Co-organized by Dalian Municipal Radio and Television Bureau and Yida Group, Sound of Yida Dalian International Art Festival raised its curtain at Dalian People s Culture Club last night. The performance by the world famous Harlem Gospel Choir brought the audience the first feast of music. Dalian municipal leaders Tian Shujin, Zhu Chengqing, Cui Qingqun and some former leaders Wang Huiquan, Li Yuzhen, Yu Erming, Zheng Quanci and Yu Guirong attended the opening ceremony.
As the most prominent black American choir today, the Angels in Harlem Gospel Choir enjoys tremendous popularity in the world. It comprises the best singers and musicians from the Harlem Cotton Club, New York and the tri-state area of the US. The Angels has always conveyed to their audience from different countries with different cultures equality, freedom and love, and shared their joy and faith with their passionate and inspirational songs. Last night, with only one piano and a set of drums for accompaniment, they showed they showed their perfect skills for chorus, and it was in no way monotonous. They performed a series of Michael Jackson s classics such as Will You Be There, You Are Not Alone, We Are the World and Man in the Mirror, and some Chinese songs including Descendants of Dragon and Up the Half-moon Goes. The audience was totally entranced with their performance.
The festival promised the audience 8 sets of 10 excellent performances from both home and abroad within 11 days, including classical symphony by a world-class symphony orchestra -- Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the opera of the Marriage of Figaro by the Hamburg State Opera of Germany, the Broadway and Moulin Rouge performance, the ballet of the Butterfly Lovers by the Shanghai Ballet, the modern drama Du Lala by Shanghai Drama Art Center, a music concert co-performed by the first China Women s Crystal Instruments Band and Tibetan singing group Three Saussurea, and Peking opera classics by Yang Chi, a famous Peking opera artist, and other celebrities in the Peking opera community.
