Chinese melodies strike a chord in the US

SCM delegation presents the UM counterparts with various music shows during their visit to the school from March 5 to 11. [Photo provided to study-shanghai.org]

The Chinese visitors also impressed their US partners with various music shows, from the soft and gentle traditional Chinese melody of Moonlit River in Spring to the sonorous and forceful tunes of the General's Command and Chanting of the Iron Horse.

The most rousing part was a collaborative set of performances, which were written by SCM teachers and performed by a group of UM students, who incisively and vividly brought out the essence of the pieces while endowing them with a unique sense of modernity.

During the interactive section, the group from SCM even gave an impromptu rendition of the UM rugby team's anthem with traditional Chinese elements. Featuring classical instruments like the erhu (two-stringed fiddle), pipa (Chinese lute) and guqin (Chinese zither), the adaptation won prolonged applause from the US students and teachers.