Regardless of our individual tastes in music, its enjoyment is an almost universal trait that links practically every human across the world. Whether you’re into classical, pop, rock, folk, jazz, or several of hundreds of musical styles, everyone has at least one type of music that they love. At Hiba Nursery, we aim to instil a sense of respectful appreciation and understanding of the importance of music from as early an age as possible. We want our pupils to explore music on their own terms and hopefully start a lifelong adventure of musical discovery and enjoyment. Therefore, we were extremely proud and privileged to welcome four exceptionally talented professional musicians – the Cristal String Quartet – from the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to our nursery on Monday 10th June.
The quartet put on a very special performance since Hiba Nursery was one of the winners of the ‘Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Across the City’ competition, as part of its 140th anniversary celebrations.
Welcoming the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to HNS
This event occurred thanks to Michelle Liu, Emily’s mother, who decided to enter the competition and invite the Orchestra’s Cristal String Quartet to the nursery:
“I love to go and see the symphony orchestra perform but most theatres and concert halls impose a height restriction of 1.2 metres for their audiences, which means that younger children cannot access this kind of professional symphony performance. When I saw the WeChat post about the competition on the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra’s account, I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to let the nursery’s children enjoy this truly special experience.”
Michelle applied to the competition in January and in February she received a response from the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra telling her that Hiba Nursery had been shortlisted as one of the final 10 candidates. As part of the competition, parents and teachers from across the community voted, shared and commented on WeChat. Thanks to this huge outpouring of support, Michelle’s application was chosen as one of the four winning entries.
“I was so touched by the support from all the different members of our community. I think that Hiba teachers and parents are always so keen and willing to work together to create special and valuable educational opportunities for our children. Hopefully this performance will plant the seed of musical exploration in the minds and hearts of many of the children.”
Preparing for the quartet’s arrival
All of our pupils were very excited when they heard that the Cristal String Quartet would be coming to visit them, so they prepared a small surprise to welcome them. Each pupil from the nursery designed, crafted and decorated their own unique musical note cardboard picture. All of these musical notes were then collected and then laid out in a trail leading up to the nursery’s library, which was prepared as a temporary ‘concert hall’ for the quartet’s performance.
Exploring music together Once the Cristal String Quartet had arrived, set up their instruments and warmed up their fingers, they were ready to play for the children. In fact, since our numbers have grown this year, the Quartet gave not one but two performances, one to each half of the setting’s pupils.
After a short introduction, the Quartet started with started by contrasting the slow and serene style of Johann Sebastian Bach with the much more lively and dynamic composition style of Mozart. Between each short section of these classical works, they kept the pupils wholly engaged by asking them plenty of questions and telling them about the history and mechanics of composition, while encouraging them to think about how the music made them feel when they heard it.
The children were also treated to Beethoven and a waltz by Strauss. Each piece was carefully chosen to show how it’s possible to use music to evoke different moods, and how different styles can even be blended together to create something completely new and different, depending on what the composer wants their audience to feel.
Then, it was time for two of our own pupils to try out the instruments. Yingyu Wang was guided to play the cello and produced some very professional sounding notes to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Shaobo Wang also tried the violin before giving a very happy and energetic burst of singing!
The professionals showed both pupils how to place their fingers on the strings and how to hold the bow, giving everyone a practical example of the level of precision and control needed to produce different sounds.
For the ‘big finish’ the Quartet played the main theme of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, as composed by Hans Zimmer, arguably the most famous modern film score composer today. One of our own teachers, Ms Peihua Wang, accompanied them on the piano, which was a thrilling experience for her as well as the children!
Appreciating the importance and wonder of music Just looking at the pupils’ faces during the Cristal String Quartet’s performances was enough to tell how much they were enjoying themselves – they spent most of the time staring in wide-eyed fascination as these gifted professionals demonstrated the power and beauty of music right here in our own library.
At Hiba Nursery, we aim to give our pupils educational experiences that not only improve their knowledge of the subjects that will comprise their formal education, but will also help them become more healthy, well-rounded individuals who are prepared for the challenges of later life. In terms of understanding the importance of music in their lives, this visit was invaluable in more ways than one: “This was a wonderful experience for the children for so many reasons. As well as enjoying truly beautiful music, they are learning about being a respectful audience and how to have an appreciation for what others do. Also, the idea is to make something that seems very formal and remote much more accessible and ‘real’. Music is everywhere, but this kind of experience is very rare and something that I’m sure the children will treasure. It’s not every day that world-class symphony musicians come to your nursery!”–Music teacher Sarah Peel “Not only did the children have an amazing opportunity to witness professional musicians playing, it also happened because the community has come together to make it happen. This shows our pupils what teamwork and initiative are all about. More than anything, I hope that the children have made a fantastic memory today, one that reminds them to always enjoy music, to let it inspire them, relax them and help them understand their emotions as they go through life.” – Head of Early Years Vanessa Szucs-Hussain
