SYSU Student Chorus

Founded in 1995, the SYSU Student Chorus has become a well-organized student society. It provides a stage for music enthusiasts to show their talents and perfect their performing skills. Since its foundation, the Chorus has presented various performances including solemn and elegant bel canto, agile and energetic national singing, and variable and flexible pop singing, which enriches campus cultural life.

Under the supervision and instruction of the directors, Guo Shuiliang, Xu Hong, Chen Ying and Zhou Li, the Chorus has gained many awards, such as the first prize in the National Choral Competition for College Students in 1999; wonderful and impressive performance in SYSU 80th Anniversary Evening Party taped on CCTV4 in 2004, and the first prize in the National Art Competition for College Students with excellent interpretation of “Rainbow After the Rain” in July, 2005. Besides, the Chorus held many concerts which received a lot of praise and positive reviews from faculty and students.

The directors pay great attention to the training of the students’ personal abilities, and therefore campus singers gained many prizes in all the previous Venus Singers’ Competitions (an annual SYSU singing competition) and other singing competitions of provincial or national levels. Through 12 years of efforts, the SYSU Student Chorus will witness a better future.

SYSU Ritual Team

The Ritual Team of South Campus, guided by the SYSU Youth Association, is a professional team which provides professional etiquette services for the University's various large and medium-sized activities. It undertakes the ceremonial reception work of celebrations, welcome parties, sports meetings, contests and awards ceremonies where the students fully demonstrate the elegance and temperament as Miss Manners. In addition, it has a model team which participates in the performing arts of fashion shows on-and off campus. These off-campus performances are helpful for the students to enrich their social experience.

SYSU Student Dance Troupe

Directly under the SYSU Youth Association, the Student Dance Troupe is a major brand society of SYSU. The love for arts and passion for dancing have kept the troupe growing greater and stronger ever since it was founded seventeen years ago.

Mr. Wu Changlin, a well-known dance educator, has been providing helps and guides for students, which helps students to improve self-cultivation, elevate their minds, and broaden their horizons in an artistic way.

In the past seventeen years, the Dance Troupe not only has won numerous prizes in both domestic and international competitions, but also has taken part in many evening parties on campus. It participated in the “Serving the Country People in Three Aspects” program of the University during the summer holidays. There its members offered farmers various services including dance performances. Farewell dances show every year in the society.

Moreover, special performances are held on campus, demonstrating the highest level of the Dance Troupe. As Mr. Wu always says, “Learn to dance, learn to behave”, the SYSU Student Dance Troupe is a place that has changed many students’ lives.

SYSU Chinese Orchestra

SYSU Chinese Orchestra, founded in 2003, is under the leadership of the SYSU Youth Association. It gathers together a group of young people who share the same passion for classical Chinese music and instruments. Featured with all kinds of Chinese instruments, it provides a platform for students to get closer to classical Chinese arts.

The Chinese Orchestra consists of the national band, percussion band, Chinese zither section and flute section. It provides a platform of artistic practice for the lovers of Chinese traditional instruments.

It actively represents the University to participate in various exchange activities at home and abroad and receives several awards at the national and provincial levels. For instance, at the Third National Art Competition for College Students in 2012, three programs of the SYSU Chinese Orchestra were awarded two first prizes (ranked 1st and 4th), and one second prize (ranked 1st) of Guangdong Province, as well as the second prize at the national level.

It plays an important role in carrying forward the Lingnan Music. Under the guidance of several renowned musicians, the Orchestra is growing like a flower blooming with hope and prospect.

SYSU Dramatic Association

As one of the top six art societies in our university, SYSU Dramatic Association has a history of over 20 years and enjoys great popularity across four campuses. It is under the leadership of the SYSU Youth Association. Several directors, with a bunch of talented students, participate in drama management and performance organization. It offers a great chance for students to perform themselves and enjoy the beauty of drama in their daily life.

The Dramatic Association includes five sections: actor section, director section, stage section, public relations section and publicity section. Just as its slogan saying, “merry laughers and angry shoutings present all stories of all walks of life; pleasure, anger, sorrow and joy draw the colorful life”, through organization and performance, we experience a great variety of lives and grow with strength and happiness.

Fruitful returns witness the members’ exertion, struggle and perseverance: the first prize in National College Student Drama Festival in 2000; Best Performance, Best Director and Best Original Play in National College Student Drama Festival in 2006; and many other prizes in all the previous Guangzhou College Student Drama Festival. We appreciate what we’ve gained and are looking forward to the brighter future.

SYSU Symphony Orchestra

Founded in 2000, the SYSU Symphony Orchestra is one of the top six art societies directly under the SYSU Youth Association. Here the excellent music lovers get together and make it a vibrant society.

It consists of string section, band section and piano section. The string section includes first and second violins, viola, cello, and double bass. The band section has woodwind parts and brass parts including flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, horn, trombone and tuba. The piano section contains piano parts.

In resent years, the SYSU Symphony Orchestra has participated in all kinds of competitions on-and off-campus and harvested outstanding achievements. Meanwhile, it insists on holding one or two free concerts each year to enrich the cultural life on campus.

Sports Tradition

Lingnan University, one of the predecessors of SYSU, is a pioneer of western sports. At the end of Qing Dynasty, Lingnan University carried out various sports activities such as football, tennis, baseball, athletics and swimming, and won many team champions in the Sports Meeting of Guangdong Province.

During Dr Sun Yat-sen’s lifetime, physical education always occupied a prominent position and was closely combined with his revolutionary thought and practice. Influenced by the idea of “strengthen the army, strengthen the people, strengthen the nation” formed during the reform movement of 1898, Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s views on physical education in his early years: the “martial spirit” and "If a nation wants to strengthen itself, it must first strengthen its people’s stamina.” became one of his ideals of realizing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and also had an impact on the forming of SYSU’s sports tradition.