The second annual Seeds of Hope Fundraising Concert at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing on March 18, 2012 marked another milestone in YCIS history. Over 350 student- and teacher-musicians from YCIS Beijing, Shanghai and Qingdao campuses gathered on one stage to play a three-part concert series that entranced audience members and transported them around the world with a global music selection.

A ceremonial presentation started the concert with a video highlighting the milestones of the Seeds of Hope charity. Present at the concert were YCIS Beijing Western Co-Principal, Wayne Richardson, and two students from Qufu Yew Chung and Yew Wah Hope Primary School to accept a symbolic check of RMB 500,250 yuan toward the cost of construction. One student held a small tree to symbolise the growth of a seed sown one year ago at the Qingdao and Yantai Seeds of Hope Concert. 

To continue this tradition, YCIS Beijing student and parent representatives along with Director Dr. Betty Chan, Board Member Professor Paul Yip and honoured guests planted a new seed to represent the sowing of support for building the second Seeds of Hope School located in Wanan Town of Li County, Baoding City, Hebei Province.

With the new “seed” sown, a fanfare of music kicked off the concert, which included jazz, dance, choir and a piano solo from Johnson Li, an eight-year-old Lang Lang Music Scholarship recipient. A dynamic conclusion of the concert was an original music piece, Seeds of Hope, written and conducted by Gary Sanderson, Head of Music and Visual Arts Division. With all performers on stage, the passion for Seeds of Hope could be felt by the entire audience as the final crescendo of instruments and singing resulted in a standing ovation.

The concert was a vibrant exhibition of YCIS student talent for a fantastic charitable cause supporting the education of children in rural China.

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