Chinese and American youth join voices

From a Disney classic to a traditional Chinese folk song, and from a classical Western piano masterpiece to a composition inspired by birdsong, young musicians from China and the United States explored different musical traditions before joining their voices in a concert finale on Thursday evening.

The "Youth, Dialogue, Future — China-US Youth Choral Concert", held at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, brought together the Guangdong Experimental High School Choir, the Young People's Chorus of New York City (YPC) and young pianists from the Lang Lang International Music Foundation.

The 45 young Chinese singers left for China on Saturday after a weeklong cultural and artistic exchange in New York, which also brought them to Lincoln Center, Yale University and Princeton University.

Conducted by Xie Mingjing, the Guangdong choir opened with The Circle of Life from Disney's The Lion King, followed by Spring Is Here, a traditional folk song of China's Yi ethnic minority group.

The Young People's Chorus of New York City, led by founder and artistic director Francisco J. Nunez, performed Kevin Puts' If I Were a Swan, a choral work based on a poem by Freda Brown that explores nature and the experience of being alive.

The choir also sang Paul Simon's Bridge Over Troubled Water, a classic about offering comfort and support in difficult times.

Two young pianists, both studying at Juilliard Pre-College, then took the stage.

Ryan Lu, 17, performed Franz Liszt's Transcendental Etude No. 10 in F Minor, a demanding work known for its technical complexity and emotional intensity.

Yidi Ding, 15, played Wang Jianzhong's piano arrangement of One Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix, based on a traditional Chinese piece that imitates the sounds of birds.

The program then moved to a joint finale, with the Chinese and US choirs sharing the stage for three songs directed by both conductors.

They began with Give Us Hope, expressing young people's aspirations for the future, followed by As Wished, a Chinese song reflecting on the hopes and sacrifices of earlier generations.

The concert concluded with A Wish from Across the Sea & The Calling of the Song, an original composition using the sea as an image of connections across borders.

The concert was part of a broader exchange involving the two choirs, whose relationship dates to 2005, when Nunez and Xie met at an international choral gathering in Japan.

What began with encounters at choral competitions developed into a partnership that has included reciprocal visits and performances.

Speaking at the start of the concert, Consul General Chen Li said the engagement of the two choirs is a "small example of something much larger happening between young people in China and the US".

"We often talk about China-US relations in very big terms — trade, technology, democracy. Those are important subjects, of course. But there is another part of the relationship that is much simpler: people actually meeting each other. Especially young people," Chen said.

He noted that President Xi Jinping has proposed an initiative to invite 100,000 young Americans to China for exchanges and study over the next five years, creating more opportunities for young people from both countries to engage with one another and deepen mutual understanding.

"We hope to create more opportunities for young students from both sides to see another country with his or her own eyes, to meet someone their own age, and to discover that is reality — that the reality is usually more interesting than what we see on a screen," the envoy said.

Nunez said that with each song and interaction among young people, the relationship grows stronger.

"In a world with so much noise, these young people have chosen to listen to each other. That is how a bridge is built across the Pacific, one voice, one friendship at a time," he said.

"We are very excited that we're able to be part of this new initiative that your country is doing, bringing 100,000 young people to your country to visit and explore what China has to offer," Nunez told China Daily.

For the young performers, the collaboration offered an opportunity to learn about one another through music, despite differences in language and cultural backgrounds.

"We have sung songs in English, and we've also sung songs in Chinese, and it shows how music is a powerful tool that truly connects us ... beyond language," said Zahra, a member of the YPC for four years.

"I will take this experience with me for the rest of my life, and I hope to stay in contact with the friends that I made through this exchange," she added.

Tan Dingding, a member of the Guangdong Experimental High School Choir, said their shared passion for music had brought the young singers together, inspiring the Chinese students to travel across the Pacific to exchange ideas and learn from their American counterparts.

The concert was part of the 2026 World Bay Area Choral Dialogue, presented through the YPC Tandon Global Collab.

Chandrika Tandon, chairman of the Tandon Foundation and a Grammy Award-winning artist, said the music and singing at the concert brought tears to her eyes.

"The music was so beautiful, and the love and the friendship between the children was really something to behold. We call this bridges of love," Tandon told China Daily.

About 200 guests and students attended the concert.