Music Festival
社区音乐节
Our Music Festival held at Manchester Cathedral
There seemed to be a real buzz after the Community Music Festival. It was lovely for all of us, including the students, to perform at the Manchester Cathedral. The stunning building makes Manchester Cathedral one of the most beautiful places in the world to perform. Our children had experienced this wonderful dream- performing in such a beautiful building!
“Welcome to Manchester Cathedral! Within these walls are over 700 years of history. Indeed there is an ‘Angel Stone’ preserved in the Cathedral that provides some evidence that there was a church on this site dating back to 700 AD. There is also a reference to a church in this area made in the Domesday Book of 1086. The widest cathedral in England has been re-constructed or renovated a number of times, most recently in 1882. And this is where we stand today!“
Said Weishi, the 13-year-old host of our Music Festival.
“In order to provide a learning opportunity for our children, we have suggested self-introduction to enable them to build their confidence in public speaking. With a spiritual heart and with this holy shrine of Manchester in mind, let us enjoy these performances.”
Said Ning Elisabeth Pan Smith, the 12-year-old host of our Music Festival.
“We would like to thank Anthony O'Connor, Director of Fundraising and Development, Volition Community, for helping us to organise this special Music Festival for our children. He kindly allowed our children to use the venue and a beautiful piano. He has made our dream come true. It is a very inspirational music event for our community!”
Quotes by head-teacher Jenny Wong
Adult and Children Music Festival
2019 was the fourth year of the Festival. We had adult and children's Music Festival on separate days. This cool Community Music Festival is perfect for 6-17-year-olds. No bouncy castles or playdough in sight; it was strictly about the music. The festival is renowned for its safe and family-friendly atmosphere.
The previous year's performers had all returned to take part again, and after a year, they had improved their performance and technical music skills.
From all the comments received afterwards, the parents and the audience seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed the entire event. And what a great programme it was, with many fantastic and diverse music performances, including Piano, Guzheng (古筝), and ………… wide range of musical instruments.
The solo Piano “A million dreams” by Xiangyu Luo(骆向宇) and dancer Lucy Xu (许玲怡) have made wonderful tunes with gusto, and both have some really good dynamics, though really tricky in parts, it brought the music vibrantly to life.
The atmosphere inside the Cathedral was quiet and relaxed. The parents had made a great effort to control their children, including the toddlers. We were very proud of how well-behaved all the children were.
We are hugely grateful to those who volunteered to help us organise the whole event, including the cleaners. On behalf of everyone who took part, we do say how much we all enjoyed this event, including the contributions from the soloist performers. Also, it was great to encourage the children to collaborate with each other.
Admission was free, and all donations were used to support Manchester Cathedral's fundraising.
“We absolutely adore this perfectly chilled out venue; it just seems everything is right and beautiful. Brilliant weather too!“
Quote by Lucy Xu’s mother.
“Pan Yi Yi, has not done too well this year, she needs more practice for next year. She enjoyed the festival and the full dressing up; not only the music!“
Quote by Pan Smith.
“I think the Music Festival series have slipped a little bit and could do better with performances. I think the Music festival series have grown by leaps and bounds over the years and love the performances. This is my daughter, Natalie’s first year attending but I am looking forward to more performances in the future. She has done very well this year. My mother got her this red dress which is just perfect for this event!“
Quote by Han Dan.
“I sat at the back and noticed that a lot of visitors were very interested in our children's performances. Many took photos and watched their performances for a while. Many were impressed that so many young Chinese children play musical instruments including western and Chinese musical instruments and how well they played so well for their age. I think it is very good for the cathedral as it shows that Manchester truly celebrate diversity. It would be great if we could have this venue again next year.“
Quote by Ru Lan.
Feedback from parents
清(Qing:) "华人之家谢谢你们给了孩子们一个这么好的表演平台,虽然我孩子才是初学者,但他有这勇气上台真的是信心满满的他非常喜欢这次在大教堂的表演,非常感谢你们为孩子们的辛苦付出,感谢曼切斯特大教堂提供了一个这么好的场所,期待下一次的到来"
王菽: "感谢华人之家的校长和老师们,这次的音乐节在曼彻斯特大教堂这么庄严的地方举办,真的是孩子们的荣幸。在这次盛会上,无论是舞台经验丰富的孩子,或者是从未上台表演过的孩子,每个小艺术家都奉献了自己最精彩的表演,都是他们人生中的一次突破。"
淇淇和菲菲: "华人之家 感谢校长 老师为孩子们精心设计和准备这场演出,提供这么好的机会。也感谢老师们都勤勤恳恳的、努力并辛苦的培育孩子们。希望校长能带我们这些家长向Manchester Cathedral 送上一份真诚的谢意。"
Winnie Tang: "感謝校長和教師職員悉心籌備這次學校音樂盛會。頂級莊嚴的埸地,氣氛和佈置令人讚嘆。有參與表演的孩子們極感自豪,在座席欣賞的家長也極為孩子而嬌傲。 這表演平台更會提升孩子們向上的推動力。謝謝曼城大教堂對華人學校及子弟的支持。謝謝我們中文學校校長教職團隊。"
Lily: "非常感谢华人之家的校长 潘老师 Linda和老师们为孩子们提供了一个古典而优雅 环境而优美 而且具有代表性的曼城大教堂作为舞台 孩子们真的很幸运,也感谢你们为筹备音乐会辛苦的付出!同时在这里请华人之家代表家长们向曼城大教堂说一声:谢谢!同时也期待着明年音乐盛会的举行。"
Amy Law: "今年的音樂盛會提高的大多了,無論是孩子們的表演才藝還是家長們的素質都很好。有位來自中國東北的游客驚寄的問我,"這些表演的小孩是本地出生的嗎?你們是什麼機構辦的,為什麼能在這個大教堂舉辦?"當他聽到我的解答後,感到很不可思議。他說他也去過很多國家了,從來就沒有見過或聽說過我們華人團體能在外國人的地方舉辦這麼大型的音樂會,他也感到很自豪。我覺得我能參與其中實在是很榮幸。我們華人之家中文學校的孩子們能有這樣一個平台展示自己的才華。得益於校長及其團隊的不懈努力。謝謝!同時感謝曼城大教堂的支持。期待明年的音樂盛會能再上一層樓。"