Yunnan Miao villagers sing together in New York

The Xiaoshuijing Chorus of the Miao villagers from central Yunnan’s Fumin County debuted at the "Chinese New Year Concert" in the US on February 17, at the invitation of the New York Philharmonic.

The singing by Yunnan villagers was conducted by Yu Long, a renowned Chinese conductor who is currently artistic director and chief conductor of the China Philharmonic. "It is the first time for a farmers’ choir to work with the New York Philharmonic, and vice versa.” Yu said. 

The Yunnan chorus gained enormous international media coverage, including New York Times and The Times. The papers said the music sung by the Yunnan farmers is the sound of nature. Chinese musician Xu Peidong also spoke highly of the chorus. 

Founded 16 years ago, the Xiaoshuijing Chorus involves 50 Miao villagers, and none of them has ever received any professional training. They inherit the singing skills from their older generations.

The chorus will travel to the UK to continue their singing journey in the coming days. 

Chinese source: Yunnan Release; trans-editing by Wang Shixue