Music education gets new voice

Gong Linna performs at the Tracing Roots practice concert and music festival of the Affiliated High School of Peking University.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Gong Linna, renowned musician is putting her philosophy toward musical education into practice with new teaching methods. Cheng Yuezhu reports.

Gong Linna, renowned Chinese musician and founder of Chinese New Art Music, put her music teaching methods to practice for the first time at the Tracing Roots practice concert and music festival of the Affiliated High School of Peking University on May 23.

The title of the concert, Tracing Roots, reflects Gong's philosophy toward musical education, that is, cultural roots are the foundation of innovation.

The first song of the concert, Search High and Low, is an allusion to the classical poem Li Sao (Sorrows After Departure), "The road ahead will be long, I shall search high and low."

"It's arranged to be sung by all performers, indicating that we should all search high and low for our roots," Gong says.

To explore the education and the popularization of Chinese music, in 2017, Gong established a research and development team, which includes ethnomusicologist, Du Yaxiong, and music historian, Zhao Zhongming, to deliberate her music teaching methods and summarize the vocal skills of Chinese music.

After the symposium, Gong aspired to turn her concepts into practical teaching methods which can be widely disseminated. By giving speeches about Chinese music at more than 40 universities and working with both professional and amateur singers of different age groups and occupations, Gong has developed a systematic approach to her vocal training methods.