iSING! Suzhou International Young Artists Festival 2014 came to the closing performance on July 27 at the Grand Theater of Suzhou Culture & Arts Center. 40 vocalists from eight countries including the US, France, Italy, and China are rehearsing for the big final event.

8-hour daily training for a month
The organizer invited professional singers and instructors to teach at the training sessions. Starting with a language class on day one, the students spent nearly eight hours a day in classroom for one month, learning vocal skills, Chinese folk songs, and stage performance.

"This is a great cultural exchange I like and want to be part of," said Rebecca Henry from the U.S., who was rehearsing with two Western singers 'Come and Meet with Young Friends', a classic Chinese song. They repeated the song again and again, keeping perfecting the singing, pronunciation, facial expressions, and hand gestures.

2 flash mob performances at shopping malls
The young artists gave two flash mob performances at Harmony Constellation and the Central Station, singing "The Taihu Lake is Beautiful", "The Love Song of Kangding", and "O Sole Mio" to the first surprised and then excited crowds.

"It was amazing," said Mr. Peng, an employee of a foreign company among the crowd. "It's spontaneous, surprising, and marvelous. The proposal is so romantic and I'm still high." He described the pleasant surprise as "one of the best memories that SIP gives to me".

Theme lectures on opera and vocal art
The serial lectures given by opera artists, experts, and singers have been popular among both participants and local art-lovers.

"I attended the first festival held in Beijing on my first trip to China," said Juliet Petrus from Chicago, a lecturer and guest performer this year. "I started to learn Chinese in China this year and it's the festival that makes me interested in Chinese culture."

Zhang Meigui, a sophomore student of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, will be the lead at the closing performance singing a song from Puccini's opera. "It's an once-in-a-lifetime chance for young singers like me. The comprehensive training covers language and performing arts, and the cooperation with some of the best artists in the world gains me a better interpretation of opera."

Learning Chinese culture from city trips
Although it's a one-month program, the participants still wanted to blend into a city and they chose city trips to get to know Suzhou and its unique culture. The organizer arranged tours to the Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou Museum, and Pingjiang Road, introducing Suzhou-style embroidery, Kunqu Opera, and modern district of Suzhou Industrial Park to them.

Rebecca showed to the reporter her notes of learning Chinese. "Suzhou is a beautiful city and it's been an interesting experience for me to take part in the art festival here. It helps me improve my self-confidence as an artist and gives me the chance to try something I used to think impossible."