Last week, the Yew Chung International School of Beijing community was treated to an inspiring evening of music and fellowship, as Secondary students put on this year’s rendition of the annual Winter Warmer Concert. Featuring an eclectic mix of instruments and performances, from jazz bands and dance medleys to a traditional orchestra, last week’s concert was a fitting finale to the school-wide Winter Concert series.

Yet though the gathered crowd was able to witness and appreciate the beauty of the students’ performances, what they weren’t able to see was the many months (and years) of practice and dedication that students had put in before taking the stage.

Daniel Pearton, Head of the Arts at YCIS Beijing, speaks in greater detail of the talents and commitment of the performing arts students, as well as the ways in music education prepares students for the creative challenges of the 21 century.

Commitment and Talent

This year, the Winter Warmer Concert showcased the commitment and talents of our Secondary Orchestra, IGCSE and IBDP students. The programme itself was an uplifting selection of pieces that brought warmth to all that attended the concert. This year, our Winter Concert replaced our Secondary Christmas Concert. This was mainly so that the repertoire performed could showcase our students’ talents and achievements to a greater extent, and this is exactly what we heard and saw in this performance!

The Orchestra began by performing the James Bond Theme, which brought warmth to the entire audience! The Orchestra, conducted by Ms. Lianne Yu, is made up of students from Year 6 through to IBDP. They rehearse on a weekly basis and perform at our major performances throughout the year.

We also saw performances from CHROMA (our Year 13 band) and Tumble Weed (our Year 11 band) – the latter of whom have said they will take over the rock band world next year once CHROMA graduates.

One of the highlights from the concert was the Spanish Pasadoble dance, performed by Vladimir and Sofia Dementyeva. Both Vladimir and Sophia are champion ballroom dancers. They compete internationally on a regular basis. Their performance was precise, wowing the audience at their commitment to the dance style and the countless hours of practice and rehearsals they’ve undergone. This brother and sister duo have a big dance future ahead of them!

Music for the Future

Learning music is a very special process. It allows students to engage their creativity whilst at the same time developing literacy and numeracy. Playing music is the only thing we can do in life that engages all parts of the brain at once! Recently, the World Economic Forum released their projected skills required for future jobs in what they call the Fourth Industrial Revolution beginning in 2020. The third most important skill on this list is creativity!

Young people who are creative will flourish in their future career paths. This is one reason why we believe so much in offering students at YCIS Beijing with so many creative opportunities. The arts offer students the opportunity to demonstrate creativity and discipline through the amount of dedication and time required to become confident performers. These are skills that help in all other aspects of life.