成立於1974年的科羅拉多兒童合唱團是世界著名七大童聲合唱團之一，在過去四十多年間成功將自己獨有的藝術魅力展現給全世界。樂團更積極發掘創新和多面貌的藝術表現形式，當中最令人耳目一新的當然是將音樂與戲劇精神相結合的大膽嘗試。在曲目方面，由歌劇、音樂劇、古典歌曲、流行合唱作品等等他們都有涉獵。
Colorado Children’s Chorale established in 1974 is one of the seven most renowned children chorales in the world and has been bringing its artistry and charm to the global audience. The group aspires to create their innovative and original forms of performance, while among all their bold attempt in integrating music and theatrical style can be seen as the most eye-opening; in terms of types of music, the members have been putting their hands to diverse repertoire ranging from opera, musical theater and classical music to the more contemporary kinds of standard choral compositions.
科羅拉多兒童合唱團之所以有世界七大合唱團之稱，其中一個原因是他們的「大」真的不容小覷——藝術總監Deborah DeSantis和行政總監Meg Steitz每年帶領來自丹佛180所小學、有著不同種族和家庭背景的五百名中小學生，培訓他們參加各式各樣的表演和比賽。不過，相比起成員數目，科羅拉多兒童合唱團最令人讚嘆的地方，其實是與世界最優秀的演藝組織合作的豐富經驗，他們曾與音樂界舉足輕重的Placido Domingo 和Zubin Mehta一同演出，又曾在萬人景仰的教宗約翰保祿二世面前演唱聖詩，擁有非一般的舞台穩定度。
Being called the biggest and most well-known chorale, Colorado Children’s Chorale must have something special in it. You may be taken back only by looking at its size – every year Deborah DeSantis the Artistic Director and Meg Steitz the Administrative Director would be the mainstay in training more than five hundred members with different ethnical family backgrounds from 180 elementary and high schools. They take part in a wide range of festivals and contests. Apart from its size, their rich experience in collaborating with the world-finest arts performing groups is even more shocking. The Chorale members have been on the same stage with the most distinguished musicians like Placido Domingo and Zubin Mehta and have experience singing hymns in front of the much-admired Pope John Paul II. Through all of these they are showing their high level of competence and stability.
既然想向世界宣揚自己的音樂，樂團當然不會只滿足於在自己的國家表演，科羅拉多兒童合唱團曾多次走出美國，遊歷各國與當地音樂人交流心得，中國、巴西、日本、瑞士、西班牙等地方通通都有他們的足跡。他們這趟旅程來到了香港，旨在探索一下這座繁榮鬧市背後的音樂故事。
Aiming at showing the world what they’ve got, the Chorale of course will not confine themselves to stages only within the US. They have left footprints all over the world, holding tours in China, Brazil, Japan, Swiss, Spain and many other countries to exchange knowledge and create memorable moments with local musicians. This time they stopped by Hong Kong, probably with wishes for revealing the music stories hiding deep in this bustling city.
因此，我們邀請了黃埔宣道小學合唱團、中華基督教會基華小學（九龍塘）合唱團、葛量洪校友會黃埔學校合唱團，以及聖公會聖馬利亞堂莫慶堯中學合唱團等本地四間中小學的合唱團參與科羅拉多兒童合唱團的合作演出。就在剛過去的五月八日，這場聯合演出於西灣河文娛中心劇院盛大舉行，不少音樂愛好者都慕名而來，希望親「耳」感受一下科羅拉多兒童合唱團充滿活力的歌曲演繹，同時看看外國與本地合唱團相遇會撞出怎樣的火花。正如我們預期般，當天的活動空前成功，最後所有團體更一同在台上高唱「同一首歌」和 “Do Ra Mi”，氣氛熱烈高漲。當然，活動能如此成功，也有賴四間本地學校的校長，包括：蔡校長、鄭校長、李校長、錢校長，以及ACFEA北美區主席Hugh Davies，科羅拉多兒童合唱團的藝術總監Deborah DeSantis和樂作枋行政總監庾艾盈為我們擔任開幕式嘉賓，為一眾小音樂家打氣。
Regarding that, we invited Alliance singers of Alliance Primary School Whampoa, G.C.E. Past Students’ Association Whampoa Primary School Choir, CCC Kei Wa Primary School (Kowloon Tong) Choir, and SKH St. Mary’s Church Mok Hing Yiu College – in total four local institutions’ choral groups – to be the co-performers in Colorado Children’s Chorale’s concert in Hong Kong. The show took place in the Theatre in Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre on May 8. Lots of music lovers came over in the hope of feeling the dynamic in the Chorale’s singing as well as the chemical reaction between western and eastern choral groups firsthand. And of course, such a great success should be attributed to the four principles – including Ms. Choi, Ms. Cheng, Mr. Lee and Ms. Chin – regarding their supportive attitude throughout the whole collaboration project. Also, the efforts paid by the Chairperson of Northern American ACFEA Davies, the artistic Director DeSantis and the Executive Director of Ponte della Musica Esther Yu, who attended the show as the opening ceremony guests, are also deeply appreciated.
每每有外國團體訪港，我們都必定帶他們感受一下香港的本地文化，這次接待科羅拉多兒童合唱團也不例外。在演出前，我們帶團員到茶樓嚐嚐地道的點心美食，又一同乘坐天星小輪欣賞一番維港兩岸的景色，為他們緩解一下演出前的緊張感覺之餘，相信也在他們心目中描繪出一幅香港特有的「景象」。
Whenever a foreign group visits Hong Kong, it is a must-do thing for us to share with them the local cultures in Hong Kong. Therefore, this time we took Colorado Children’s Chorale to a Chinese restaurant before the show and let them have a taste of some authentic dimsum. We later took the Star Ferry to enjoy the iconic Victoria Harbor view and chill out for a bit. Hopefully these would have left a nice picture of how Hong Kong looks like in their minds.
ACFEA Hong Kong 