Sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and China Performance Arts Agency, the festival with the theme of "Peace and Friendship for Tomorrow," is expected to attract more than 3,500 singers from 66 choirs from around the world.

"The festival has been successfully held five times since 1992. It has become a way to promote the communication of arts and culture between China and foreign countries, to lend variety to the concerts and to improve the artistic quality of Chinese choruses," said Li Zhixiang, presenting manager of the China Performance Arts Agency.

The choruses performing at this summer's festival vary. Most of them are composed of amateur singers and only 11 are professional ones. The festival also features 19 children's choruses, a church choir and 14 choruses made up of seniors. There are also eight women choruses and one men's choir, the Woodpecker Singers from China's Taiwan.

Composed of 16 Taiwanese, the Woodpecker Singers enjoys a reputation as one of the best male vocal ensembles in Taiwan.

Since the group was started in Keelung, Taiwan, in 1985, the Woodpecker Singers has established a reputation on the island as a colourful singing group with a wide range of styles. It has won six championships for male singing held yearly in Taiwan from 1990-95.

Chen Mei-shang, conductor of the chorus, said, "The Woodpecker Singers is a diversified energetic group."

The academic choir Collegium Musicum from Yugoslavia is composed of female students of the Belgrade Faculty of Music.

Under the baton of Darinka Martic Marovic, Collegium Musicum earned its reputation by performing 2,500 concerts in more than 30 countries. It has received many accolades and awards both in Yugoslavia and abroad.

The repertoire of the choir ranges from pieces from the 11th Century to contemporary and avant garde music, including Bach, Handel and Strauss. The freshness of the choir, its creative capacity and its professionalism have inspired many Yugoslavian composers to dedicate their works to it.

The Greater Boston Chinese Performing Chorus was founded in the fall of 2000. Qiao Wanjun, the chorus conductor, graduated from China Central Conservatory of Music and went on to become chairman of the Boston Chinese Performing Arts Association.

Members of the choir come from several Chinese communities in the greater Boston area, mostly from Newton Chinese Language School, Yellow-River Art Chorus and the Boston Chinatown Senior Chorus. Most of them came to the United States in the 1980s and 1990s as graduate students and now work in Boston area in cutting-edge science and technology fields, such as computer science, information technology, life science and pharmaceutical research.

Since its formation, the Greater Boston Chinese Performing Chorus has actively performed in Boston area. It has always been the chorus's goal to showcase the many aspects of Chinese culture and to promote friendship between Chinese and Americans.

Na'ama Women Choir from Israel has received international recognition since winning the Gold Diploma at the International Mendelssohn Competition in Germany in 1996 and first prize at the Shirat Hayamin International Choir Competition in Israel the same year.

The repertoire of the choir includes a broad scope of both classical and ethnic music, ranging from Brahms, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Faure to Israeli composers.

The grand opening concert at the Beijing Exhibition Hall Theatre on Saturday evening will feature 17 choirs from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao, as well as the United States, Yugoslavia, Romania, Poland, Israel, South Africa, Thailand, Japan and Indonesia. Each chorus will sing one of its signature songs. Then all 66 choirs will perform at Tianqiao Theatre, Golden Sail Concert Hall and the Concert Hall of Central Orchestra of Traditional Music the following week. A number of outdoor concerts in Chaoyang Park are also scheduled.

The 66 choruses will be divided into three groups - children, adult and senior - to compete for prizes awarded by the festival.

Chinese children's chorus Milky Way will perform as a "guest" choir at Tianqiao Theatre on July 29 but will not participate in the competition.

Founded in 1961, Milky Way is one of the best children's choruses in Asia and is well-known in China for having cultivated a number of successful artists over the past four decades.

During the festival, Yang Hongnian, renowned Chinese chorus conductor with China Central Conservatory of Music, will teach a master class for nearly 50 domestic choirs.

"It is easier to form a choir than a orchestra, though both are a way to spread music and improve people's musical sense," said Yang. "But it seems people prefer to learn some instruments and they do not realize that voice is the cheapest and most practical instrument."

Yang also said, "Some Chinese choruses have reached a high level in the world, but many are still not very satisfactory." He pointed out that one reason for this is shortage of good conductors. "We conservatories have produced quite a number of good conductors for orchestra but only a few for chorus, which makes it difficult to spread choral art in the country," he said.

(China Daily July 25, 2002)