The opening concerts also featured the Poya Song Book Choir, which is from Poya village, Funing county, Wenshan Zhuang and Miao autonomous prefecture in Southwest China's Yunnan. The choir, founded in 2012, is committed to singing songs from the Poya Songbook, which originated in Poya village and is a collection of Zhuang ethnic group folk songs recorded on a piece of hand-woven cloth bearing 81 pictographic characters. Each of the characters symbolizes a folk song of Zhuang ethnic group. In 2011, the Poya Songbook was added to the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

From Aug 4 to 20, the annual NCPA August Chorus Festival, themed "Sound and Harmony", is staging 13 choral concerts from all over the world. Highlights will include the award-winning Inner Mongolia Youth Choir, founded in 2008 and led by its conductor Yalungerile, which will perform songs from the Mongolian ethnic group in a concert on Tuesday, the China National Traditional Orchestra Chorus, which will draw a Chinese musical map by performing folk songs from different parts of the country, and Spanish vocal group, B Vocal.

The NCPA August Chorus Festival will close with a concert featuring the chorus of the China National Symphony Orchestra. Conducted by Wang Linlin, the concert will feature Chinese songs, including Xinjiang Youth Dance, Rainbow After the Storm and Yellow River Cantata.

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn