 900 seats. I looked around and 95% of the seats were taken. The program started with a vice president of Fleet bank presenting a $5000 check for sponsoring the 合唱节 and DaCha auto group's $8000 scholarship for 华夏 Chinese schools. The first on stage was Edison-based 知音合唱团. A big round of applause could be heard the moment the curtain was lifted and the lights turned on: these singers dressed so well and they looked so good up there. Everyone was affected by their love for singing and their high spirits. They sang three songs: 念故乡, 共和国之恋 and 花儿与少年. All were well done although I like the second the best. The third on stage was 夕阳红俱乐部老人合唱团. This special group (from 60-80) received a hero’s welcome and their second song 歌唱祖国 resonated with the audience. The song I enjoyed the most was 英雄赞歌 by 浪花合唱团. It started with this poem recitation: Wang Cheng was just one of the thousands of Chinese volunteers. His bravery came from his love for the Korean people. Then 门颖华 started her 领唱: "The hero jumps out of the war ditch, the green mountains listen attentively. Hero’s brilliance turned into shining stars and the enemies rotted to earth". Her singing was just like what you heard from the movie, only better.