Can they succeed?, 44 children form a symphony orchestra in 10 days for the festival | Children | Symphony Orchestra
44 children aged 10 to 16 formed a symphony orchestra and completed a concert in 10 days. This seemingly impossible task is being gradually achieved at the Shanghai Summer Music Festival. On July 11th, the reporter walked into the rehearsal hall of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where Zhang Jiemin, the resident conductor of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, was rehearsing for the children. They stood out from over 600 applicants across the city and won their seats in this year's MISA Student Festival Band.
"I want to know how many people have participated in symphony orchestra rehearsals before?" Zhang Jiemin asked. Less than half of the children raised their hands. "The biggest challenge is that they are like a blank slate in terms of band experience, so they can only start from scratch. This morning, they had already rehearsed a movement in two hours, and then I had to rehearse them in different parts, like building blocks, slowly piecing them together to form a whole."
12-year-old Huang Yuxin comes from Nanmo Middle School, a private school in Shanghai, and is the principal violinist of the MISA Student Festival Orchestra's first violin voice. She has been learning the piano for 8 years, and it is her first time participating in a symphony orchestra rehearsal. How to understand the gestures of the conductor, and how to lead the entire voice while pulling herself, are all challenges for her. "At first, the band's voices were uneven and not very pleasant to listen to, but after just a few days of rehearsal, there were significant changes. Although it is not yet certain what the final concert will be like, we are working hard every day."
14-year-old Li Yichen is the clarinet chief of the Shanghai Shixi Junior High School Symphony Orchestra. Three years of band experience gave her a different music experience. "When playing the solo, I felt like the entire stage was my own, with the spotlight shining on me alone. As long as I shone, it was enough. After entering the band, I truly learned how to communicate with my teammates through physical and eye contact. When my own voice blended with the band's voice, the experience was very wonderful."
Teaching children how to listen and cooperate with each other is also the goal of MISA Student Festival Orchestra. In Zhang Jiemin's career as a conductor, this was the youngest average age symphony orchestra she supervised. In her opinion, training a child's band is definitely not as easy as training a band composed of adult professional musicians. But what pleased her was that the children were responsive and had strong learning abilities. After a morning of training, noticeable changes can already be heard in their performances In order to avoid dragging their feet, many children practice on their own every day after rehearsals, recording difficult scenes and sending them to their mentors.
Many music festivals around the world have temporary holiday bands, but most are composed of professional musicians, such as the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, which brings world-class performers to Lucerne, Switzerland every summer, making it an "All Star" lineup. The MISA Student Festival Band recruits new members every year, so that more children can participate; Since its establishment in 2016, the number of applicants has been increasing year by year.
Zhou Ping, the head of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, still remembers that a few years ago, American conductor and composer Alex Wise led the children of the Shanghai Summer Music Festival Student Festival Orchestra to win enthusiastic applause with Beethoven's "Egmont Overture". "The Shanghai Summer Music Festival aims to give children a special holiday every summer, allowing them to feel the joy of band performance and stage performance. However, in fact, they have given us more surprises. When we heard their performance of the" Egmont Overture ", many people shed tears. The children moved everyone with their innocence, which is the most essential and simple beauty of music."
This year, after 10 days of rehearsal, the 44 children of the 2023 MISA Student Festival Orchestra will welcome their group performance at the Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall on July 16th, bringing Mozart's "Serenade in G Major", some movements of "Symphony No. 40 in G Minor", and Forrest's "Sicilian Dance".
Similarly nurtured by the Shanghai Summer Music Festival, there are also the Shanghai Student Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Student Chorus, and Shanghai Student Ethnic Orchestra, all of which will perform at this year's summer music festival. For children, having music, companionship, overcoming difficulties together, and their own stage will be an unusual summer.
