Ethnic harmonies

Wu Chenglong, a man from the Dong ethnic group from Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Guizhou province, also made his debut at the NCPA by performing as a member of the Huanggang Dong Ethnic Group Chorus. The chorus performed, among other songs, Coming From Afar to Meet You, We Are Pledging to Marry Each Other and Beautiful Mountains.

The Huanggang Dong Ethnic Group Chorus, led by Wu, is known for performing in the Grand Song style, which involves multipart singing performed without instrumental accompaniment or a conductor.

Liu says that when he visited Dong ethnic group villages, he was impressed by the group's Grand Song tradition, which has a large repertory based on children's songs, and songs about nature, and for families and lovers. He was particularly interested in the local singers' ability to mimic the sounds of animals. The Grand Song of the Dong ethnic group was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.

"Our chorus has over 100 members, 42 of whom performed in the concerts at the NCPA," says Wu, who was listed as an intangible cultural heritage inheritor by the government of Guizhou in 2010. "We were very excited to sing our songs at the NCPA. We usually sing those songs spontaneously at home or in public places around our village."

Since 1999, Wu has been learning, performing and preserving music of the Dong ethnic group. With his niutuiqin, a stringed musical instrument with a shape resembling a cow's leg and played with a bow in a manner similar to that of a fiddle, he has adapted ancient folk songs and also written some original ones.