An introduction to Hangzhou Xizi Women′s Choir

Hangzhou Xizi Women's Choir（Xizi）was estalished in 1985 by the lawyer and musician Mr. Cao Xing（deceased）who was former Chairman of Hangzhou Music Soci‐ety and former President of Hangzhou Lawyer Association，Lu Jiaqing who was the Di‐rector of Music Teaching Committee of Hangzhou Music Society，and Yang Xinquan（deceased）who used to be a piano educator. With the former president Mr.Cao Xing and the famous music conductor Mr. Nie Zhongming（deceased）serving as an artistic direc‐tor for a long period of time，the Choir used to be the only Women's choir of the 1980s in China. In July 2015，Xizi became a flagship artistic group under Xizi Art Society of Hangzhou women Activity Center，whose members are all excellent professional Women from the circles of law，education，medicine and economy，etc. Cao Xing（1985-1995），Lu Jiaqing（1985-1995），Chen Xiangwen（1986-1995，and 2002），Yan Baolin（19942001），and Dai Shulin（2014 hitherto）successively served as the conductors for the Cho‐rus，and Miao Zizhen（1986-1998）and Hu Yan（2014 hitherto）successively held the post of Vocal Couch. Currently，Yan Baolin acts as the art director and Ren Xurong the presi‐dent.

Xizi has successively given over 140 concerts and international performances either as the host or a participant in Beijing，Shanghai，Hangzhou，Wuxi，Hong Kong，Macao，etc. In 1989，it was accredited with the title of Women's Championship by China Cho‐rus Association，whose then-president and maestro Yan Liangkun granted the plaque in person. In 1997，it went abroad for the first time to hold a concert in Thailand；in 1998，with Yan Baolin as the conductor，it held the first Women′s chorus concert in China. Xizi used to win the First Prize at the 3rd Session Beijing Chorus Festival，and Silver Prize and New Work Creativity Award at the 6th China Chorus Festival. In addition，it was mentored by such artists as famous condctors Qiu li，Zheng Xiaoying and Bian Zushan，and brilliant composers Zhou Dafeng and Lu Zaiyi，etc，and has performed large number of original works of their own and classical chorus works from China and other coun‐tries. Moreover，it used to carry out exchange or visiting performances in cooperation with choruses in the USA，Europe，Japan and Thailand，and other countries and districts.Xizi published its album Charming Sound from Paradise，which contains its chorusing works.

In recent years，Xizi has been recruiting new talents，kept learning and innovating，and endeavored to improve level of singing for presenting better performances. In May 2014，it successfully held the Years As Songs chorus concert to celebrate its 30th anni‐versary of establishment；in February 2015，it was invited to Milan，Italy，to give perfor‐mances in the Italy-China Chorus Festival，where it received wide recognition and praises；in July 2015，it was invited to sing the chorus work Adonai，which was later on collected by Vatican Pope Francesco into the musical album Wake Up that has been sold 100 thousand copies worldwide；in October 2016，it succeeded in holding the concert themed on Xizi's Love and the Chinese Dream；in 2017，under the leadership of Profes‐sor Yan Baolin and conducted by Dai Shulin，Xizi won the gold prize for adult group in the final round of the 4th（Colombo）Asia-Pacific Choir Games，for which the national anthem of China honorably broadcasted and the national flag of China was raised up in the award ceremony as an honor to China and Zhejiang；on March 24th，2019，Xizi cere‐moniously held the concert themed on Prime of Youth and Rhyme of Sound in the 2nd Women′s Art Festival of Hangzhou City，which demonstrated its pursuit in honor of prime of youth and achieving perfection of chorus art by presenting classical works of China and other countries in various styles，and dedicated its gratitude to the people of Hangzhou who are enthusiastic for life and ardently love their dwelling city.