The Choral Arts Society of Washington and Qingdao Symphony Orchestra are touring China, Chen Nan reports.

Karen Hopper, one of the members of the Choral Arts Society of Washington, accidentally dropped a musical score from an enclosure high above the stage during a rehearsal in Qingdao, in East China's Shandong province.

A musician from Qingdao Symphony Orchestra picked it up and returned the page to Hopper.

"You know, in Chinese tradition, when somebody does you a favor, you should treat him to dinner," Zhang Guoyong, artistic director of Qingdao Symphony Orchestra, jokingly told her as he handed back the score.

The musicians were at Qingdao Grand Theater to prepare for a concert series by the Chinese orchestra and the US chorus group.

"Yes, I will. How about tomorrow night?" Hopper, the 25-year-old singer, replied.

Hopper started singing at 5, and joined the Choral Arts Society of Washington after college.

A few laughs later, Zhang and Hopper got back to rehearsing for the Two Countries, One Stage concert.

The concert made its debut in Qingdao on May 28 and was performed at the 15th Meet in Beijing Arts Festival on May 30. It will tour Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

The works being performed include: Torch Festival, composed by Chinese musician Wang Xilin; The Butterfly Lovers, featuring violinist Lyu Siqing; and Carmina Burana, composed by Carl Orff and featuring Chinese baritone Yang Xiaoyong, soprano Song Yuanming and tenor Zheng Yao.

"The Chinese musicians did a great job on interpreting Carmina Burana, one of the best known works of Orff in 1935, while cooperating with the choral," says Scott Tucker, artistic director of the Choral Arts Society of Washington, one of the major symphonic choruses in the United States. It was founded in 1965 by famed composer and conductor, Norman Scribner (1936-2015).

"It's true that music brings people together."

Tucker says the lyrics of Carmina Burana were taken from a 13th-century collection of poetry, which was discovered at the Beuern Monastery in Bavaria, Germany. There are 25 movements in the piece, which was written for a soprano, a tenor, a countertenor, a children's choir, a bass-baritone and a chorus.

"The work embraces a full range of human emotions from gentle murmuring to hysterical outcry. It tackles subjects like belief and death. It connects us with the most basic level of human themes," he tells China Daily.

It isn't the first time that musicians of the Choral Arts Society of Washington and Qingdao Symphony Orchestra have performed together.

In 2009, under the baton of conductor Hu Yongyan, they performed works of Chinese composers, as well as American favorites, including the music of West Side Story, at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall to celebrate Chinese New Year.

"We were deeply impressed by our last collaboration and we made a promise to work together again," says Debra L Kraft, executive director of Choral Arts Society of Washington.

"But because we have more than 100 members and need fund-raising, it took (us) six years to finally work with Qingdao Symphony Orchestra again."

She says a tour is more exciting than an individual concert.

Wang Lin, director of Qingdao Symphony Orchestra, says: "When we first performed in the US in 2009, American audiences barely knew us and never heard of a city named Qingdao. What really impressed them then was Tsingtao Beer.

"But after the performance, they knew a young symphony orchestra from Qingdao, China."

Tucker says he didn't know much about Chinese music earlier but the popularity of classical Western music in China became evident to him, just by looking at venues and hearing young soloists here.

Ed Hoover, a 39-year-old singer for the US chorus group since 2004, performed with the Chinese orchestra in 2009. He has also joined the concert series this year.

There aren't too many opportunities for Americans to hear music from a Chinese symphony orchestra, he says.

Hoover, who earns a living as a corporate communications officer for a US company, has traveled to China several times on business.

The Choral Art Society of Washington features a symphonic chorus of some 180 volunteer singers and regularly performs with the National Symphony Orchestra in the US.

"When I arrived in Washington, I knew this was the one to join," he says. "We all share a lively spirit and a fervent devotion to music."

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 06/01/2015 page7)