Spring Festival Peony Concert

Last week, my dear friend, Cheng Lin, asked me if I would be interested in joining her as a backup singer for her Spring Festival Peony concert in her home town – Luo Yang.   I’ve always been curious to know how Lin prepares for her concerts as she performs quite a lot within China.  So with Lin’s encouragement, I decided to try it out.  The first day of rehearsal was so intense as all the songs but 2 are in Chinese and most of Lin’s songs were new to me (except for her most recent releases from her CD ‘Greater than Gold’ which, by the way, are fabulous).  So I joined the musicians in the studio and absorbed as much of the songs as I could.  Thankfully I recorded everything on my ipod so that I could do my homework and practise later. 🙂
I was so relieved when Olivia (Lin’s assistant) sent me the lyrics to the songs so that I could follow along.  I must have learned about 15 songs in 2 days – no easy feat as Chinese is my 3rd language and I’m still not as fluent as I would like to be!  By the third day of rehearsal, I felt so much more confident as I practised the songs at home till I felt more at ease with the lyrics and the melodies.
We will have a few days break and then we’re back to some intensive rehearsals next week.  I will keep you posted on how it goes…  I’m very excited about the concert and feel so honored that Lin asked me to participate.

Rehearsing with Lin in the studio for her concert