News source: Liberty Times/Wang Junzhong reported in Tainan
News link:http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/breakingnews/2312100

Have you ever heard the Broadway musical "Phantom of the Opera" performed on traditional instruments? The music, performing arts, visual arts, and English teachers of Chongming Junior High School in East District, Tainan City collaborated across borders and led a group of Grade 3 students in the Chinese music class to express their creativity in the aesthetic experimental course. Classic presentations were presented in just 30 minutes, with English pronunciation throughout.

When it comes to junior high school students, we usually think of a group of teenagers who study hard day and night to prepare for the national college entrance examination. However, the teachers in the field of arts and literature at Chongming Junior High School deliberately release the junior high school students from the hard work of the national college entrance examination. The school participated in the Ministry of Education's cross-disciplinary aesthetic education project. When music teacher Xiao Yadai was designing courses for third-grade Chinese music class students, it suddenly occurred to her that musicals could combine music with various other elements and themes.

This idea was supported by visual arts teacher Guo Yujun and performing arts teacher Yan Peiying. Also thinking that the lyrics and dialogue of the musical were all in English, Wu Mindai, an English teacher with rich experience in English dramas, was invited to join. The four teachers from different fields hit it off and used 3 periods per week to The cross-disciplinary collaborative teaching time led 30 Chinese music class students to embark on this musical exploration journey.

Wang Hongbao, the principal of Chongming Junior High School, said that the teachers and students adapted the overture to The Phantom of the Opera to be played with Chinese musical instruments. Teacher Xiao Yadai, who was in charge of the arrangement, said that it was a big deal for the teachers and students to rearrange the music for the classic musical or to perform it with Western music. Challenges, such as using sheng, flute and suona to perform the main melody that was originally played on the organ, were a new attempt. Fortunately, the students were very dedicated and not only memorized the music but also made adjustments according to the space constraints of the venue; the male and female students who performed were shy at first and interacted with each other. Later, driven by constant practice and a sense of honor, I held hands as soon as I got on stage and danced together with concentration to achieve the best performance.

The school said that this musical theater course can be downloaded from the "Yunyouxue" APP (Android and iOS versions), or accessed from the "Yunyouxue" website. The course name is "Musical Thematic Production: The Phantom of the Opera."