Chinese national music shines in the international cultural and artistic park, and more and more Chinese folk music learners and disseminators at home and abroad, who inherit and transmit the voice of folk music around the world with their love and persistence, so that folk music can be appreciated and known by more people.
Sophie is a Chinese-French mixed-race girl, she began to learn piano at the age of 4, learned pipa at the age of 7, and is currently studying piano at the International Conservatory of Music in Paris, and the integration of Chinese and Western cultures is vividly reflected in her. "The arts are interconnected and can be borrowed from each other, and learning the piano allows me to accurately grasp the harmonic tone when playing traditional pipa repertoire." At the same time, techniques such as pushing and pulling and kneading in the pipa and musical tone can also be used in piano performance, and Chinese musical elements are integrated into the processing of music. Sophie's fusion and switching of Chinese and Western musical forms amazed the teachers and students of the International Conservatory of Music in Paris.
▲ Sophie (left) and her mother Wang Weiping (center) play on the same stage at the Chinese Cultural Center in Paris
Sophie's musical path is inseparable from one person, that is, Wang Weiping, who is both a mother and a pipa teacher. Wang Weiping, currently the president of the French Chinese Pipa Art Association and a pipa teacher at the Confucius Institute at the Chinese Cultural Center in Paris, is a veteran pipa artist who has been spreading traditional Chinese music culture in France for many years, teaching students from many different countries to learn pipa, including her daughter Sophie. Because of her mother's careful teaching, Sophie made rapid progress and participated in many music and art activities, including the "Silk Road International Concert" held in Shaanxi during the "Sino-French Year", the second French International Theatre Festival in 2016, the concert commemorating Beethoven's works in 2019, the 2020 commemoration of Chopin's works concert, the Seventh National Youth National Instrumental Music Education Teaching Achievements Display Activity, etc., showing the unique charm of folk music on multiple international platforms, and achieved good response.
"In addition to playing the pipa, I often studied Chinese songs and Chinese poems at the Chinese Cultural Center in Paris, and further felt the profundity of traditional Chinese culture. Last year, when I participated in the CCTV network activity, I recorded the pipa playing and singing "Spring River Flower Moon Night", which made me deeply understand the beauty of poetry and painting. Sophie said.
Wang Weiping told reporters that when Sophie practiced the pipa martial song "Ten Faces Ambush", she still insisted on practicing in the case of her left hand being worn by the pulling string. "I was very touched by her dedication, I have played this piece a thousand times, and today, it is finally passed down in the hands of my daughter." Wang Weiping sighed. Sophie also said that in the future, like her mother, she will spread Chinese culture overseas through Chinese folk music.
▲ Huang Ziyu plays Nguyen at school events
Singapore's Huang Ziyu began learning to play Nguyen at the age of 5 and is now in her 12th year. She studied guzheng and piano as a child, and later learned the instrument because she liked the timbre of Nguyen. She said that most primary and secondary schools in Singapore have Chinese orchestras, and students have a certain understanding of Chinese folk music. "I've been playing Nguyen in various school activities since elementary school, so our classmates at school are more familiar with this instrument." Huang Ziyu introduced that Singapore will hold primary and secondary school Chinese orchestra competitions every year, and the Singapore Nguyen Association also frequently holds concerts, she often invites her classmates and friends to watch performances together, and sometimes goes to the community with a few like-minded friends to perform in the community during the holidays to contribute to the promotion of folk music. "If there is an opportunity for exchange, I would like to study at the China Conservatory of Music to learn more about Nguyen and traditional Chinese culture." Huang Ziyu said.
▲ Yu Xintong participated in the event at the Shenzhen Concert Hall
Yu Xintong, from Hong Kong, China, finally passed the guqin performance major of the Chinese Music Department of the China Conservatory of Music, which he dreamed of, last year. Since she was a child, Yu Xintong has followed her mother to participate in some elegant gatherings with traditional Chinese cultural themes, tasting tea, appreciating characters, playing tai chi, listening to the guqin... At the age of 12, she chose to study the guqin. "As soon as I heard that deep and distant voice, I was moved, and it felt elegant and cool." Yu Xintong, who was "captured" by the guqin, also led his friends to understand the guqin and traditional Chinese culture, "In middle school, my friends and classmates around me were curious about what the guqin really was, in order to let them understand the guqin, I played the guqin at the school concert or open day, and introduced the guqin through the radio during the early reading activities." ”
When asked about his recent university life, Yu Xintong said it was particularly fulfilling. "In addition to having a lot of new learning directions in the profession, I also learned a lot of new things in addition to the profession, and I have a deeper understanding of the guqin in my hand." Yu Xintong said, "China's excellent traditional culture itself has a strong attraction, and we have further enhanced our sense of identity and belonging while immersing ourselves in it. I want more young people in Hong Kong to understand the guqin, fall in love with the guqin, and more importantly, fall in love with traditional Chinese culture through the guqin. ”
▲ Fang Teng is teaching students
Fang Teng, from Macau, China, has a similar experience. In June this year, Fang Teng will graduate from the Central Conservatory of Music and return to his hometown of Macau. In fact, last year he entered Macau's HaoJiang Secondary School to start working as a erhu music teacher. "The school is very supportive of my work and positions erhu universal education as a special curriculum for the school's future. Since September last year, the school has handed over to me more than 200 students from 8 classes in the first grade of the first grade, and arranged one erhu lesson per week. Fang Teng said that after half a year of study, students have a preliminary understanding of erhu. Nowadays, most students can reach the state of playing a D scale, although the progress is not fast, but the purpose of universal education has been achieved. In addition, nearly 40 students voluntarily signed up for Fang Teng's Erhu leisure classes and training classes, and many of them showed talent and enthusiasm. At present, the students of these two classes can already play some simple music such as "Edelweiss" in combination. Fang Teng said happily that in addition to the middle school, the primary school department of the school also opened an erhu interest class, and nearly 60 people signed up at the beginning of the class, so the school also hired an erhu teacher from the Macao Chinese Orchestra to teach with Fang Teng.
Chen Hong, vice principal of Macao Haojiang Middle School, said that Macao is an important link between China and the West, as a Chinese, it is necessary to promote and inherit the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and constantly cultivate children's patriotic feelings, and art is one of the important directions and entry points. "The development of erhu class not only cultivates children's artistic literacy, but also popularizes traditional Chinese culture education, children like it, and teachers are particularly attentive." After the foundation of erhu teaching is firmly laid, we will set up a small Chinese orchestra and go to the mainland for exchanges. At the same time, in the elite school attached to Haojiang Middle School, children learn both folk music and Western music, and will form a Chinese and Western orchestra in the future. Chen Hong is full of confidence in the future folk music education of the school.
Whether it is Sophie, Yu Xintong or Huang Ziyu and Fang Teng, they are the best spokespersons for Chinese folk music. The deep roots of folk music have been rooted, blossoming and bearing fruit, and its development in the world can be expected in the future.
(All images in this article are provided by the interviewee)
March 16, 2022 China Culture Daily
The 3rd edition featured a special report
"A tree blossoms and bears fruit."
——Those Chinese folk music learners and disseminators at home and abroad
Editor-in-charge: Chen Xiaoyue