This Chinese folk song with a history of at least 400 years can be traced back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. It has been widely spread in Jiangsu area. In 1957 it was first released in the form of a single "Jasmine" after some adaption. Today, "Jasmine" is not only a household name in China, but also one of the representative elements of Chinese culture. It was included in music textbooks in the Asia-Pacific region in 1982, becoming one of the great songs recommended by UNESCO to people all over the world.
The pentatonic tune of "Jasmine" shows distinct characteristics of Chinese folk music. It has a smooth melody and a well-proportioned structure, which contains periodic repetitions, expressing a dulcet, smooth, soft, and graceful style of regions south of the Yangtze River in China. It depicts a vivid scene where an elegant and virtuous girl is attracted by the fragrant and beautiful jasmine flowers, but she doesn’t want to pick them up, and yet she is reluctant to leave the flowers. This classic is beautifully and exquisitely composed and sung to express deep and implicit emotions.
About the Choir
The members of the Caterpillar Choir are students majoring in vocal music from Jiangsu Provincial Drama School. The average age of the choir members is 17 years. Since its establishment in 2017, it has won many awards, including the only gold award in the Youth Group of the 4th Zijin Chorus Festival; the Excellent Program Award of the 5th Jiangsu Provincial Wenhua Award; the Gold Award of the 11th Jinling Chorus Festival; the highest award of the 2019 China Qingdao (Jimo) International Chorus Conference—"Outstanding Contribution Chorus Team Award"; China Yangtze River Delta Cities Chorus Festival and the 17th Nanhu Chorus Festival Gold Award, Best Accompaniment Award, Best Conductor Award, and Best New Work Award. The Caterpillar Choir was invited to the recording of the programs "Chorus Pioneers" and "Chorus Spring Festival Gala" of China Media Group, which were broadcast on CCTV 1 and CCTV’s music channel during the Spring Festival in 2021. Now the "Caterpillar" has broken out of its cocoon into a butterfly. It has become a new-coming force in the chorus circle of Jiangsu Province and has also become the pride of Jiangsu Provincial Drama School.
About Jiangsu Provincial Drama School
Jiangsu Provincial Drama School is located in the southeast corner of Nanjing, the ancient capital of six dynasties in Chinese history. It is the main base for cultivating artistic performance and cultural management talents in Jiangsu Province, and also the cradle for the inheritors of many traditional Chinese operas, which are intangible cultural heritages. There are more than 20 majors in opera, dance, film & drama, music, art, design and other disciplines. It is a national key secondary vocational school, a four-star secondary vocational school in Jiangsu Province, a high-level pilot secondary vocational school in Jiangsu Province. It has won titles such as “National Advanced Cultural Collective”, and “Advanced Unit of Jiangsu Province”. Over the past 60 years since its establishment, the school has trained tens of thousands of artistic talents for China. The graduates are in different positions all over Jiangsu Province, China and the rest of the world. They’re active in various art stages, working in different cultural positions, and achieving remarkable achievements. Dozens of alumni have successively won national awards such as the Government Wenhua Award, Plum Blossom Award, Magnolia Award, Huabiao Award, Golden Lion Award, Golden Rooster Award, Hundred Flowers Award, China TV Drama Flying Awards, Golden Disk Awards, and Lanting Award.
