2022-04-12
Shortly after the start of the new school year 2022, Nanjing Jindi Future School received good news from its friends: Kelly, a Year 7 student, won the Gold Award at the SCL Vienna International Youth Arts Festival (China).
This means that she will be joining the outstanding young people from 45 countries and 5 continents in a rehearsal workshop under the guidance of a professional mentor and will appear at the Vienna Concert Hall for the global competition. Behind this surprise moment, there is a unique musical story.
Respect students' personality development
If not for the sudden outbreak of the epidemic, Kelly would have been studying in a secondary school in the UK in September 2020. After a few comparisons, Kelly graduated from primary school and came from her hometown to Nanjing Golden Land Future School, an international school that is aligned with the British system of teaching.
"The choice was mainly related to our needs and training objectives. The elective courses offered at Golden Land Future School, the special courses such as DT technology, the academy system management and the tiered classes all fit with the child's future needs for studying abroad." Kelly's mother said bluntly.
Within six months of entering school, Kelly's mother noticed that her daughter, who was easily shy, had become much more confident and cheerful. This remarkable change was due to the fact that her child's musical talents were being fully explored.
In November 2021, Kelly received an application for the SCL Vienna International Youth Arts Festival (China) from her school teacher, Ms Ma.
For the next two months, the music classroom was filled with the singing and piano accompaniment of Handel's aria from his famous Italianate opera "Renaldo" in class, before music club sessions and during recess. This is Kelly's and Mr Ma's exclusive music time!
"Stressing on the high notes when changing vocal range is because you haven't found the right place to fire. Think about the sensation of blowing up a balloon, opening your throat, finding the support of your chest and feeling the breath."
"There is also expressive notation in music. Repeated phrases can't be as bland, all have to be based on understanding. This includes commas and full stops and question marks and breaks in the lyrics so that the piece is also better expressed to the listener in its entirety."
In addition to accompanying Kelly in her piano lessons, Mr Ma also combined his vocal learning experience with his free time to provide her with all-round guidance from the perspectives of pronunciation skills, piece understanding and stage performance.
After the online competition on 10 February 2022, the judge of the individual vocal category, baritone singer Zhang Shirong of the China National Symphony Orchestra, gave Kelly high praise: "A beautiful voice, the long phrases highlight the beauty and coherence; the pitch is accurate and the performance state is committed and serious. I hope you will continue to maintain your love for music."
With a total score of 36 out of 40, Kelly was awarded the Gold Medal in the Vocal (Children's Voice) category of the Vienna International Youth Arts Festival (Online China). Meanwhile, Ann in Year 7 won the Silver Award in the Children's Category for Violin Playing on Western Instruments.
Bid farewell to "niche disciplines"
In just six months, Kelly's interests and strengths were discovered and she was led to the Golden Hall in Vienna, thanks to both Kelly's talent and love, and to Mr Ma's attention and discovery. The school has also established a music education system for all students, which makes the process of making the gold shine even more seamless.
With a philosophy that celebrates the physical arts, Nanjing Golden Land Future School is exploring a way to educate students in music that is not a "niche subject" and has established a music education system that includes a unique music education curriculum, a diverse music showcase and project-based music learning.
Compulsory piano lessons, special music education
The content and focus of music education at Nanjing Goldie Future School varies according to the age and development of the students. Since its establishment, the school has created a distinctive music curriculum cluster that includes the National Music Curriculum, compulsory piano and harmonica instrument classes and club electives.
In addition to the state-mandated music curriculum, children at Nanjing Golden Land Future School will have weekly piano lessons. As one of the required literacies for students, the school is specially equipped with an electronic piano classroom.
In addition to the compulsory piano lessons, by Year 5-6 the school also offers harmonica lessons, and every Thursday afternoon, a weekly one-hour optional children's singing and children's choir class is held on time ......
The school makes every effort to meet the musical needs of every child who is interested in music. The school offers more than 10 clubs and elective courses related to musical instruments, dance and performance.
In addition to the professional music teachers, the school also invites 'big names' in the industry to come to the school to provide personalised tuition in piano, blackwinds, violin, cello, guitar, jazz, samba and more.
PBL teaching to foster music literacy
Since its establishment, Nanjing Golden Future School has been promoting and refining the project-based learning model, which both stimulates students' interest in learning and better understanding of concepts and knowledge connotations, as well as honing and developing key future-oriented competencies such as teamwork, leadership, creativity and adaptability. In music education, the school has also spared no effort in making project-based teaching and learning work in the classroom.
Primary school teacher Kim has found that many of the students in the school know some musical instruments, including guitar, violin and clarinet, but many times they play and practice alone. Therefore, she teaches the children to sing in music lessons along with the use of small Orff instruments.
"We work as a class to form a band for a rehearsal experience of a song or piece of music. We also work as a small group, with instruments and singing free to form a small band to complete a full performance format of a song." Through PBL music teaching for primary school students, students are able to experience the beauty of music through constant bonding and practice exploring music and enjoying the joy and empathy it brings through collaboration.
"It allows students to work in small groups to explore music around thematic projects." Ma explains: in class, the teacher will give a silent video which shows a before and after picture scene of pouring rain. The teacher then provides a variety of instruments such as pianos, blackwinds, wind chimes, tambourines, African drums and drum sets for the students to choose from to set the scene to music.
Apart from using musical instruments, the teacher also encourages students to find or make objects and collect sounds by rubbing and tapping them to soundtrack the video, allowing them to choose instrument categories and try to arrange the music according to the appropriate theme and rhythm. "Students work in teams, each using their imagination to understand music and use it in their project practice."
Diverse platform, 10+ music clubs
Nanjing Jindi Future School attaches importance to the individual development needs of each child and has built various platforms for students to develop their musical education literacy and showcase, with campus flash mobs, cultural performances, stage productions ......
Teachers also pay attention to exploring students' talents and encourage them to go beyond the campus and participate in social practices and influential youth competitions at home and abroad. Led by their teachers, students go into nursing homes, television stations and other media to use their talents and put their learning to good use, so that the seeds of showcasing oneself and serving others and society can take root in the hearts of youngsters.
Now, Nanjing Goldie Future School is encouraging and coaching students to enter international competitions such as the Liszt International Piano Competition, the Sino-Singapore International Competition and the scl Vienna International Youth Arts Festival, helping more children with musical talents to gain confidence and professional refinement, broaden their horizons and add important weight to their future entry into their desired universities.
