IMNU and AU exchange concert held

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2014-05-29

Yun Guohong, president of IMNU shakes hands with an AU delegate at the Inner Mongolia Normal University and Alfred University Academic Exchange Concert on May 22.[Photo by imnu.edu.cn]

Students?from Alfred University play guzheng at the Inner Mongolia Normal University and Alfred University Academic Exchange Concert on May 22.[Photo by imnu.edu.cn]

Students of Inner Mongolia Normal University dance at the Inner Mongolia Normal University and Alfred University Academic Exchange Concert on May 22.[Photo by imnu.edu.cn]

An academic exchange concert between the Inner Mongolia Normal University (IMNU) and Alfred University (AU), USA was unveiled in the former’s concert hall on May 22.

Professor Fred Bild, former Canadian Ambassador to China and his wife, together with representatives from AU were present at the concert; Yun Guohong, president of IMNU was also on hand to appreciate the concert.

The AU’s guzheng (Chinese zither) ensemble, with all its members wearing tangzhuang (traditional Chinese garments), gave a fantastic performance that featured traditional Chinese musical elements; while the performance from IMNU featured ethnic group elements, including dance, long drawn songs and horse-head fiddle playing.

“Shenandoah”, an American folk song and “Dance of the Youth”, a popular Uygur folk song were sung in chorus by the students and teachers from both universities at the end of the concert.

On the invitation of AU, an IMNU delegation will take part in AU’s “Confucius Institute Day”, which is scheduled for this September. During their American trip, the delegates will carry out a series of cultural exchange activities like themed performances, an exhibiton of sculpture and an academic lecture.

Yun Guohong attached much importance to the two universities’ cooperation on education. He has put forward a concept of Sino-US cooperation based on a hybrid studying mode, which has been under preliminary research and survey. Moreover, this concept will be discussed in-depth during the delegation’s stay in the US, in order to prepare for the two universities’ cooperation.

Edited by Liu Yufen and Brian Salter