Local residents to participate in world choral festival

The Boston Eastern Heritage Chorus PHOTO/COURTESY OF BOSTON EASTERN HERITAGE CHORUS

Region - Three Shrewsbury residents, two Northborough residents and one Westborough resident will join more than 65 other New Englanders to compete in the Loto-Quebec World Choral Festival in Montreal, Canada, July 8 through 12, under the banner of the Boston Eastern Heritage Chorus (BEHC).

    “No one [in the group] is a professional singer,” said Ming Lu, an IT manager from Shrewsbury and BEHC singer.

    In fact, the BEHC is made up of all amateur singers who hold full-time jobs and balance their day-to-day lives with their love of singing.

    The singers of the BEHC are primarily natives of China. The singers said that through their singing, they are able to promote the Chinese heritage.

    “Singing is something that we grew up with in China, and loved,” said Yunshen Zhou, a computer programmer from Shrewsbury, “and now we want to share that with others.”

    The BEHC performed at the first Annual Loto-Quebec World Choral Festival in 2005. Sining Fang, of Sudbury, a computer engineer and the BEHC leader, said the group really enjoyed themselves at the first festival.

    “It was fun … and the audience was fantastic,” she said.

    This year, on Thursday July 9, the BEHC will compete in three categories at the festival: Multicultural Choir, Adult Female Choir and Major Mixed Voice Choir, the principal category for the group. The group’s performances will be sung in Mandarin Chinese.

   In recent weeks, the BEHC has been practicing for the festival at least two times per week, with practices being held on weekends and weeknights, with rehearsals lasting up to four hours.

    “It’s quite a commitment,” Fang said.

    Group members are practicing individually as well. Lu and his wife, Mingpei Zhang, a pharmacy technician, practice in their cars or whenever they have free time. Zhang said she wakes up at 5 a.m. to practice singing, which works better than later in the day.

    “When I get home from work, I have housework to do and I am very tired,” she said.   

    Singing to be something that Lu and Zhang have always enjoyed. At parties, Lu said, he uses his karaoke machine to sing with friends.

    Zhang said the competition isn’t about winning. It’s an opportunity to learn and make new friends.

     “The way I look at it, I enjoy the entire process,” Zhang said. “Even if we don’t win, I have a great time singing.”

    The BEHC began nearly 10 years ago at the Newton Chinese School as an activity for parents on Sunday afternoons to pass the time while their children were in classes.

    “It was something for the parents to get involved with,” Zhou said.

    The group first competed in the sixth China International Choral Festival in 2002 and has been competing ever since. The BEHC has also competed in a variety of venues including: John Hancock Hall in Boston, Woolsey Hall at Yale University and Kresge Auditorium at MIT.

    The BEHC’s conductor and music director is Wanjun Qiao of Medford, and their pianist is Guo Ling of Andover.