Thursday evening was the Opening Ceremonies of the second half of the 6th World Choir Games in Shaoxing, China—and it truly was the experience of a lifetime! Of the over 450 choirs from nearly 90-countries, only (6) choirs were asked to perform as part of the opening ceremonies. The Voices of Unity were not only one of the choirs performing, but we were one of the most anticipated acts. In fact when the Voices of Unity were announced to perform, we received a great deal of applause from the 10,000 plus in the audience. I must say—this was surprising and just made the kids feel wonderful. After our first song (GET READY) was over we received an incredible ovation of applause and appreciation. We knew that China wouldn’t be ready for what they were about to hear, but these kids really knocked it out of the ballpark. They went absolutely wild! They Voices of Unity also performed the song Heal The World (RIP Michael Jackson) and what an emotional experience that was. As the song got going you could see hands waiving their flags from many nations and those without flags, well they waived their hands. It truly was an incredible sight to see, and the Voices of Unity Youth Choir created that experience. The stage was HUGE, but the video screens were beyond larger than life–Jordan Applegate took the stage literally.
But the Opening Ceremonies were more than just a 6-minute performance by our incredible young people—it was a blessing to have such a wonderful night of entertainment put on for us. Traditional Chinese music and culture was represented on the world stage to show everyone what China and Shaoxing are all about.
