Chinese, US youth choirs gather in Fuzhou, share their voices together

A China-US youth choir festival that brought together nearly 30 choirs from both countries with over 1,000 participants opened on Thursday in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province, where Chinese and American representatives said they have continued to reach out to each other despite geopolitical headwinds. 

They called on young people to build on the ties of Kuliang and help write a new chapter of friendship. If China and the US can find harmony and share their voices, we will be much stronger together, they said, the Global Times learned at the event.

Zhang Qingwei, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech. Zhang noted that under the personal care and promotion of President Xi Jinping, the story of Kuliang continues to be passed down, brimming with vitality. He expressed hope that Chinese and American youth would join hands, using the bond of Kuliang as a link, cultural exchange as a bridge, and youth friendship as a driving force, to jointly write a new chapter of people-to-people friendship between China and the US.

Centered on the theme "Sing for Peace," the "Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-US Youth Choir Festival" is co-hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and the People's Government of Fujian Province. 

This choir week has drawn nine youth choirs from the US, including groups from Utah, Chicago, and Fuzhou's American sister city Tacoma in Washington State. Among them are the renowned Brigham Young University Select Singers Choir, the One Voice Children's Choir, and the Pure N Heart Choir.

Over the coming days, these talented young performers will light up Fuzhou with a vibrant lineup of activities, from surprise flash mobs on the streets of the city and a grand concert to campus visits, fostering heartfelt connections with local residents and students alike.

"With singing, we celebrate the uniqueness of everyone's voice. Each person's voice is like a fingerprint. No two voices are the same. But when we unite our voices, we realize that we're more powerful together," Carla Canales, US State Department Arts Envoy and American opera singer, told the Global Times at the event. 

"I think that's really the philosophical lesson for US-China relations right now: we need to learn from these young students that are sharing their voices. If the US and China can find a harmony together, can find a way to share their voices together, then we actually are much stronger together. I really am very moved to see this example through the youth for the rest of us to follow," Canales said. 

Echoing Canales, Yang Wanming, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, remarked, "The beauty of choral art lies in the harmony and blending of different voices, and even more so, in the spirit of unity and cooperation it embodies." 

"China and the US differ in their histories, cultures, and paths of development. Though there are differences, there is no hierarchy of superiority or inferiority. Just as the different parts of a choir, each has their own vivid expression, only by listening to one another, responding to each other, and cooperating for mutual benefit can we achieve beauty in diversity and jointly sing the harmonious melody of human society," he said.