Music course sounds the right notes

Anna Sztankovic (right) and Peter Dely, both from Hungary, play the cucurbit flute, a traditional Chinese instrument, at a summer camp hosted by the Music Confucius Institute Office at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Zou Hong / China Daily

Mark Dulchavsky has just had a good time experiencing folk music in China.

The 22-year-old had been learning and playing the pipa, a four-stringed Chinese lute, at a music course at the University of Michigan in the United States, where he had just graduated with a Bachelor's degree in biophysics.

This summer, he, together with 30-plus music learners from three countries including Denmark and Hungary, was invited to attend a summer camp hosted by the Music Confucius Institute Office at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing from July 11 to 22.

"We are very excited about the trip," said Dulchavsky, who came to China for the first time.

The camp was held under the support of Hanban, or Confucius Institute Headquarters, and consisted of a tour exploring Chinese ethnic music in China's Southwest Yunnan province, as well as seminars given by experts from China and abroad.

In Yunnan, Dulchavsky said he and his teammates focused on local and minority music, tried to interact with music makers from many demographics and saw vibrant shows.

"We were also able to see some fantastic musicians and their wardrobe was incredible. It was my first time seeing a full orchestra of only Chinese instruments and it was powerful to experience," he said.

But the most valuable part of the camp, as Dulchavsky believed, was the interaction with respected musicologists.

"Their guidance allows us to gain a much fuller understanding of the music and culture that we are experiencing," he said.

Johanna Baarlink, a master student studying viola at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Denmark, was thrilled with the camp.

"I had been looking forward, for a long time, to visiting the Chinese ethnic groups of Yunnan province. Learning about their musical instrument hulusi (cucurbit flute) was really a fantastic experience," said the 27-year-old.

Last July, when the camp was held for the first time, 14 students from Denmark and the United States were invited to visit music conservatories in Beijing and Tianjin and learn Chinese folk musical instruments, such as the erhu, sanxian, percussion and dulcimer, according to Liu Yuening, director of the Music Confucius Institute's Beijing Office.

"They had a very good time during their two-week stay in China. They learned a lot and spoke highly of Chinese music and culture and hoped to visit the country and experience its folk music again," said Liu, who is also a dulcimer professor at the Central Conservatory of Music.

This year, they not only had opportunities to follow teachers and students at the Central Conservatory of Music to learn and improve their performing skills in those Chinese folk musical instruments, but also had to give a concert with the instruments at the end of the camp to show their learning progress. To do that, Dulchavsky even brought pipa picks he used in the US to China.

Baarlink said she had improved her skills with the erhu, a two-stringed Chinese musical instrument that she started learning half a year ago from the Music Confucius Institute, which was established in Denmark in 2012 to spread Chinese music and culture.

"Learning erhu was interesting and not very difficult for me, as the instrument has some similarities with viola, which I have learned for five years," she said.

Imre Hamar, director of the Confucius Institute at Hungary's Eotvos Lorand University, said music is an efficient way to learn about and communicate between cultures.

"Chinese language and characters are very difficult for foreigners to acquire," he said, speaking fluent Chinese. "But music has the power to go beyond languages, connect people together and help them understand each other."

zhaoxinying@chinadaily.com.cn