The 13th China International Chorus Festival was launched at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing , July 26, 2016. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

 The 13th China International Chorus Festival was launched at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday.

Luo Shugang, Chinese cultural minister, Michael J. Anderson, president of the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM), and about 6,000 officials, foreign diplomats and representatives from some 10 countries attended the opening ceremony of the event.

Luo said thousands of choruses and performers from more than 100 countries have graced the event with their beautiful voices since the launch of the festival 24 years ago. He said the event will continue to strengthen the cultural exchange between China and other countries.

Praising the festival, Anderson called it a nice example in the international cultural exchange.

Robert Zollitsch, or Lao Luo, is the general music director of the event. His wife, singer Gong Linna, also participated in the festival.

The ceremony started with a chorus of 4,000 people’s performance of Chinese folk music Jasmine, and ended with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ode an die Freude.

The festival will feature 204 sessions of performances given by 238 choruses from 44 countries and regions. And 20 chorus concerts will be staged at the Beijing Concert Hall and the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center.

Launched in 1992, the chorus festival is the only national chorus art activity acknowledged by the State Council in China.

The 13th chorus festivals is organized by the Bureau for External Cultural Relations of the Ministry of Culture of China, IFCM, the China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG) and other related institutions.