Feature: East meets West in harmony at Vancouver concert

Performing an opera well is difficult enough. Performing an opera in a language that one recently learned even more difficult.

Opera singer Chloe Hurst is one of those Western singers who were singing in Mandarin in Vancouver on Sunday night.

At the concert "Wonderful Harmony" organized by North Star Performing Arts Management Ltd., Hurst and her colleagues performed both Chinese and Western operas for a crowd gathered at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver, aiming to unite Chinese and Western opera traditions.

Hurst told Xinhua that she had spent years learning classical European performances, but Chinese operas were relatively new to her.

"I've studied many languages and sang in many languages, but Mandarin was one that I had not yet tackled. So it was interesting for me to be able to get coaching from native speakers and also learn different styles of music," she said.

Hurst travelled to China in 2011 to compete in "Star Way," one of the most popular programs of China's national CCTV, and she earned a place in the final and gained the support of millions of fans.

Chinese operas give Canadians such as Hurst a chance to learn about the Chinese music tradition.

"Living in Canada we are just so exposed to the Western world at all times, and there isn't a whole lot of integration of Chinese music, so I think that's really important, I mean the exposure of it to people who have never heard Chinese music before."

In recent years, North Star Performing Arts Management have assembled a group of well-trained opera singers, dancers and other musicians to interpret the most famous Chinese art songs, operas, folk songs and pop songs. Meanwhile, it introduces Western music to Chinese audiences both in China and in North America.

Liqiong Yang, director of North Star, said Western culture and Chinese culture can get together and people from different cultures can come together harmoniously, and share the beauty of the music.

She believed that in a world which is full of conflicts these days, music and opera might just be the best way to get rid of much of that conflict and build understanding and respect between the peoples.

"I think if we can understand each other more, then definitely we reduce the conflicts, and I think music probably is the best way for us to communicate with each other," Yang added. Endi