Music clubs and activities in ZJU

Zhejiang University is famous for its diverse club activities. As a senior student in ZJU and a huge music lover, I have joined various music clubs in ZJU and taken part in all kinds of music festival and activities. I am writing this blog to share with you my experiences in some of the music clubs in ZJU. Hopefully, this article could serve as a reference when you want to be involved in some music activities on campus or find some friends with the same music taste through the music clubs.

1) ZJU Guitar Club

As a huge lover of guitar and band, I joined ZJU Guitar Club when I was a freshman, and was later elected to be the president in the third year. Guitar Club hosts major music festivals and several small guitar concerts in the Student Culture Square, campus cafés and outdoor lawns. Moreover, the club provides guitar and music courses for all campus students and teachers. As one of the instructors of the course, I have been giving guitar lessons for three years to more than 100 students on campus. If you want to learn some guitar skills, don’t hesitate to register for the guitar course of ZJU Guitar Club.

Me giving band performance

Me giving guitar lesson

2) Bands Association

I joined ZJU Bands Association when my bands started in 2019. Directly managed by the sports and arts department of ZJU, the association coordinates affairs related to band rehearsals and performances and provides the campus musicians with a platform to exchange ideas and inspirations about music. Every semester, BA holds several live-house performances in the underground rehearsal hall, attracting numerous music lovers to come and enjoy the rock band performances. The club welcomes players of guitar, bass, drum, keyboard, and other instruments for band formation, and also pure music lover to join in and do some basic work like designing and publicizing.

The underground music festival

3) Lingyun Musical Club

Lingyun (English equivalence: rhythm of soul) musical club is one of the major college musical societies in China. It translates and adapted original musicals (mainly from English) into Chinese and puts on stage one major musical in ZJU campuses every year. In 2022, we adapted the musical Dear Evan Hansen, in which I played Cynthia Murphy, the mother of the suicidal kid, Connor Murphy. Within 10 years, the club has successfully adapted and performed 11 classic English musicals including Rent, Mamma Mia, Catch Me If You Can, High School Musical, etc. Besides, the club gives performances of musical clips in major college events. If you want to play musical, or work behind the scene in property, lighting, makeup, music editing, or translating, this is the perfect place to go.

Stills in Dear Evan Hansen and Hairspray

4) MOC  A Cappella

MOC is an A Cappella Club which contains roughly 50 A Cappella singers including some high-level music producers, b-boxers and composers. If you are not confident about your singing ability, you can also register for the A Cappella course provided by the club where you can learn music theory, vocalizational skills and b-box technique. The club gives a major performance containing a dozen A Cappella songs every semester in the campus theater.

MOC A Cappella giving campus performance

5) Wenqin Chorus

ZJU Wenqin Chorus is the best-known chorus in ZJU, winning numerous awards in choir competitions every year at home and abroad. To join the club, you must be skillful or talented in choiring, and have abundant spare time for regular training and rehearsal. As benefits, you can attend lectures of music masters and receive highly-professional vocal training. You can also travel to other countries for competitions, performances and exchanges.

Wenqin Chorus in World Choir Games 2021

Besides the clubs mentioned above, there are also some other influential music clubs and associations that I have not much involvement in, such as ZJU Vocal Association, Symphony orchestra, Keyboard band, Music Opera Club, African Drum Club, Freezone7, Hip Hop Club, and some Chinese characteristic clubs like Chinese Orchestra, the association of flute and traditional Chinese operas. Music is as an indispensable part of college life. Hope you enjoy your music life in ZJU with resources from the amazing music clubs. If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.