With the support of Hunter College of the City University of New York, and Columbia University, the Education Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York (TECO) organized the first ever New York Metropolitan Area Intercollegiate Chinese Singing Contest. The aims of the contest were to promote Chinese learning in the Greater New York area and interaction between college and university students currently learning Chinese, and students who use Chinese as a second language, who were all eligible to enter, and to engage and energize students learning Chinese. As Charlin Chang, Director of the Education Division pointed out: “Learning Chinese can be very lively and fun. We wanted to promote this kind of Chinese learning atmosphere and enhance the enjoyment of language learning through this activity.”

The contest was held at on December 2, 2016 at Hunter College which is described as “the hub of language studies in the City University of New York system”. It attracted seventeen competitors, students at Hunter College, Columbia University, and the State University of New York, and an audience of more than a hundred enthusiastic friends and supporters.

The competition was fierce! Some competitors sang traditional songs, some sang popular songs, and some sang songs they’d written themselves. They gave passionate performances, with their supporters cheering their friends on. A panel of local musicians invited by the Education Division finally selected the top three: first place went to Mason Lang, second place went to Trevor Docter, and third place went to Joshua Tufano. The People’s Choice Award went to Karissa Caputo. All the winners were awarded prizes and a competition certificate.

The singing contest was a vibrant occasion, and it definitely achieved its aims, enhancing friendship between the students at different universities, and clearly demonstrating their vitality and talent and that that learning Chinese can be fun. This was the first ever New York Metropolitan Area Intercollegiate Chinese Singing Contest but it was so successful that it certainly won’t be the last!