MHBQA Past Event: American Barbershop Chorus in China (Oct 2001)

(Last modified: $Date: 2003/10/23 20:31:41 $)

What an adventure! What a reception for our music! And what results are still echoing from our visit! We arrived in Shanghai in October of 2001, after a long flight from California. Our touring group of 108 spent the first 8 days sightseeing (Shanghai, Wuhan, a 5-day cruise on the Yangtze River, then Chonquing and Xi'an) -- and rehearsing. Five rehearsals were enough to polish the music we'd learned in English and Chinese. When we arrived in China, nearly all of the 63 singers had their music memorized, even most of the Chinese lyrics. That was the result of many hours of previous work at home with the learning tapes! There were 63 singers in the chorus, from Canada, the U.K., and the U.S.A. (The remainder of the group of 108 were assigned the role of "clappers!")

MHBQA coordinators Kim & Jerry Orloff were on the trip, of course; Kim had managed the music/learning tape portion, and Jerry the overall barbershop coordination. Also on the trip were MHBQA members Bonnie Cooper (singing bari), noted arranger and coach Val Hicks (singing bass plus directing the chorus in his arrangement of Bye Bye Blues), Brian & Holly Beck of Kindred Spirits (singing bass and tenor in the chorus, with Brian also making the learning tapes in English and Chinese, and directing the chorus in several numbers), Opal McAllister & Michael Mills of Good Times (singing tenor and bass in the chorus.) After the trip, China chorus member Glenn Schilberg (bass) decided to join MHBQA to keep in touch with mixed quartet/chorus opportunities.

Everywhere we went in China we were welcomed - with enthusiasm. Whether it was at a hotel where we were staying, at a restaurant where had dinner, or a theater where we sang, always there were big signs reading "Welcome American Barbershop Chorus to China!" And as our buses passed pedestrians and bicycles on our way to performances or banquets, almost everyone was waving and smiling at us - even when they had to stop and wait for our "convoy." Equally as welcoming were the individuals we met, both officially through our music & unofficially in our individual (unsupervised) wanderings.

Kenny Ray Hatton

Our musical leader, director, and producer of the three successful shows was the ultimate "Music Man," Kenny Hatton, lead of Bluegrass Student Union (SPEBSQSA 1978 International Champion Quartet) and former director of the Louisville Kentucky Thoroughbreds Chorus. Kenny wrote a report for the SPEBSQSA publication, The Harmonizer, reproduced here. He picks up the action in Xi'an: "First stop: Foreign Language University in Xi'an. The day got off to a shaky start as I was interviewed for television during the last rehearsal. My answers to the first questions were easy. Then the reporter asked, 'Why are you not nervous being on camera before hundreds of millions of people?' ...I don't remember the rest of the interview.

"Then, it was showtime. University students sang Chinese and European classical works. Our competitive juices startet to flow, but we still were concerned about how our music would be appreciated. Then we took the stage and delivered our first selection, a well-known Chinese folk song called Rainbow Sister. We were unsure of our pronunciation of the Chinese lyrics, but as we got to the second phrase, the SRO crowd erupted into a huge ovation, which lasted until the end of the song. We knew we had 'em, because a couple of hundred Chinese girls lined up to meet my son Mike [age 16] after the show.

"On to Shijiazhuang. We performed along with the Province Champion Hebei Seniors Chorus in the elaborate Symphony Hall at the Hebei Arts Center in Shijiazhuang, a 'small' city of only seven million people. Imagine our surprise when at the rehearsal they sang a beautiful rendition in English of The Story of the Rose (Heart of My Heart.) Brian and Holly Beck and Kim and Jerry Orloff had visited the same chorus last April, and had taught classes in barbershop. Our chorus and theirs joined together to close the performance singing - in English and Chinese - Edelweiss, Red River Valley, Jingle Bells, and Auld Lang Syne.

"Tsinghua University in Beijing. It seemed that our first two performances would be hard to top as we headed for Tsinghua University in Beijing, where we would share the stage with student performers. Would the audience understand the jokes, stories and lyrics? Would music really be the universal language we believed it was? [MHBQA editor's note: Here, as in Shijiazhuang, all MC work was done by our chief interpreter, Li Yi Hu, in Chinese. He is also a fine barbershop bass, and - as of this trip - has become an official member of the Frank Thorne Chapter of SPEBSQSA.]

"Again, our fears were allayed by the audience response. They laughed in all the right spots, and we were on our way. As the show drew to a close, the student performers joined our chorus on the stage for pictures, and began to serenade us with Auld Lang Syne [in Chinese.] We joined in, holding hands, and the stage became wet with the tears of Chinese and Americans, alike.

"Looking to the future. Our group returned home more convinced than ever that the power of music does transcend culture, and there were several positive developments. Jerry Orloff & Ed Pio obtained Society [Frank Thorne] membership for four [English-speaking members of the Hebei Province community], and the choral director at Tsinghua University requested sheet music of barbershop arrangements to add to the curriculum.

"With future [barbershop chorus as well as teaching] trips to China planned, we're optomistic. It is our hope to inspire Chinese quartets to form and develop. With a little luck, we will sponsor a male quartet to the Society's international convention and a female quartet to Sweet Adelines and Harmony, Inc. conventions as well. This trip was the absolute highlight of my 30 years in the Society!" -- Ken Hatton

As Kenny has said, this is an ongoing adventure. The first teaching trip to China last Spring was under MHBQA sponsorship (jointly with Ed Pio and his Global Music Exchange.) The mixed chorus trip last Oct-Nov was also assisted by MHBQA, as will be the next trip. Kenny Hatton will be directing a second "Barbershop Chorus of America" trip this Fall (9/15-10/1) which will again combine sightseeing and performing. Cost per person is $2649, which includes all air from San Francisco or L.A. Reward - as Kenny and many others on the first chorus tour put it, "the highlight of all my years in barbershopping." For more information on how to join this chorus trip to China in 2002, contact Jerry Orloff at P.O. Box 1209, Aptos CA 95001 or email him at orloffs@ix.netcom.com. Music and learning tapes will be mailed out at the end of May.

Look for the report in the CHINA section of this website, about the "Harmony College" that was put on in Shijiazhuang and in Beijing in March of 2002 (under AIC & Global Music Exchange leadership), and the Chinese barbershop quartet singers (one men's quartet, one women's) who will be appearing at the SPEBSQSA Convention in Portland this July. World Harmony is taking some giant leaps forward - and members of MHBQA are in the forefront, taking advantage of these new opportunities to share!

This page is maintained by Tom Arneberg ( toma@arneberg.com)
(Last modified: $Date: 2003/10/23 20:31:41 $)
For more info about MHBQA, email Kim Orloff at korloff@ix.netcom.com