Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center Opens Traditional Culture-Themed Night Classes

　　This Suona Class Attracted Nearly 500 Applicants

　　At 7 p.m. on March 18, at the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center, a suona rendition of "Doraemon" rang out in the suona class.

　　This is one of the youth public welfare classes of the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center's All-People Art Academy. At a glance, the classroom was packed, with all 16 students young faces. Beside them were D-key suonas they had prepared themselves as required; some students had even painted and decorated their suonas, showing just how much care they had put in.

　　"This class is hard to grab. Nearly 500 people signed up initially, so being selected for this public welfare course is really lucky," said Chen Xin, a post-95s student, while showing off the suona she had carefully chosen. "I plan to study seriously in every class so I can show off my skills at the company's annual meeting later."

　　The instructor is Xue Tianlong, a young suona player with the Ethnic Orchestra of Zhejiang Performing Arts Group. He was pleasantly surprised by young people's love for traditional folk music. "I originally expected 30 applicants at most. Now there are nearly 500, which is also a new challenge for me."

　　"Come on, everyone, first try to make a sound." After Xue Tianlong spoke, all 16 suonas in the classroom sounded together—quite a striking scene, though the sounds were high and low, weak and strong, and not entirely pleasing to the ear.

　　"When playing the suona, we can be 'off-key,' but let's strive to be 'in tune.'" Xue Tianlong's relaxed and humorous teaching style kept the classroom full of laughter. This was the second class of the suona course; he started with the most basic music theory and led the students to gradually get familiar with the suona.

　　The teaching assistant beside him is named Jin Chengyi, only 12 years old this year. She has been learning suona from Xue Tianlong for more than two years and came to help tonight after school. Although young, she is not vague at all when giving guidance. Xue Tianlong jokingly calls her the class's "senior sister," and whenever there is a demonstration segment, he always has her show her skills, drawing rounds of applause.

　　As class was about to end, Xue Tianlong deliberately pulled Zhou Ping, director of the Training Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center, onto the stage. "I heard the cultural center now offers public 'art study rooms' so citizens can practice in empty classrooms. I'd also like to secure a study room for the suona class." Zhou Ping agreed on the spot.

　　As the planner of the activity, Zhou Ping did not expect night school courses to be so popular among young people. "The reason we opened public welfare classes for young people in the first place was mainly to provide them with a place to learn and relax."

　　She said that the cultural center's previous courses were mainly scheduled on weekday daytime, and those who came were basically elderly students. Starting last year, the cultural center opened evening time slots and set up courses closer to young people's interests. "Previously we offered makeup classes, cooking classes, new media editing classes and so on, all of which were very popular."

　　Since the beginning of this year, the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center has actively explored traditional cultural features. In addition to the suona class, Yue opera classes, pan-knot classes and others are also "hard to get into." Taking night classes to learn an art is especially popular among young people. "I'm from Fujian, and I often heard suona playing when I was a child." Peng Bijin, a post-95s girl, enjoyed folk music performances on TV gala programs and gradually developed a strong interest in ethnic instruments such as the suona and guzheng, as well as traditional culture.

　　In Xue Tianlong's view, the suona is rich in expressiveness and is a representative ethnic instrument. "Young people nowadays have a fast pace of work and life, and playing the suona can also be a way to relax." He said that professional study of the suona actually has a relatively high threshold and difficulty. As an amateur course, he hopes to use the limited class hours to lead everyone to appreciate the charm of the suona. "Being able to play a few simple songs is already a very good result."

　　Just as this class ended, a group sign-up for next week's class was launched in the WeChat group. Within a short while, all 16 students had completed the sign-up, and everyone agreed to meet next week.

　　Reporter's Notes

　　Let Young People and Fine Traditional Culture Meet Halfway

　　A public welfare suona class lets one feel the vigorous vitality of fine traditional culture among young people.

　　China's fine traditional culture has never lacked an audience. What we need now is to keep building platforms to make it closer to the present and closer to young people. Seen in this light, such attempts deserve praise. The Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center uses youth public welfare classes as a carrier to build a bridge for cultural and artistic experience, enabling young people and fine traditional culture to meet halfway.

　　Today, we are delighted to see that more and more young people are entering museums, art galleries and cultural centers, continuously drawing nourishment from China's fine traditional culture. At the same time, they are also working hard to explore in their respective fields, enabling fine traditional culture to "cross boundaries" and "go viral," thus forming a virtuous interaction and allowing fine traditional culture to continue radiating the brilliance of the times.