Focus
Touching orphans' souls with sound of music
By Zhou Wenting (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-26 07:58
 |
Large Medium Small |
Giving strength
Guo Tingting is in her second year at Dandelion School. Although born in Xinyang, a southern city of Henan province, she has grown up in Beijing's dusty outskirts.
Her migrant worker parents earn a living doing odd jobs in an industrial area and are so poor that they are exempt from paying the tuition fees of 680 yuan ($100) per semester.
The 13-year-old, who has a younger brother, took up the violin as part of the first Wings of Music orchestra. "We had a choice of eight instruments and I wanted to learn all of them," she said.
But Guo's dreams of playing the violin did not include the hours of endless practice that is needed to master it. After weeks of practice, she suddenly dropped out - only to return a week later.
"I realized that playing the violin is the first tremendous thing I've ever done in my life," said the teenager, who speaks with a maturity well beyond her years. "I would always look on myself as a loser if I'd given up."
A recent three-year study conducted in four major cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Jinan - by researchers at Shanghai-based East China Normal University found that migrant children experience great difficulty integrating into a new city, socially and psychologically.
"A child will be full of hatred if he or she is marginalized by the society," said Cui Lijuan, a professor of psychology and cognitive science, who led the investigation.
With this in mind, Wang Chen, a vocal teacher for Wings of Music, explained that the orchestra's project is not only about making youngsters proficient in an instrument, but also "making them stronger when confronted with difficulties".
Today, whenever Guo feels down or discouraged, she said she picks up her violin and it fills her with energy.
"When I got up on stage (at the violin festival) the first time, I was extremely nervous. I knew there were many rich people watching," she said. "But I'm not scared any more. I don't feel inferior. I can also be successful if I cherish my chance and keep learning."
Her experiences have been shared by many others at her school and at Beijing Angel Training School, where work to build its orchestra started in earnest last September.
"Through hard practice, they will find what is worth fighting for," said violinist Chen Qian. "They will practice and fight because music is something they can rely on when they have nothing else."
Talent in caring
Although being part of an orchestra can help orphans and children of migrant workers to connect with society, mental health experts warned such activities also open up the possibility for more heartache.
Cultivating talented in youths through professional training is a good idea, said Gao Tian, chairman of the music therapy research center at the Central Conservatory of Music, but "those who lack talent are often the ones more in need of psychological care".
"If they feel they are being left behind by the orchestra, it could cause even more damage to their attitudes," he said.
Gao suggested this could be the reason why several large-scale folk music groups started for poor children in the last few years had failed to last, including one in Mianzhu, a city devastated by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
However, Wings of Music violinist Chen Qian assured: "What we do for our children has nothing to do with talent. We will cherish every one as long as they are willing."
Despite the concerns, most experts agree that Chai Liang's orchestras are helping to raise awareness of the underprivileged children. Several told China Daily that they hope it will inspire others nationwide to follow suit, just like the Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra.
"They may cost time and energy but these kinds of projects deserve the efforts of musicians and schools," said Guo Shan of the China Symphony Development Foundation. "What the children need is precisely this input, rather than a simple donation ceremony."
|
|
|
|
