When people think of music from Iceland, they inevitably think of Bjork, but the small Nordic nation has a number of other notable voices. The Iceland Chorus, one of the most well-known choruses in the world, performed in Qingdao, a city on the coast of eastern China, on Tuesday last week.
The Iceland Chorus was founded in 1967 and has been performing at international events ever since. The 40-member group which sang in China are all in their twenties. They have gained a reputation for themselves internationally as a group with pure voices, perfect harmonies and performances of passion.
The chorus performed a total of 18 pieces in Qingdao. The songs were of a wide variety and were many based on traditional folk songs from Iceland.
Qingdao is trying to transform itself into a musical centre in China and invited the Iceland Chorus to perform as part of a larger concert series of international groups.
Chinese culture also recently came into Iceland with a Chinese cultural festival opening in Reykjavik last week. According to a press release, the goal of the festival is to introduce local people to the “exotic and alluring world of Chinese art”.