The "Glory to God in the highest" Concert was held in Mochou Lu Church on Dec. 12. Invited by Jiangsu CCC&TSPM, Calgary Chinese Oratorio Society (CCOS), Ella Kiang Singers, Toronto Joint Chorus and Hong Kong Oratorio Society together with Orchestra performed the concert.
The works in the concert were mostly classical sacred music, including Dixit Diminus and Messiah (Handel), Beethoven Mass in C Major, Mozart Grand Mass in C minor and Mozart Regina Coeli. Musical instruments like cello, violin, bagpipe, drum and trumpet accompanied the concert, making it noble and lively.
Rev. Hong Guangliang, the senior pastor of Calgary Chinese Christian Blessed Harvest Church of Canada, preached the sermon "The Universal Symphony". He said music, which has different kinds like general music, sacred music and popular music, is important in China, such as Feng Ya Song in the traditional Book of Songs (The Shijingor "Book of Songs" is one of the traditional Confucian classics. The three types of songs are feng 風"airs", ya 雅"odes", and song 頌"hymns") while there is no music singing for the "heaven". Hong told the audience that we, the living people, sons and daughters of the eternal God should hear sacred music because there are life and hope of eternity. The Bible asks us to worship God all the days of our lives and praise Him in his holy dwelling in spirit and in truth. We should give thanks whether playing instruments or singing.
Simon Chu, the conductor of CCOS, said he hoped to worship and praise God with sacred music made by music ancestors. "We hope to praise our heavenly father through music and pass these grand, beautiful, elegant and moving sacred music pieces to a new generation and it's our honor and a blessing to participate in this." Said Chu.
Calgary Chinese Oratorio Society (CCOS) was founded by Mr. Simon Chu in 1998 and composited by a group of Christians who love sacred music from different churches. The mission of CCOS is to proclaim God and His love through the gift of music. Currently, there are approximately over 40 members. During the past 18 years, CCOS has performed classical music by Bach, Handel, Hayden, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Faure as well as contemporary works from John Peterson and Chinese songs. CCOS produced its first CD in 2000 and its 10th Memorial Anniversary CD in 2008.
