Flags from various countries from around the world adorned the auditorium in the Old Administration Building for the “Change the World” choral concert on March 7, 2014. These flags represented the variety of cultures of Fresno City College students.

The concert was directed by FCC music instructor Julie Dana and included the City Singers, symphonic choir, jazz singers and guests.

The event consisted of 19 songs, with guest performances by Ruoxue “Lexi” Jia and FCC music instructors Mike Dana, Larry Honda and Dale Engstrom.  Two dance performances by students in Dana’s class were also included in the program.

For 10 years Dana has been putting on this concert because she says that when she looks at her students, she sees how they come from different cultural backgrounds.

“I look at my students, they represent the world.” Dana said.

After six weeks of preparations, the different choral groups were ready to sing in different languages such as Spanish, Portuguese and German.

Dana believes that more students should be aware of the different cultures that are represented across campus. “Change the World” is an opportunity for students to gain exposure to other cultures.

Fresno State student Ruoxue “Lexi” Jia  was a guest artist from China who played a song on the “erhu,” a chinese violin that has two strings.

Jia says she has been playing the erhu for 15 years since she began playing at age four, when normally this instrument is taught to children at eight years old.

Dana met Jia while attending a concert where she was performing. Afterwards, Dana asked her to be a part of the choral concert.

“It’s a great concert,” Jia said about “Change the World.”

The choral concert also included an “Otea”, a Tahitian drum dance, performed by FCC student Kolei Kuma, who is also part of the symphonic choir.

“He’s so shy in class,” says Dana about Kuma. She added that she was proud of his performance in front of a large group of people.

The final song of the night was Eric Clapton’s “Change the World” with the entire group of singers with solos by Hallie Williams and Joseph Salanitro of City Singers. The concert came to a close with a question posed to the audience: “Why not make tonight the beginning of the change in the world?” Overall, the concert raised cultural awareness in the audience and proved that change comes from inside.