Hi, my name is Jill. I am a Zecchino d’Oro fan from China.
My story began in 2012. One night I was browsing a forum and found people discussing a video, in which a little Chinese boy was singing an Italian song about China.
When the song turned into Chinese language, the boy’s eyes shone with proud light, and I was immediately touched.
I got to know Zecchino d’Oro since then and I spent the rest of the night watching more videos.
Soon the 55 edition of Zecchino came. I believe each of us has one song that means something special — mine is “Lupo Teodoro,” which truly brought me into the hall of Zecchino and still weighs a lot in my heart.
From then on, Zecchino became a part of my life. I searched every video I could found online. I listened the songs every day. I also got to know people, from China to Italy, who also consider Zecchino as a part of their lives.
In 2014, when I was doing a master degree in London, I found it was the time for me to visit Antoniano, where Zecchino’s story happens and where I had been dreaming about.
In June, I finally made my trip to Bologna and attended the saggio concert of the Piccolo Coro that year. I was warmly welcomed by everyone I met in Antoniano. After the concert, in the classroom of the Piccolo Coro, each child came to me with great smile. They wove to us with saying “ciao,” “thank you” or even “xie xie!”
During my visit in Italy, I met Mario and Laura in Florence, who built the Piccolo Coro Melograno after their daughter became a soloist of Zecchino in 2000. I also met Marina, whose big boy Alessandro was in Piccolo Coro. We all became friends after the incredible meetings.
Since 2012, I have been trying to share and promote Zecchino in China as well. I really hope Chinese children could enjoy the great music for children.
I translated some of the songs and put subtitles on the videos. In May 2015, with the support of some friends, I founded “Kidz and Music,” a platform that aims to share great global children music, including Zecchino. The Chinese name of the platform was from the 1980s Zecchino song “Filastrocche e Tiritere.” Nowadays, “Kidz and Music” has become a leading self-media platform in WeChat, Sina Weibo and Facebook with around 7,000 followers!
However, the story is far from ending.
In August 2015, my friend Sinoton (who was the first person to promote Zecchino in China), informed me that the Piccolo Coro would give concerts during the new year days. I was totally shocked/overjoyed and decided that I should be a part of it.
In the following months, we (mainly Sara and I) helped the SHCAT to translate all the songs that would perform in the concerts, write quite a lot articles (for promotions, for introductions and even for the hosts!) and pick the songs (“Campane per l’Europa,” my suggestion).
“It is so crazy!” “I know!” This is the conversation of Angela and I at the Shanghai airport the day the Piccolo Coro landed. We both agreed — when we first met in Bologna in the summer of 2014, neither of us could imagine such a meeting so soon, in China!
I thank the time, when technology makes everything possible, that Zecchino and China are making a history together, and I am witnesser and participant.
I was not just a fangirl anymore. During the concerts, Sara and I were in charge of the subtitles. We, somehow, worked with Zecchino d’Oro!
After graduation in 2015, I became a reporter. During the Piccolo Coro’s second visit in Shanghai and Beijing, besides what I continued to serve, I also got a chance to interview Sabrina Simone! I promise that you will see my story about Zecchino and the Piccolo Coro soon on newspaper!
One day in last November, when I was riding a bike on the way work, I found that I was humming “La tarantella della mozzarella” without realizing it. Suddenly it occurred to me that we, for loving Zecchino, own so many more happy melodies in pocket! I felt rich.
Day on day, year on year, my identity changed and I travelled around. Beijing, London and Bologna; Munich, Vienna and Paris; even North Korea and the small town near the war zone of north Myanmar, it was always Zecchino that is companying me, comforting me and reminding me who I really am. It will always be.
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