“Not a Drop, but an Ocean”
Epoch Times Germany Staff
“Coming for You” european choir. (Jason Wang/The Epoch Times)
The conductor, a man with distinguished Latin features, raises his arms. Instantly, a hushed silence befalls the huge auditorium at the Tanzschule Polz [Dance Academy Polz] in the locale of Wiener Neustadt, which is located 40 km south of Austria’s capital, Vienna. Brazilian-born Haroldo Rodrigues gestures, and the choir members respond as one body. Suddenly one is transported—not to South America, but to the Middle Kingdom—the choir mostly sings in Chinese. The audience is largely taken by surprise, as it gazes at the predominantly Western faces!
 Coming For You CD 欧洲为你而来合唱团CD封面 |  Coming For You CD 欧洲为你而来合唱团CD封底 |
Click to Listen Online!
Listen Online：得度（Be Saved） 2:19（2.1MB）
Listen Online：为你而来（Coming for You）3:50（3.5MB）
Listen Online：莲花颂（Ode to the Lotus） 2:44（2.5MB）
Listen Online：正念（Righteous Thoughts） 3:09（2.9MB）
Listen Online：修行（Cultivation Practice） 1:58（1.8MB）
Listen Online：美丽的五月（Beautiful May）3:24（3.1MB）
Listen Online：憧憬（Joyous Hope） 2:45（2.5MB）
Listen Online：欢笑（Rejoice） 2:05（1.9MB）
Listen Online：为你而来（Coming for You）3:50（3.5MB）
Listen Online：莲花颂（Ode to the Lotus） 2:44（2.5MB）
Listen Online：正念（Righteous Thoughts） 3:09（2.9MB）
Listen Online：修行（Cultivation Practice） 1:58（1.8MB）
Listen Online：美丽的五月（Beautiful May）3:24（3.1MB）
Listen Online：憧憬（Joyous Hope） 2:45（2.5MB）
Listen Online：欢笑（Rejoice） 2:05（1.9MB）
For four consecutive days, 30 singers from seven different European nations, including Austria, met at the Tanzschule this past summer, to record a CD. Alexander Sieber, who was instrumental in the success of this venture, had chosen this location for its exceptional acoustics.
The Choir’s Background
The choir was established on December 30, 2003, and has since performed for international concert venues in New York, Paris, London, Geneva, Athens, Hong Kong and Stockholm. The combined choir of 80 voices from 20 different European nations performed their title song and namesake, “Coming for You”, for the first time in public during the 2004 New Year’s Gala at Radio City Music Hall, New York.
… casual attire is also suitable, as during this September 2008 CD-recording session near Vienna (Jason Wang/The Epoch Times)
The choir members have more in common than their mere love of music. They have an additional bond that has inspired them to communicate with the world, through the universal language of music. What is the bond? All of the members practice the exercise-mediation system known as Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa). Perceived as a threat by the Chinese communist regime, since 1999 it has been banned and brutally persecuted in China.
The choir’s name itself has deep significance. Between November 2001 and March 2002, more than 100 non-ChineseFalun Gong practitioners from around the world peacefully demonstrated in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, in hopes that their presence would reveal to the Chinese people the truth about thepersecution of Falun Gong, and that Falun Gong is openly practiced throughout the world, without reprisal. The protesters unfurled banners with slogans expressing Falun Gong’s three core principles—Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance—but within a matter of minutes, they were invariably arrested and detained by the Chinese regime’s secret police.
Some choir members had also shared in the experience of participating in the peaceful protests. The choir has taken its name, “Coming for You”, as a tribute to those non-Chinese from around the world who came to take a stand in Tiananmen Square. The choir has become one united voice for those practitioners in China who, under the brutally repressive Chinese regime, have no voice.
Concentrated effort during rehearsal: Haroldo Rodrigues at the piano, with the men`s choir in the background (Jason Wang/The Epoch Times)
Message from the Heart
Silvan Fedier, a Swiss pedagogue, was one such protester, who was also present during the CD-recording session. News of his arrest traveled swiftly through the Swiss media. Today, he still works tirelessly to help end the persecution of Falun Gong through peaceful means. His purpose for singing with the choir is to have a way to send a direct message through music and art. He expressed his conviction that music does not lie — it goes directly to the heart: “I am convinced that our music expresses the state of our hearts and minds, and thus guides listeners to a different level of awareness, that carries deeper meaning than mere words can express.”
From different nations but motivated to sing in unison: the European choir,
Jana Novotna, a twenty-four-year-old translator from Chechnya, has a similar opinion: “I believe music to be a powerful means and way to express beauty, and reveal all the grand things beyond ourselves. My parents are musicians, and I believe that music easily connects people, because it directly touches their hearts and minds.” She added that she had learned much about herself through the experience of singing. “When I focus too intently on myself, I can only hear my own voice, and feel isolated. As soon as I try to hear others better, I get the feeling that I am no longer a single drop of water, but a whole ocean.”
From - http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/arts-entertainment/choir-coming-for-you-4656.html, http://m.minghui.org/mmh/articles/2012/10/15/264073.html
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