UNNC Education Foundation New Funded Charity Project Music Library Enables Teachers and Students Enjoy Reading with Music
14 June 2022
In May 2021, UNNC Education Foundation initiated the new funding applications to all faculties and departments among campus. After evaluation by the Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee, Student Life Committee and Teaching and Learning Committee, a total of 6 new projects were approved and granted the funding. These new projects will support various student social practice activities and events, which will increase the engagement of the students and enrich their campus life experience.
Today, as the third article of New Funded Charitable Projects Introduction Series, let us follow the footsteps of music notes and go to the cultural and educational project "Music Library" set up by University of Nottingham Ningbo China Library to listen to wonderful music while reading.
The "Music Library" project was officially launched by the UNNC Library in September 2021. The project aimed to promote high-quality music resources and improve music appreciation literacy to teachers and students throughout the campus.
Since the establishment, the Music Library has held a number of activities such as "Closing Time Melody", "Music Puzzle", "Millennium of Chinses Classic Music" Lecture, etc. It has been equipped with audio-visual devices such as digital piano and music boxes, and has launched three types of music database. With a variety of interactive activities and music resources, Music Library has attracted wide attention and love from both inside and outside the campus.
Music Library has purchased a Digital Piano in the meditation area on the first floor of the Library for piano lovers to practice and relax. Unlike a regular piano, this digital piano is equipped with headphones, allowing the player to immerse himself in music without disturbing other readers. At the same time, players can search music scores of various songs through the piano electronic screen. In addition, digital piano has video tutorials, scoring games and other functions for beginners to learn and entertain.
Next to the digital piano are two Music Boxes, consisting of white bases, pads and headphones. Readers can listen to a range of music through the music boxes, including 12 categories such as "Stress Relief", "Jazz Style", "Classical Crossover" and "Music Reading Time", etc. The music boxes are equipped with benches and sofas for readers to relax while enjoying music.
In order to make it convenient for everyone to enjoy the wonderful experience of music anytime and anywhere, Music Library has launched three types of Music Database. Users can easily listen to more than 100000 selected classic music works and soundtrack books through Nusearch, Wechat mini programme and APP.
The music basement also contains more than 1.2 million pieces of music by over 30,000 artists and more than 100 instruments from the Middle Ages to modern times. In addition, there are also opera, dance and other videos as well as K+ live performances. The online music database is not limited by time and space, and teachers and students can still experience massive music works through the above platforms during holidays
Music Puzzle: To encourage everyone to strengthen their music learning and expand their knowledge reserves, the library made types of bookmarks. The exquisite bookmarks combined elements of famous songs and literary poems. Clues were distributed to participants via online questionnaires, and readers could find the customized bookmarks scattered in different corners of the library according to the feedback of the questionnaires, which was quite interesting.
The questions were mainly set around common knowledge of Western classical music, such as the representatives of musicians in different periods and the source of inspiration for world famous songs, etc. By actively answering the questions, the students not only improved their musical literacy, but also received rewards and commemorations from the music library.
Closing Time Melody was jointly launched by UNNC Library and UNNC Symphony Orchestra. Fourteen talented students were selected to perform live when the library was closed. With their own repertoire of different styles, such as "Tempest Sonata", "Waltz in C-sharp minor", "Canon", "To Alice" and other world-famous songs, they conveyed the beauty of music to the readers with passion and romance. Under the starry sky at night, with the beautiful melody, the teachers and students could feel the comfort of music at the end of a busy day.
Founded in the land of rites and music that has been reverberated and accumulated of thousands of years, UNNC Music Library turned the attention from the grand and magnificent western symphony to the soft and subtle Chinese Classic Music. Lecture "Millennium of Chinses Classic Music—Oriental Music Aesthetics" invited the young composer Yunzhe Chai, founder of Ling Remix Country Wind Electric Music Label, director of Zhejiang National Orchestra Society, director of Asian Musicians Association, to tell us about the past and present of Chinese classic music. With vivid language and examples, Mr. Chai showed the vicissitudes of Chinese traditional music in history as well as its full vitality in the new era. The establishment of the Chinses classic music lecture not only aimed to promote the traditional Chinese music to enter the campus as a long-lasting cultural treasure, but also encouraged everyone to spread the traditional Chinese music and promote it to stand firm in the world culture.
Activities of Music Library especially the "Closing Time Melody" were not only actively participated and highly praised by teachers and students on campus, but also attracted broad social attention. Domestic medium like China Education Online, Zhejiang Education News, Qianjiang Evening News, Modern Gold News reported the "Closing Time Melody", further expanding the social influence of it.
Park Min Joon, a student from South Korea, said "Thank you to the 'Closing Time Melody' for providing me with a stage where I can show my piano playing skills and show everyone my favorite niche songs." And the audience participating in the event said, "Romance will last till death do us part, I hope 'Closing Time Melody' can be a permanent activity."
Wagner once said that music unites human beings with ideal bonds. On the road of seeking knowledge, books are endless, and music has no borders. Whether listening to a Symphony of Fate on campus or writing with a song of Mountains and Rivers, teachers and students can enjoy the complete music resources and professional music equipment. Music Library project has created a leisure corner for teachers and students who are busy with study and work, which has formed a unique scenery line on the Campus.
Next, in order to further improve student music literacy and create an artistic atmosphere on campus, Music Library will launch a series of interesting activities such as Music Appreciation Lectures, Lunch Concert, Music Podcast, Theme Exhibition and so on. Teachers and students are welcome to participate in the project actively.