The history of choral music in China can only be traced back a century, but it has developed rapidly in schools, neighborhoods, communities and factories in recent years.

According to Nie Zhongming, a renowned choir conductor and president of the China Federation of Choral Music, about 500 choirs are now affiliated to the Federation. "They are usually composed of amateur singers, and it is a mark of their dedication and good training, usually under professional choir masters," said Nie.

However, there are still some problems in China's choir scene, Nie pointed out.

"There are many choir festivals in China every year. But most of the participants are amateur choirs. Meanwhile, the number of professional choirs has dramatically declined.

"Only a few orchestras, such as the China National Symphony, China Central Opera and Shanghai Opera, have their own choral bodies who can join performances requiring big vocal forces."

Although Nie believes professional choirs could help the development of the amateur ones in some ways, he showed deep concerns. "As classical genres like symphonic music and ballet have won increasing favor, choral music has not attracted enough attention or support."

Many choirs share Nie's view.

"It's not so difficult to form a choir since we have so many people who love to sing. But it is by no means easy to make it a high level choir only with fans, we need voice trainers and good conductors to improve the artistic quality," said Wuxi Shanhe Choir Director Xu Peihua.

Xu also said that the smooth operation of a choir is also hampered by financial constraints. "Local people do not know the variety of choral music and show less interest in it than in symphonic concerts, so we seldom get paid for concerts," she said.

The Wuxi Shanhe Pharmaceutics Group sponsors the choir and invests 200,000 to 300,000 yuan (US$24,200 to 36,200) in it annually. Besides hiring professional trainers, the choir also needs funding for performances.

The chorus masters also urge the country's choirs to learn different styles of choral music, besides classical Western pieces. For example, many Chinese ethnic minorities also have their own unique styles of choral music. "Last year, I was invited as a jury member in a choral competition held in Southwest China. I heard many impressive and tuneful songs of the Yao, Miao, Li and Buyi ethnic minorities," said Feng Wanzhen, secretary-general of the China Federation for Choral Music.

Yalungrile is an established conductor from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, who conducts the Inner Mongolian Youth Choir which has won many medals at international choral festivals around the world.

She said: "We should maintain the unique features of the choral music of each ethnic minority, which is why we succeed in many world competitions with Mongolian folk songs. We do not need to make special efforts to sing Western songs as we have our own unique voice and songs to amaze the world."

(China Daily August 11, 2004)