"Singing for the Future" 2005 was a two-week choral exchange project in Shanghai designed to help bring choral singing in China to international standards and to expand knowledge of Western classical music, particularly sacred music, which represents a key foundation of classical music but was not heard or taught for many years in China. Led by international maestro John Nelson, this program included two weeks of intensive rehearsals of the Mendelssohn oratorio, "Elijah". Maestro Nelson, who is renowned for conducting large-scale classical choral works in major concert halls and in recordings, focused his attention on a 170 person chorus comprised of choral singers from the Shanghai Opera House, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the Shanghai Grand Theatre, and the Shanghai Musicians' Association. Maestro Nelson also led a free community sing comprised of more than one thousand amateur voices held at Lu Wan Stadium.


A unique collaborative presentation by major Shanghai music institutions, including the Shanghai Opera House, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the Shanghai Grand Theatre and the Shanghai Musicians' Association, with Shanghai OTV Arts Channel as media partner. The Committee of 100 Cultural Institute (USA) served as organizer of this program.

The program also featured a symposium for choral conductors, scholars and professors, "Choral Music: East and West", which examined the differences in the traditions of choral music and how choral singing can achieve the highest international levels. Three Chinese conductor interns from the Shanghai Conservatory were awarded fellowships for studying abroad with Maestro Nelson, to be followed by a return to China.


The final major event was the gala performance featured the Shanghai premiere of Mendelssohn's "Elijah" with soloists Hao Jiang Tian, the Metropolitan Opera bass, Ying Huang, a soprano recently with the New York City Opera, Ning Liang, the international mezzo-soprano, Warren Mok, the well-known tenor from Hong Kong, and a small chorus from The New York Choral Society.