On the afternoon of May 7^th, the Aesthetic Education—NCPA Youth Arts Festival 2024, co-hosted by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission and the NCPA, kicked off at the Beijing Performing Arts Centre. More than 1,200 primary and secondary school students from across Beijing gave a performance and got involved in teaching interaction, taking an immersive lesson in aesthetic education together with artists.

The opening performance was watched by WANG Ning, Secretary of CPC Leading Group and President of the NCPA, HAO Fenglin, First-level Inspector of the Department of Sports, Health and Art Education, Ministry of Education, WANG Pan, a member of the Education Working Committee of Beijing Municipal Construction Committee and Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, and ZHANG Yao, a member of CPC Leading Group and Vice President of the NCPA, as well as relevant leading staff of the Beijing Municipal Construction Commission and the NCPA, the persons in charge of all the district-level education commissions and representatives of the schools involved.



Under the baton of JIAO Miao, Resident Chorus Master of the China NCPA Orchestra, and to the piano accompaniment by LIU Xiaoxing, students from six schools, including the Beijing Haidian Minzu Primary School and Tongzhou District Longwangzhuang Primary School, sang children’s choruses Happy Festival and Birdie, Birdie.

At “Chorus Kaleidoscope”, students from six other schools, including the Changping No. 2 Second Experimental Primary School and Beijing Gucheng Middle School, sang choruses including The Happy Nadam Fair, Here We Come Together, Vegetable March, Toward The Dream, etc. In the intervals between these choruses, JIAO Miao explained the knowledge about children’s chorus, class chorus, mixed chorus and the like. The students also sang a familiar song, Days Of My Past, by joining hands with the China NCPA Chorus.

At “Magnificent Folk Music”, the host LI Jiaming and LIU Sha, Chief Conductor of the China National Traditional Orchestra, taught students from the Middle School of China Conservatory of Music and other schools how to recognise music according to melody, and how to identify the timbre of different traditional Chinese musical instruments.

Then the students from 20 schools, including the Beijing No. 5 Middle School, Beijing First Experiment Primary School, etc., and the Beijing Children’s Palace, performed Hiking up the Spring Mountain, Oye, and Team Song of Chinese Young Pioneers. No one would miss out folk song singing, choral singing and rhythmic body movement. All the students present jointly took a vivid lesson in aesthetic education.

At this year’s Arts Festival, the NCPA will give more play to its role as a platform for art popularisation and education. Further, the students will attend special events, such as the “Outdoor Art Carnival for Teenagers”, “Masters in Schools”, “Students at Theatres”, etc. so that students can experience art in more diversified forms.

Five well-known artists - condcutor LÜ Jia, chorus master WU Lingfen, Peking Opera artist HU Wenge, conductor LIU Sha and choreographer and dancer WANG Yabin - have been invited as artistic consultants to this year’s Arts Festival. With the passionate involvement of many artists from the China NCPA Orchestra and Chorus, NCPA Resident Singers and NCPA Drama Ensemble, a variety of art experiences are prepared for all the teachers and students in creative modes including “Students into Theatres, Masters into Schools, and Teacher Retraining”.

During the Arts Festival, the teachers will also be provided with more aesthetic education resources in various forms such as masterclass, art appreciation, public rehearsal and group training in live webcasting and other forms.

The NCPA Youth Arts Festival, a brand aesthetic education jointly organised by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission and NCPA, has been successfully held for 15 times since 2008, with students from more than 250 primary and secondary schools making their appearance on the NCPA stage.

In 2024, teachers and students from more than 100 schools in 18 districts of Beijing will appear on the stage of the NCPA, Beijing Performing Arts Centre and Taihu Stage Art Centre, “a performing arts centre with three locations”. They will give over 30 theme performances in multiple genres of art, including symphony, orchestral music, chorus, Chinese orchestral music, dance, drama and traditional Chinese opera, to promote the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation in aesthetic education class, spread the world’s art classics, and show the unique charm of Chinese teenagers in the new era.

"We have gained a lot from the rehearsal and performance. I’m glad to study with so many teachers and fellow students. It’s a quite rare opportunity for those like me, from the outer suburbs. My classmates and I are both excited! I feel honoured to perform at the Concert Hall of the Beijing Performing Arts Centre. I hope that, in the future, I will have more chance to study at the Arts Centre!"

—CHEN Wanhe, a fourth-grader from the Miyun District New Countryside Primary School