"Allegretto" Romanian National Children Choir Concert at Winland International Financial Center in Beijing

» › › Corul Național de Copii "Allegretto" în concert la Winland International Financial Center din Beijing
  • 28 July 2023 - 28 July 2019
  • Tags

The National Children’s Choir "Allegretto" held an extraordinary tour in China between July 21 and August 2. The "Allegretto" delegation, consisting of 52 people (28 children, 8 teachers, and 15 parents), participated in the Tianjin International Children's Art Festival and performed in three of the most impressive concert halls in Beijing, organized by the ICR Beijing representative office.

The 2024 International Festival of Culture and Arts (Tianjin International Children’s Art Festival), launched in 1998, featured this year 45 delegations with over 1,100 children from 25 countries across 5 continents, with impressive performances. The Allegretto Choir, made up of children aged 6 to 18, performed 7 concerts in Tianjin, sometimes giving two or three performances a day, in packed halls. A true tour de force for the children, who were rewarded with standing ovations and admiration from the audience, who hummed along to the songs and applauded them throughout the concerts, being particularly impressed by the rich repertoire, especially the Chinese-language pieces.

In Beijing, the three concerts took place in three exceptional venues, with full houses: at the Winland International Financial Center in Beijing (July 28), at the Silk Road International Arts Center in Langfang (July 30), and at the Concert Hall of the "Forbidden City" (August 1). The concerts lasted 1 hour and 30 minutes live, without a break, and the repertoire included 29 pieces in 11 languages: Romanian, Chinese, English, Greek, Italian, Hebrew, Polish, Spanish, French, Croatian, and Turkish, which triggered admiration from the audience.

The first concert took place on July 28, starting at 3:00 PM, in the Atrium hall, on the 7th floor of the Winland International Financial Center in Beijing, one of the most elite financial areas in Beijing, attended by over 350 spectators, diplomats, business people, artists, and university professors. The event was a success and was promoted by China News, China Daily, Radio China International, as well as the CGTN television station.

The host of the event, Adam Chikeung Yu, CEO of Winland Art Group, emphasized the good cooperation with the Romanian Embassy in Beijing in the past and with ICR Beijing in the present, thanking the members of the Allegretto Choir, the teachers, and the parents who accompanied the children, offering everyone a special gift representing a large-scale artwork.

A special moment of the event was the presence of the Belgian Ambassador to China, H.E. Angelet Bruno, the Cultural Attaché of the Belgian Embassy, Johan van Hove, and his wife, who have close family ties to Romania, with this concert being one of the last events they attended before concluding their mission in Beijing.

The National Children’s Choir Allegretto celebrates 50 years this year, having been founded in 1974 at the initiative and dedication of professor Adriana Codreanu. Over the decades, the children’s choir has enjoyed great success on stages in Romania and around the world, performing songs in 26 languages. The choir has given over 1,600 performances and concerts, more than 600 of which were abroad, with 69 tours and 6 international creative camps, and has participated in numerous competitions and festivals, winning over 60 awards, gold medals, best performance prizes, and first prizes, among other distinctions.

ICR Beijing prepared the entire program for the five days of concerts and rehearsals in Beijing, organized a calligraphy course for the Allegretto choir members at the Beijing University of Architecture and Design (BJTU) on July 29, and ensured all conditions for the smooth running of the tour.

The events were particularly successful with the Chinese public and were promoted on the most important media platforms in China: China News, China Daily, CCTV, CGTN, Radio China International, etc., attracting hundreds of spectators and tens of thousands of online views. The event was promoted on the online platforms of ICR/ICR Beijing social media (Website/WeChat/Facebook) and social networks.