The Youth Choir

I've been following the Korean variety show 'Qualifications of Men' lately, intrigued by the latest mission on the show.

The mission was to form a 'Youth Choir', with members aged 52 and above, and to take part in the national choir competition. Auditions were held, and 40 senior citizens, with the oldest being 84, were selected.

Their journey in the past 3 months was a testimony to the growth of the choir. With an average age of 62, it was not easy for them to develop into a mature choir from scratch, let alone tackle the challenges of competing in a competition. I admire their courage and preseverence. Each of them has their own story to tell, and everybody has become well-loved by the viewers. Even the conductor Kim Tae-won, who is a band player, had to humbly learn conducting from another master in order to take up this challenge. He single-handedly did the composition and the arrangement for the 2 competition pieces.

I love the concept of the 'Youth Choir', it's never too old to sing on stage again, and to show to the young ones, that the seniors citizens can do it too. Totally love the idea of the K-pop idol medley, which they sang for the final round of the competition.

我也算是在舞台上成长。在小学时，曾是口笛队的队长，有好几次在台上领奏、弹钢琴。进了中学后，就和华乐结缘，一直到大学时期，甚至到毕业后，上了无数次的台演出和比赛。也因为参加华乐团，让我有机会出国表演，除了二胡也接触到板胡及竖琴，更让我结交了一群志同道合的好朋友。就和这支合唱团一样，乐团注重的是团队精神，而不是个人表现。这样的成长过程，比较扎实。

虽然现在并不活跃于乐团活动，却有想念排练、上台演出的时候。看着这支‘青年合唱团’，因为喜欢唱歌而聚在一起，因为不想再错过上台表演的机会而勇敢接受挑战，让我想象，50年后，我会不会有像他们一样的机遇，一群喜欢音乐的陌生人聚在一起，一同表演呢？我会有那股勇气吗？

‘青年合唱团’的努力不负众望，在比赛中得了银奖。他们的歌声，打动了许多听众的心，多得了观众如雷般的掌声。我也因为他们的演出感动得落泪。比赛结束后，他们解散了，但是天下无不散之筵席，我相信，他们就算不是为了比赛，也会为了共同爱好，还会继续聚在一起。

And with that, I'll leave you to enjoy their performance for the competition. :)