China Tour Report

After 18 months of rehearsal, preparation, fundraising and organisation the Cantabile tour to China finally became a reality on Monday, July 10. The tour began with a three-day stopover in Hong Kong, which included a hectic schedule of sightseeing and shopping, before we embarked upon the one hour flight to Xiamen, China where the hard work really began! Our first weekend in Xiamen saw us performing three of our most demanding performances ever within a 20-hour period. Our first major performance was at the enormous Xiamen Seaside Convention Centre where we were featured as one of only five international choirs (Cantabile represented the ‘Oceania’ region) at the 4th World Choir Games Opening Ceremony. The venue was truly enormous, seating over 8,000 people, and the audience was filled with special guests, political VIPs and most of the 450 participating choirs from around the world. Cantabile performed the ‘Queen of Soul’ Medley, which was not only loudly appreciated by the audience but also screened live on Chinese television that evening. Cantabile were again represented within the Opening Ceremony finale, when Megan Saunders performed as a soloist (along with four other solo singers from other continents) in the stirring final performance of the Choir Olympic Hymn – not only did Megan sing beautifully but she also performed the hymn in Chinese!

The following morning we had to put the excitement of the previous evening behind us as we had to compete in the Qualifying Round of the Youth Choirs of Equal Voices section of the competition at 9.00am. The girls performed extremely well but we were not confident that we could make it to the finals against such a large field of excellent choirs (the section consisted of so many choirs that it ran continuously for one and a half days). We did not have time, however, to dwell on our results because that afternoon we were off to perform in a ‘Friendship Concert’ at the famous Riyuegu Hot Springs Resort, a luxurious 5-star resort located 40 minutes outside of Xiamen. We performed a 20 minute bracket alongside choirs from the Philippines and China. It became quite apparent that afternoon that Cantabile had become somewhat ‘famous’ overnight. Not only had many Chinese people seen their live performance at the Opening Ceremony (which was then replayed every day for the next week on Channel 16), the girls were also featured in a special 5-minute evening news story about the World Choir Games and also starred in the TV advertisement for the event. Photos of the girls had also started appearing in Chinese newspapers (six Xiamen newspapers that we were aware of). Our newfound notoriety resulted in hundreds of photo requests from complete strangers, hotel staff, other choir performers and even people out on the streets of Xiamen, which continued for the duration of our stay in the city.

After an anxious wait of nearly two days, our prayers were answered the following evening when we saw our name listed on the big screen as being successful qualifiers for the Final Round of the Youth Choirs section! We had received the 6th highest score from a field of over 20 choirs. After more hours of intensive rehearsal, we competed again the following day in the finals and then nervously attended the Awards Ceremony on Wednesday to await the final results. We were both surprised and delighted to be awarded a Silver Medal for the Youth Choirs of Equal Voices section, matching our achievement from 2004 in Germany but with an even higher score.

We enjoyed one day off from rehearsals and performances on Thursday to tour Gulangyu Island, a five-minute ferry ride off the coast of Xiamen – a beautiful historic island which was difficult to fully appreciate in 36 degree heat and 90% humidity! The second half of the Choir Games then commenced on Saturday July 22, with the second Opening Ceremony at the Seaside Convention Centre. Cantabile were honoured to be asked once again to provide a soloist for the finale and so it was Amelia Devita’s turn to sing the Choir Olympic Hymn (in Chinese) on the world stage, a job which she carried off with the flair and professionalism of someone well beyond her years.

The next three days were extremely busy and consisted of a continuous cycle of rehearsals and then competition performances as we worked our way through the Qualifying Rounds of both the Popular Music and Gospel Music sections. Perhaps our most remarkable achievement in these sections was that Cantabile were one of only two choirs to qualify, from a large field of choirs, for the Final Round of the Gospel Music section. The other choir which qualified (from the Philippines) eventually went on to be crowned Choir Olympic Champions in that section, so it was certainly an honour to have progressed to the finals alongside such prestigious musical colleagues. We were awarded two more silver medals in the Gospel and Popular sections. Even more exciting, however, was that we were the only school choir to compete in both sections (from a field of over 30 Adult choirs) and we were only 4.18 points away from a Gold Medal in the Gospel Music section.

We were extremely proud of our achievements in Xiamen, but also very relieved that all of the hard work and the extremely hectic schedule came to an end after the Closing Ceremony on July 26. We then set off to Beijing for 4 days of sightseeing, shopping and R & R, before finally returning home, exhausted but excited, on Tuesday evening.

It was a wonderful trip, not only successful musically, but also in bringing the reputation of Canterbury College and Australia to the international media and the world stage. It was also a fantastic tour due to the completely dedicated and focussed attitude from the Cantabile girls – they rehearsed tirelessly for hours almost every day in Xiamen, lifting their performance levels to greater heights than ever before. It was also such a pleasure to travel with such a lovely group of parents, staff and supporters (we had a touring party totalling 42 persons) who contributed so much to the tour and who were absolute delights to travel with.

Special thanks must go to our Principal Sponsor Buildev Development (Qld) (especially Senior Development Partner, Craig Dowling), whose commitment to supporting the local community through their financial sponsorship significantly assisted Cantabile families in meeting the costs of such an enormous tour and also enabled the group to spend more time focussing on rehearsing and preparing for our performances overseas. Also assisting us financially were the parents of the Cantabile Supporters Group, who independently organised our major fundraising events including the Mystery Dinner, An Evening with Cantabile and the Farewell Auction, proving that amazing things can be achieved when hard-working parents unite in working towards a common goal.

SUSAN GOUCHEE
HEAD OF THE ARTS