My name is Julia Jou and I am an alto in the choir.  I have been a member of CCCS since 1998. I work for state government as the Budget Director for the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education.

I didn’t have any choir experience before I joined CCCS other than attending music class in elementary school. I enjoy listening to many kinds of music so appreciate the variety of music we sing in the choir ranging from classical to Broadway.

I joined the choir because I wanted to meet more friends in the Chinese community after having grown up mostly in United States.  My parents had operated a restaurant in Somerville at the time and one of the customers was a member and told me about CCCS and encouraged me to join.

I have become good friends with many of the members in the choir over the last 18 years and stayed in touch with several of them even after they have left the choir.   We would have a mini CCCS reunion whenever I visit Taiwan.  I had a difficult time at the beginning singing the alto part. I often ended up singing some of the soprano part because the melody is either more familiar or easier to follow. Fortunately with the help of fellow Alto members and conductors, I learned to sing the Alto part more consistently now.  I am also part of the Cambridge Ensemble which performs separate pieces in the concert as well as representing CCCS in outside performances.

I have been involved in the management of the choir both as treasurer (past and present) and as president.  When I was president, the choir was down to 12 members (mostly women) since so many members had left and we weren’t able to recruit new ones.  I didn’t give up on the choir because I enjoyed singing in the choir and I could tell how much the community appreciates our performances.

I am happy to see the number of new members who are willing to contribute their time and effort to raise funds for the choir and promote CCCS to a wider audience. I believe that CCCS will only get stronger in the future with the support of its members.

我是徐子宜，來自中國湖南。2013年來到美國波士頓的東北大學就讀藥物化學研究所，現在東北大學繼續攻讀博士學位。喜歡的音樂集中在流行音樂，民謠以及流行/古典爵士樂。曾一度迷戀過搖滾樂，只是隨著年齡增長，發現自己更傾向於安靜、抒情以及層次感豐富的音樂。在我看來，這些樂音賦予我更大想象的空間，讓我有演唱的衝動和激情。

我之前沒有參加合唱團的經驗。但是一直保持著對於唱歌的熱愛和興趣，這和我的家庭環境有著很大的關係。母親嗓音條件不錯而且熱愛演唱，父親也會經常買一些製作精良的歌曲和專輯和我們分享。耳濡目染漸漸習慣了唱歌出現在我生活當中。在考大學之前，因為忙於學業，我對唱歌的理解也僅僅限於多聽多看。直到上大學前的那個暑假，我找到了當地歌舞團的聲樂老師教我正確的發聲方法，加上大學期間機緣巧合地找到音樂學院的老師學習流行音樂的演唱，這才把唱歌變成自己生活中不可或缺的一部分。老師細心的指導讓我有機會在大學的歌唱比賽以及咖啡廳有演唱的機會，這些經歷讓我對于唱歌有了更加深入的理解。

我和劍橋合唱團非常有緣分。我記得剛來波士頓的時候正考慮買一些二手家具，正好遇到我同鄉的同學是台灣人，她非常熱心地推薦我Facebook台灣同學會的群組。剛來美國的前半年因為要適應語言和學習環境，練習唱歌的機會非常少，同時又苦於找不到合適的地點練唱。練習唱歌只能擱置。半年後，我在同學會的群組看見了劍橋合唱團的招生的消息，抱著試一試的心態，我跟團長取得聯繫，通過Audition最終成為tenor中的一員，記得當時收到指揮發來的郵件我異常興奮。謝謝劍橋合唱團讓我有機會認識一群熱愛唱歌的朋友，和大家一起演唱並且做著和音樂相關的事。成為劍橋合唱團的一員讓我從內心裡感到快樂。

劍橋合唱團的氣氛融洽，每個人都非常友善。大家來自各行各業，有著不同的生活經歷，這些並沒有妨礙到團員之間的相處，反而讓各自更加珍惜每週五的排練。在我看來，每週五的排練是一個學習的過程，學習如何與他人相處以及如何配合其他聲部和聲，我個人非常享受。特別重要的是， 團員對於音樂的熱愛以及團內工作的配合，尤其是指揮、團長和委員會對每季演唱會的精心安排，讓我覺得劍橋合唱團有非常強的凝聚力和生命力。