Residents of the Harbour City will have a unique opportunity to see one of the world’s top-ranking choirs in their own backyard.
On Friday (Aug. 21) the GuangDong Experimental Middle School Choir will be in performing at the Port Theatre as part of their Angel Ambassador B.C. Tour.
Angela Fang, president of the Nanaimo Chinese Culture Society, one of the sponsors behind the event, says the GuangDong Experimental Middle School Choir is an extremely talented group.
“[They are] very impressive and very attractive,” she said.
Formed in 1952, the choir is based out of the Chinese province of Guangdong.
Its members are students in grades 8 to 10, who often perform in a number of languages including English, Russian, Latin, Swedish and multiple Chinese dialects such as Mandarin and Cantonese.
Fang says the choir sings a good variety of songs.
“The singing is a mix of culture. The music is from different countries so it is very multicultural based,” Fang said. “They have different types of costumes to show the culture and theme. It is a lot of storytelling.”
In 2014, the choir took home first place in the Children and Youth Choir and Folklore categories at the 2014 World Choir Games.
As of April it was the third-ranked choir in the world by the Interkultur Rankings.
British Columbia and the Chinese province of Guangdong are currently celebrating 20 years of sister province relations, which officially began in 1995.
According to Fang, the choir’s performance in Nanaimo is part of the two provinces’ celebrations.
“The reason they came here is because of the celebration of the sister province and Guangzhou city,” Fang said. “It is a cultural exchange.”
The GuangDong Experimental Middle School Choir perform at the Port Theatre on Aug. 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $24 for adults and $12 for students. Groups of 10 or more can take $4 off per adult ticket.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.porttheatre.com.
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