Manchester Chinese Student Choir
The Manchester Chinese Student Choir (MCSC) was established in 2017. It is the first choir for Chinese undergraduate and postgraduate students in the UK and is open to all Chinese students in Greater Manchester. In the academic year 2017/2018, the Choir was directed by Ms. Qi Li from Sichuan Conservatory of Music. Since the end of year 2018, it has been conducted by John Liu from the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in the UK. It is a formal SATB choir with a professional conductor and a piano accompanist. The members of the Choir span 10 years of age and have a wide range of majors in all major fields. Their qualifications range from the first year of undergraduate to the fourth year of the doctoral year. However, they have years of musical and/or vocal learning experience, with a solid foundation of music.
This is a group of people who love music and sing, and who are diligent and conscientious in pursuing excellence. Since the establishment of the group, they have actively participated in various types of performances, including a series of activities for the 70th anniversary of the foundation of People’s Republic of China. With full enthusiasm and serious attitude towards music, they have been bringing vitality and happiness to every student and scholar in Manchester. In June 2019, the Choir successfully held its first concert since its establishment.
The Choir has been in cooperation with FELICE STUDIO since the autumn of 2019. More new friends and therefore voices have been integrated into the original team of the Choir. After a semester, MCSC has prepared a Christmas and New Year gift for everyone. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
John Liu 刘继仁
Director and Conductor
艺术总监兼指挥
出生于中国音乐世家，现就读于英国北方皇家音乐学院(RNCM)，师从钢琴教授及室内乐系主任Jeremy Young。自幼随父母学习钢琴， 曾师从钢琴教育家姚敬庄教授。 毕业于中国音乐学院附中，师从钢琴学科主任胡小雪老师。
11岁与著名小提琴演奏家杨天娲合作演奏小提琴协奏曲《梁山伯与祝英台》；
2016年有幸与著名声乐歌唱家廖昌永老师同台演出；
2017年获邀参演伦敦“全英春晚”及“全英元宵晚会”；有幸与中国著名歌唱家、演员腾格尔老师同台演出；同年7月，跟随著名打击乐演奏家余乐先生进行全国巡演；
2018年，获邀参与“伯明翰国庆晚会”，在英就读期间多次受邀参演中国驻曼彻斯特总领馆的各项演出；
2019年，获邀参与北京世界园艺博览会“国际竹藤组织荣誉日” 文艺汇演，获得好评.
曾多次为国家领导人进行演奏.。演出足迹遍布伦敦威斯敏斯特中央大厅，曼彻斯特中央会议大厅，Stoller Hall，伯明翰市政厅 ，北京中山音乐堂，武汉琴台音乐厅，长沙音乐厅，珠海大剧院等。 曾成功举办多场个人独奏音乐会。
Born in a Chinese music family, John is currently a student of Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in the UK, where he studies under the piano professor and director of chamber music, Professor Jeremy Young. Since childhood, he studied piano with his parents and also a pupil of the piano educator, Professor Jingzhuang Yao. He is a graduate of The Affiliated High School of China Conservatory of Music and studied under the director of the piano discipline, Ms. Xiaoxue Hu.
At the age of 11, John played the violin concerto "Butterfly Lovers" with the famous violinist Tianwa Yang. Since 2016, he has been invited to perform at many main events, such as the Spring Festival Gala in the UK, where he performed with the famous vocal singer C. Y. Liao and the Chinese singer and actor Tengger. He has been involved in various significant performances for national leaders and invited to events held by the Consulate-General of P. R. China in Manchester during his studies in the UK. In 2019, he was invited to perform at the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation Honour Day Event in Beijing for the International Horticultural Exposition, which was well received. John completed a national tour with the famous percussionist Yu Le in 2017 and has successfully held several solo concerts.
He has travelled for piano performances at the Central Hall Westminster in London, Manchester Central Conference Hall, Stoller Hall, Birmingham City Hall, the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, Wuhan Qintai Concert Hall, Changsha Concert Hall, Zhuhai Opera House and so on.
Katherine Mao 毛毛
Composer
1997 年出生于北京，4 岁开始学习钢琴，5 岁进入北京电视台合唱团。2009年随宋庆龄基金会在加拿大参加巡回演出，2010 年在维也纳金色大厅 随北京电视台合唱团获得一等奖第一名。同时期在中国国家大剧院，北京音乐厅，中山音乐堂等举办多场音乐会。
14 岁留学英国女校 Roedean，2013 开始学习古典吉他以及管风琴，2014 荣获音乐奖学金。《无词曲》钢琴独奏、《音乐盒》风琴协奏曲 发表于罗丁学校。
2016 进入曼彻斯特大学音乐系进修作曲及钢琴，随后《进化》人声打击乐四重奏获得作曲家 Prof. Camden Reeves 嘉奖 《浮士德》无伴奏三声部、《小丑》大大号独奏、《深海》电子音乐等发表于曼彻斯特大学。
2018 年于国风雅歌-范竞马建立合作关系。
2019 年《如果有来生》合唱版特别为曼城华人留学生合唱团改写并于首场专场音乐会第一次公演。本次音乐会《亲爱的旅人啊》《鹿 be free》为毛毛作品。
Katherine was born in Beijing in 1997. She began her study on piano at 4 years old and having professional choir training at 5. With the China Beijing TV Station’s Choir, Katherine has won the 1st place of the gold medal in the International Choir Competition in Wiener Musikverein at 2010. She has been involved in many concerts in the same period. At the age of 14, Katherine began her study at Roedean in Brighton. She won the School Music Scholarship and became Head of Student in Music of the school. Later on, Katherine began her composition study in the University of Manchester in 2016. She specially arranged the choral song “If There is an After Life” for the first concert of the Choir. “Dear Traveller” and “Free and Unafraid” are works of Katherine and will be first performed in the concert tonight.
Matthew Kong
Piano Accompanist
钢琴艺术指导
曼彻斯特大学药物化学博士。5岁开始学琴；初中在学校合唱团当钢琴伴奏；高中和好友组建摇滚乐队和爵士乐队；多次在高中举办的活动和音乐节上演出；大学曾协助谢菲尔德大学春晚的音响工程设计，平日喜欢游戏音乐编曲并分享到视频网站。
Matthew is a second-year PhD student in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Manchester. He has been playing piano since the age of 5 and became a piano accompanist in the junior high school choir. During his time at high school, he established a rock and jazz band with friends. Matthew performed in a lot of performances in high school and music festivals. In the university, he assisted the sound engineering design of the Spring Festival Evening of Sheffield University. He is interested in creating and arranging music for online games and share them on video sites.