The Young People's Chorus of New York City (YPC) and the Guangdong Experimental High School Choir (SSC) performed together at Lincoln Center's Josie Robertson Plaza on October 3. The outdoor, audience-interactive concert marked the start of a week of partnership activities between the two award-winning choirs through the YPC Tandon Global Collaborative.
The joint performance featured songs including "A Wish from Across the Sea," "As Wished" and "Give Us Hope." For YPC member Patricia, the collaboration brought something new. "Their picks of music were incredible. I think it's bringing a lot of new, different things that YPC has never done," she said. "I was looking at the people in the audience and they all loved it."
The connection runs both ways. One YPC member recalled the choir's 2024 tour of China. "We were treated amazingly. We had an amazing experience," they said. "Now having you guys here is so much fun, because we get to give back for all of the things that we experienced back in 2024."
Julien, another YPC member, described the performance as a rare opportunity. "This is a great experience and an amazing opportunity to be together and be in the same area and vicinity of each other," he said.
Cheng Haoyang, a student from the Guangdong Experimental High School, praised the performance. "They showed the high standard of Chinese choral singing and a strong sense of Chinese culture," he said, singling out "Spring Has Arrived" and "As Wished" as particularly moving.
For YPC Associate Conductor Emma, the exchange carried a deeper message. "I hope from exchanges like these, we can use our music to show that there's so much that we have in common across people," she said. "No matter how the world may tell us that we're different, there's so much that we share."
Founded by MacArthur Fellow Francisco J. Núñez, YPC empowers more than 2,000 young people annually. Led respectively by Núñez and Xie Mingjing from Guangdong, the two choirs demonstrated the power of music to unite across languages, cultures and continents.
Reporter: Guo Zedong
Video editing, cover: Qin Shaolong
Photo provided to South from Guangdong Experimental High School
