TORONTO -- A trio of Ottawa-area childrenâs choirs have combined their musical talents to send a message of support and kindness to people in China affected by the coronavirus.
Their video performance wasnât just about hitting the right notes -- the kids had to learn a new language too.
âIt was really cool, because learning all these new words was just cool and different,â said student Juliet Thompson.
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The Grade 4/5 class at Dr. FJ McDonald Catholic School, along with the OCSB Young Voices Choir and the C5 Choir with the Chinese Canadian Childrenâs Choir of Canada, filmed parts of the same Mandarin song conducted by Patricia Kaiser. The footage was later edited together and shared on social media.
âWe are Canadian children,â reads a caption on the video. âWe want you to know that we are thinking of you during this difficult time. We send you a message of love and support. We come from many different backgrounds, and most of us do not speak Chinese. But we have learned this Chinese song for you and we hope it will bring you encouragement.â
The novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has infected more than 92,800 people and killed more than 3,200, mostly in China.
The kids were eager to share a message of love and optimism in a time when misinformation and fear is spreading. âI hope people who are stuck in their homes get to see this video, get to see that we're sending love to them,â said Simon Gehrels/Richmond Tobi, members of the Grade 4/5 class.
âIt just says, you are not alone, we are together, hand in hand,â echoed young singer Yadong Guan with the Chinese Canadian Childrenâs Choir of Canada.
In an interview with CTV National News, Choir Director Kaiser said that the motivation for the performance was in part to combat prejudice. There have been reports of racist and sinophobic backlash towards Chinese communities, including in Canada, in response to fear of a local outbreak.
âWhat can we do, when there's prejudice, fears about certain people?â said Kaiser. âThe only way to combat it is through love. So how can we show love?â
This video performance is a first step.
âFor the coronavirus to be done,â said singer Hamida Akter, âand no one gets sick anymore.â