The APC is an event that brings together and communicates art and music by offering students, parents, and external guests a regular space for enjoyment and admiration. Music students from Grades 1 to 12 have the opportunity to demonstrate the progress of their musical studies that has led them to develop the defined motor and interpretive skills they currently possess. Likewise, art students from first to eighth grade are able to describe the motor, observational, and creative skills they have been cultivating until now.
What an honour it is to see the enthusiasm, joy, and respect that these students exhibit during the act of performing and displaying their artistic work. Through an understanding of the big concept, we now know what inspires students to ask, “What is art?” The cultivation of artistic skills requires high discipline, patience, effort, dedication, perseverance, and attention. It is wonderful to be a part of this formative process that is so important in the lives of these talented students.
Regardless of the differences in levels among the pieces and technical skills, all the students involved were well-prepared to interpret and perform today’s works of art. The pianists, singers, and interpreters of other instruments like the guzheng and the guitar told their stories with their solo performances. The contrast between the western concert flute and the Chinese bamboo flute created a unique spark. Different dance styles, like the lately increasingly popular hip hop and the Chinese traditional dance, impacted the audience with their diverse yet striking beauty. The young painters prepared with enthusiasm and hard work the presentation of their creative inspirations and ideas in fluent English, winning the audience’s applause.
For this particular APC performance, we invited three music teachers — Ms. Martina from our primary school, Ms. Joyce from our middle school, and Mr. Michael from our high school — to perform “Tonight,” one of the most famous numbers from the musical West Side Story, as the finale. As an APC tradition, we will always attempt to organize a performance from some of our music teachers. Through their participation on stage, we hope to foster in students the feeling that art is for all, big and small. We also want to motivate them to continue to do their best through the stimulation and example their teachers give, so that they keep exploring and moving forward on the road of art.
We hope that every child can attach a pair of artistic wings to their lives, turning their warmth into the motivation to learn, practice, and constantly explore the spirituality and beauty endowed by art.
