China.com/China Development Portal Network News (Xu Lin, Hao Yan) "Be happy", "Press the strings", "Enter the bass", "Walk up", "Slowly close"...... Every Friday afternoon, the Xingguang Yicai Public Welfare Center in the 798 Art District reverberates with the passionate voice of Mr. Xiaoqiang, and his flying gestures are all over the audience. As a teacher of the Starlight Innocence Orchestra, he leads a special band made up of people with autism. Weekly rehearsals and performances have long been part of their daily routine.
The soul character - Teacher Xiaoqiang
"Xiaoqiang teacher" Li Weiqiang is directing the rehearsal. (Photo by China Network/Xu Lin)
From volunteer to full-time teacher, from dance student to band instructor, Li Weiqiang, affectionately known as "Little Qiang Teacher", has injected his dreams and life pursuits from his student days into public welfare. Since he became a teacher in 2016, he has been working hard to tap the talents of autistic children in art, especially music, and together with Song Zhuofei, who is also a volunteer, he established the Xingguang Yicai Innocent Orchestra on May 20, 2022.
The core problem of autism is socialization, and when the band was first formed, it was a big challenge for the members to work together. There are thirteen musicians in the band, and although most of them have been exposed to instruments and staves early and have no problem playing skills, they often have difficulty mastering the beat. For example, the sound of drums is supposed to guide the rhythm in a song, but some musicians do not understand the meaning of the drums accurately, and they can only accurately grasp the rhythm by hearing the vocal metronome.
Teacher Xiaoqiang recalled the scene of the first rehearsal and said that he sent out the score in advance and asked everyone to practice. "Judging from the individual voice feedback on the line, it is still okay, at least each instrument can basically go down independently. So at that time, although I was not confident, I didn't feel that it would be difficult. However, on the day of rehearsal, when everyone actually came together to play together, everyone only cared about playing their own, and the scene was chaotic and couldn't be together at all. At that moment, my parents and I fell into a short period of anxiety, and everyone sweated for it. It turned out that it wasn't that easy. ”
So, Mr. Xiaoqiang changed the way and asked everyone to practice their own content individually at a fixed speed and beat. Once you have practiced, you will begin to work in pairs and gradually add the entry of other instruments, prompting each voice to complete its own mission. "While it seems to be working a little bit, some children are already impatient, and they simply can't do one thing for so long. I started to encourage them constantly, and after hearing the praise, they happily cooperated again!" After just two hours, "I felt that my eyes lit up, and the harmony and melody were much better." A song finally came down, and the parents all showed satisfied smiles. "A wave has not settled, and a wave has risen," the band's accompaniment basically went down, but at this time, the band's lead singer dropped the chain again, and he had to continue to run in. At this moment, I know that there is a long way to go, and the road ahead may not be easy, but seeing them show their love and dedication to music, we are determined to explore it firmly!"
During rehearsals, Mr. Xiaoqiang also needs to pay special attention to the attention of the members. Due to the innocent nature of autistic people, it is easy to be affected by the various "wind and grass" in the rehearsal hall. "When an audience member comes to say hello, they may be disrupted and need to be reminded repeatedly by the teacher to get back into playing. "But if there are no other distractions, their concentration is still good." ”
Mr. Xiaoqiang introduced that since its establishment, the band has experienced hundreds of rehearsals and dozens of performances, and each rehearsal and performance is a kind of exercise and improvement for the members. Every child here has their own strengths, some have a strong sense of rhythm, some have a good memory and can play after listening to it a few times, some are emotional, positive and have good movements, and many are very versatile and can play a variety of instruments. The band provided them with a platform to work on their coordination skills. "When they sang and played, the children were very engaged, very happy, and had a special sense of accomplishment. That's how music nurtures them. ”
Film director - Song Zhuofei
Teacher Song Zhuofei (Photo by China Net/Hao Yan)
On a normal rehearsal day, the first track the band practiced was "Not Alone", but unlike usual, there were many more cameras and footage. It turned out that Song Zhuofei, a teacher in the band, and his filming team were looking for inspiration for a new film "Best Friend" about the autism community.
Song Zhuofei said that he loves music and has formed his own band. In order to prepare for this film and better understand this group, he has been volunteering at the Starlight Yicai Public Welfare Center since 2019 and has been working with Xiaoqiang. He said that the autism community is also a part of our society, and each of them has their own world and behavior patterns, and we can live in harmony with them in a suitable way after we understand them.
"Music itself is the universal language of human beings, and it is the same for children with autism. Music can also help them express their emotions. "In the beginning, their coordination and social skills were very poor, and music can be used as a medium to teach them how to cooperate. Through the past few years of training, they have improved a lot, they know when they should do something, and they can better integrate into a variety of different environments. They are very engaged when they play the music, and the music brings them a lot of joy. When others see their performances and give them positive feedback, they also gain more joy. ”
Talking about the movie "Best Friend" that is being prepared, Mr. Song revealed that this movie is a campus youth group portrait movie, which tells the story of a high school student with a withdrawn personality, rebellious and disgusting with school, who accidentally met his classmate's autistic brother, and the three of them established a deep friendship, redeemed each other, healed each other, completed seemingly impossible tasks, and found the direction of their future life.
Member of the class - Xiao Ke
Band member Xiao Ke (Photo by China Network/Hao Yan)
When Mr. Song's camera pans to band member Xiao Ke, he smiles and greets the camera.
Xiao Ke, 25 years old this year, has been working the road to study. He graduated from the Chinese Academy of Drama with a degree in Music Production and is currently studying film and television scoring at Berklee College of Music, where he has achieved A's in many courses. "My favorite thing is composing, soundtracking, and arranging. He said he had also done some part-time work in the area.
As the "veteran" of the band, Xiao Ke plays the role of piano accompanist, synthesizer player, violinist and so on. He has an absolute sense of musicality, and he can quickly sketch a complete score on the staff with just a few listens to the original piece, and then meticulously make scores for various instruments. His playing skills are varied and masterful, as well as his creative ability, and he has composed original pieces such as "Silent Time", "Marina's Dream" and "Minecraft".
He also faced some challenges in his band activities. Due to his background in serious music, he was not very accustomed to transposing music and improvisational accompaniment, but he also broke through himself later, and his abilities in all aspects have greatly improved. Xiao Ke likes to sing karaoke, take coffee and painting classes, and also like to chat with classmates and friends in his free time. He also belongs to the autism spectrum disorder group, and he also has a bit of a "special function", which can very accurately say the specific time and place of each activity, recording, and performance of the band.
The atmosphere is in charge - Yuyang
Yuyang (right) and his mother (Photo by China Network/Hao Yan)
Yuyang is the aluminum carilloner in the band. From an early age, she showed a strong interest in music, which was the starting point of her relationship with music. Her mother noticed that Yuyang liked to sing and dance to the rhythm of music, showing her innate musical sensibility and sense of rhythm. Initially, she studied the drum kit, an instrument that is great for developing rhythm and coordination.
As her studies progressed, her parents were pleasantly surprised by her progress, and they decided to let her try piano learning. While Yuyang was learning piano, her mother was worried that it would be difficult to find a teacher who would be willing to teach children with autism. Luckily, Yuyang not only found the right tutor, but also benefited from her excellent memory, and her learning progress was amazing. Yuyang's family didn't put too much pressure on her, so she saw learning a musical instrument as a hobby and an emotional way to release herself, and this way allowed her to interact with music more easily and naturally.
Yu Yang faced many challenges in her regular coursework, especially after the difficulty of the course increased, and it was difficult for her to keep up with the learning progress of her peers. Joining the band provides a platform for Yuyang to develop her musical talents in an all-round way, while also helping her progress socially. Through observation and imitation, she can better cooperate with her teammates and teachers, and she can also dance to the music, becoming the atmosphere of the group. This is a big breakthrough for children with autism. Music has become an important way for Yuyang to express herself, and her band experience has strengthened her self-confidence and social interaction skills.
Let's face it, not all the days ahead will be sunny. Yuyang's mother is worried about her future, especially whether she will be able to live independently when she grows up. What she can do is to let Yuyang learn more skills and accumulate more experience now, hoping that she will have the ability to take care of herself in the future, instead of pursuing academic or musical achievements too much. At present, she is actively exploring ways to provide security for Yuyang's future life through trusts and other means.
"Deputy Head" - Wu Fangda
Wu Fangda (left) and his mother (photo by China Net/Ye Kai)
Some high-functioning autistic patients have strong abilities in language expression and interpersonal communication, but they are not enough to meet the requirements of ordinary work. For example, Mr. Xiaoqiang's right-hand man, Wu Fangda, who is known as the "deputy head of the regiment".
Wu Fangda's artistic interest began with the guidance of his father as a child, studying art, but he did not choose to cultivate this path, but focused more on exam-oriented education and went to study in the United Kingdom. Later, his mother discovered that he was very talented in music, especially in hearing, but unfortunately he did not receive a systematic musical education as a child.
Since 2020, Wu Fonda has participated in the coffee class of the "Starlight Benefit" art therapy project as a volunteer, and joined the band in 2022 to start learning percussion instruments to fully unleash his musical talent. He learned the drum kit and was able to incorporate it into the band's playing with the beats. Despite the limited social interaction of the band members, participating in the band activities made Wu very happy. His mother stressed the importance of maintaining a positive mood and sense of well-being: "When you are in good mood and happy, you can reach all your potential. ”
Wu Fangda still has a bigger goal and belief in his heart: "My goal is to do more things within my power for special groups in the future, such as young people and children of stars." "In front of music, there is no distinction between the normal and the disabled, and through music, we can get in touch with each other more and understand each other's worlds. Anything is possible!"
His mother also hopes that society can provide more support to help members of special groups have a better future.
Author's note
"When children with autism play music, they become cheerful and confident," said the parents in the audience, "and we can also get a moment of mental wandering when they enjoy the music." "The worst thing autistic people are at is expressing their emotions, and that's what bands can help them with. The inner world of people with autism is often difficult to fully express in words, and in addition to words, humans also have other forms of communication, such as music, painting, etc. In this particular band, there is a lot of acceptance and encouragement. With the hard work of Teacher Xiaoqiang, Teacher Song and other volunteers, more and more children with autism have been able to take the stage to show their talents and enjoy the healing of music. They are also sparing no effort to speak up for this group and strive for more people to understand and accept them. As Mr. Xiaoqiang said, "A little starlight can illuminate the entire night sky." ”
In daily life, people also need to understand the way autistic people express and deal with emotions. "If someone makes a repetitive gesture, such as waving, give them the utmost respect, as it may be a stereotyped behavior that they unconsciously repeat. There is no need to bother them, as the slightest distraction can cause them great pain. One parent said.
The band is rehearsing (Photo by China Net/Ye Kai)
The story of the Innocent Orchestra continues, and every day is accompanied by new challenges and new beginnings. Here, music is not only used for artistic expression, but also plays an important role in spiritual healing. Every child, regardless of their starting point, has the opportunity to find themselves and shine on the stage.