“You come from the snow mountain, and the tide in spring is your beauty; you rush to the East China Sea, the great wave is your your spirit…”
On the evening of the 29thin this month, 26 members of University of Iceland Women Chorus were singing this classic Chinese song. Their pronunciation of Chinese was very clear and standard, wining waves of warm applause from the audience.
In the evening, the 10th anniversary ceremony of Iceland Northern Light Confucius Institute and University of Iceland Women Chorus Concert took place in the lecture hall ofZhencheng Libraryin Ningbo University. There were many distinguished guests and friends attending the concert. A brief and solemn greeting ceremony was held after an Icelandic folkThe Light of Stove Shiningas the overture. Students from Iceland presented bouquets of flowers to Professor Yongmei Ruan and Associate Processor Yucheng Jia who once worked in Iceland Northern Light Confucius Institute. The two teachers were devoted to promoting the international education of Chinese language in Iceland, the remote northern European country. In the years of teaching, they maintained a peaceful and positive attitude towards the life and stayed true to their mission. What they have done is a piece of marvelous music, showing the virtue of the faculty in Ningbo University who are hardworking and persistent in teaching.
University of Iceland Women Chorus sung sincerely 18 foreign and Chinese songs, including Icelandic songsA Poet for Birds,Lullaby of Spring, Chinese songsJasmine,Mountain in The Illusoriness, and Scandinavian songsWho can Sail Away,Thank You-Music.Their voices were so clear and sweet that once a song ended, there soon came waves of warm applause in the hall.
Music is a thread of friendship. University of Iceland Women Chorus and Ningbo University College of Music Chorus performed jointly and sungIn the NightandThe Song of Yangtze River. Both Chinese and foreign students, who sung the same song, demonstrated the characteristics and charm of plural culture through the chorus, an international language of art. The chorus conductor was Ms. Margrét Bóasdóttir, a famous singer and chorus conductor in Iceland. Students from University Iceland and Ningbo University took charge of the piano accompaniment. And Huimin Qi, Chinese President of Iceland Northern Light Confucius Institute, was responsible for the art director of the chorus and attended the performance.
The concert, as the start event of the celebration jointly organized by China and Iceland for the 10thanniversary of Iceland Northern Light Confucius Institute in 2018, was hosted by Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban), Iceland Northern Light Confucius Institute, Ningbo University and University of Iceland, and was undertaken by College of Music, Library and Information Center of Ningbo University.
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In 2008, nameplate of Iceland Northern Light Confucius Institute was unveiled. It is located in Reykjavik, the world's closest capital to the Arctic Circle. Iceland Northern Light Confucius Institute, whose undertaking institution is University of Iceland, is in collaboration with Ningbo University. After 10 years of development, Chinese course in the institute has become one of the most popular foreign language courses in University of Iceland. Since 2013, Iceland Northern Light Confucius Institute and Ningbo University have been working together to organize China-Iceland Culture Summer Camp.
Founded in 2005, University of Iceland Women Chorus has about thirty regular members. At its largest scale, the chorus once had members from 7 different countries, and sung songs from various countries in their native languages. This time, the chorus was invited to Ningbo to attend the 10thanniversary ceremony of Iceland Northern Light Confucius Institute and presented performances together with College of Music of Ningbo University for cooperation and communication.
