Emily Kuo Vong
President
Dear Friends,
At the time of this writing, the newly discovered coronavirus that surfaced last year has appeared worldwide, not just in China and Asia but also in the Middle East, Europe, North and South America, Australia, New Zealand… Infection by the deadly coronavirus currently has become a serious global threat. The epidemic in China, the first country where the coronavirus outbreak occurred, has been very severe and people worldwide are concerned about what is happening.
Even in tough circumstances, I nonetheless feel that it is not the correct choice to isolate oneself, wait to see what happens, or avoid the problem altogether. On the other hand, I also realize that there have been many interactions in different languages as people have been flying from and to China from all over the world. Everyone wants their friends and colleagues everywhere in the world to be healthy and safe and wish, in good faith, for the global situation to improve very soon.
Unfortunately, many choral events had therefore to be cancelled everywhere, the most important for us being, of course, the 12th Symposium on Choral Music, which was to take place in July in August of this year in Auckland, New Zealand. Many other events are now taking place online, and new forms of online choral singing and teaching have been invented.
To inspire those who are suffering and support them in their fight against the virus, I came up with the idea of producing a warm-hearted video of support, not only for the Chinese people but also for people worldwide. I shared this idea with our colleagues and conductors, and I was very surprised and happy to receive their immediate agreement with this proposal.
Thus the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM) has joined up with the International Cultural Center (ICC) of Monte Real in Portugal and strived to call on many friends from the entire choral community to send the warmest of greetings and best of wishes to the Chinese people. We believe that all kind-hearted, brave people worldwide can reach out to each other via choral music, also encouraging each other with firm hopes and warming each other with the deepest love through this touching video entitled “A World Filled With Love • Colorful Voices • 5G Linking to the World”.
In this video, we also invited Prof. Tian Xiaobao, one of the most famous conductors in China, to record a video clip at his home in Wuhan, where the epidemic situation was, at that time, at its worst in China. His optimistic emotions have encouraged many people. As conductor, Ms. Hu Manxue leads her singers in the Shenzhen Lily Girls Choir as they sing a beautiful song for this video.
In the days following the video’s launch on social media, including the IFCM media channels, CCTV social media platform, China Culture website, and other main media platforms, e.g. Facebook, it has been followed, subscribed to, and forwarded by a huge number of people worldwide, and this number increases sharply every day. At the same time, our IFCM colleagues have shared it multiple times worldwide via their social networks and made many moving comments about it.
I appreciate all the support provided to produce this video, as well as your inspiring messages, your reliability, and the exciting choral activities for connecting cultures and joining hands in solidarity. I believe this video is not only meaningful to Chinese people but also shows the power of heartfelt choral singing to connect all of us. I am very proud of all our colleagues and the IFCM organization, which is truly fulfilling and pursuing the goal of authentic choral music as a way to convey hope, peace, and love to the rest of world.
Twists and turns are part of life and setbacks often happen, but strong people always choose to face the storm and tread rough paths. With a strong will, we have limitless faith that even this complex, serious health problem will be successfully addressed and the world will be better soon.
Whether we know each other or not, our hearts will forever remain in solidarity. No matter where you are, we all have the same dream of filling the world with love!
Best wishes,
Emily Kuo Vong
President – International Federation for Choral Music
Edited by Steve Lansford, USA