Beijing, 5 May (ZXS) -- Cao Peng: Connecting "Children of the Stars" with Love and Music
Wan Xiaojun, reporter of China Philanthropist Magazine
The 98-year-old Cao Peng had a wish. On March 3 this year, a symphony concert with the theme of "Love in Spring" was staged at the 18th Shanghai Spring International Music Festival. Together with the Shanghai Urban Youth Symphony Orchestra, they presented an audio-visual feast to the audience in the form of wind ensembles, string ensembles, piano soloists, wind quintets, symphonies and dances, breaking people's usual impressions of autistic teenagers.
On May 2015, 5, the first lawn concert of Shanghai Science Hall was held, conducted by 8-year-old Cao Peng. Photo/Visual China
Cao Peng, former first-class conductor of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, is the chief conductor of this concert. Two years ago, at the closing ceremony of the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival, the organizing committee awarded Cao Peng a "Special Honorary Award", and when asked what he wished, he said: "If I want to say something about 'Shanghai Spring', I hope that in the future this platform can give us autistic children a stage, which would be great." ”
Now that this wish has been fulfilled, Cao Peng, who was at the scene, smiled happier than anyone.
Caring for autistic people with music
On the day of the interview, the bearded Cao Peng sat on the sofa at home on crutches, with a hint of majesty in his kindness. Cao Peng recently bumped and sprained twice, plus he was previously infected with the new crown, and he is still in the process of conditioning and recuperation. Even so, you can still feel his aura. As he stood up and walked, his steps were strong, and his crutches thumped the living room floor.
"I'm older now, and I'm not very good at listening to other people, but it's strange, listening to music, you almost can't escape my ears." Cao Peng said, his words were clear and his voice was loud.
Cao Peng, former first-class conductor of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Wan Xiaojun
Cao Peng is a conductor who grew up with New China, was a soldier of the New Fourth Army in his early years, served as a conductor of the film orchestra after the founding of New China, worked in Beijing Film Studio, and recorded music for dozens of Chinese films such as "Longxugou". In the 20s of the 50th century, Cao Peng went to study at the Moscow Conservatory (now Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory) under the tutelage of conductor Gnzburk. After returning to China, he became a well-known conductor at home and abroad, and led the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to go abroad for the first time.
In 1995, at the age of 70, Cao Peng officially retired from the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. In order to let more people feel the charm of the symphony, he still enjoys promoting the symphony to the public and spreading high art after his retirement.
In 2005, Cao Peng, who was 80 years old at the time, founded the Shanghai City Symphony Orchestra (hereinafter referred to as "City Jiao") at his own expense with the support of his daughter Cao Xiaoxia. This is the first non-professional symphony orchestra in Chinese mainland to serve the society with music, and carry out public welfare performances through various occasions. Today, there are more than 200 registered volunteer members, including white-collar workers, doctors, lawyers, civil servants, students, etc., as well as foreigners working and living in the Yangtze River Delta region.
Under the leadership of Cao Peng, "City Jiao" holds performances such as Shanghai's "Ear Day" public benefit concert and "Love in the City, Care for Autism Charity Concert" every year.
The establishment of "City Jiao" has the support of a group of Chinese and foreign music lovers, which has laid the groundwork for Cao Peng's family to devote themselves to public welfare and charity undertakings of caring for autistic teenagers.
In 2008, Cao Peng's daughter Cao Xiaoxia accidentally learned about the current situation and plight of autism from her son, and she was touched to propose to her father Cao Peng that "City Relations" be a charity performance for autistic teenagers in Shanghai, which was unanimously supported. "My dad said that music can go straight to the heart, no problem, let them listen to the music." Cao Xiaoxia recalled to reporters.
Subsequently, Shanghai Cao Peng Music Center and Shanghai Charity Foundation established the "Angel Friends Salon" care for autism project, Cao Xiaoxia is the person in charge of this public welfare project, the "City Jiao" members are volunteers of the project, and Cao Peng has become the oldest volunteer.
Cao Peng's daughter, Cao Xiaoxia, teaches autistic teenagers to play musical instruments at the "Angel Soulmates Salon" event. Photo by Wan Xiaojun
At first, because of the empathy for the difficulties of parents of autistic children, the Angel Soulmates Salon mainly invited "City Friends" volunteers to play music for parents, so that they could not only popularize the symphony, but also relieve the pressure of families dragged down by illness, so that they could have a short afternoon to relax.
Six months after the salon was held, everyone unexpectedly found that whenever the music played, these children who were originally noisy, banging their heads against the wall, talking to themselves, and unable to sit still slowly became quiet. Cao Peng's father and daughter are keenly aware of the possibilities involved. So, everyone followed the trend and began to teach these autistic children basic percussion instruments, and then gradually transitioned to full performance training. In 2011, which marked the sixth anniversary of the establishment of "City Exchange", it was also the year that the children performed on stage for the first time with the members of "City Exchange", which surprised everyone.
Autistic teenagers rehearse their musical instruments at the "Angel Soulmate Salon" event. Photo by Wan Xiaojun
After years of getting along, Cao Peng has also become the "Grandpa Cao" that this group of teenagers can't forget. Children would hold him and kiss him and touch his beard. At this moment, Cao Peng always laughed happily.
The power of music
As soon as he had the opportunity, Cao Peng led the children to perform on stage with the "City Exchange", including many tours abroad. Rehearsals and performances have improved everyone's playing level. The outside world is amazed that autistic children can play musical instruments collectively, and behind this shock, only Cao Peng's team and parents of autistic children understand that it is not easy.
Autism, also known as "autism", is mainly manifested as communication disorders, social communication disorders, narrow interests and stereotyped repetitive behaviors. Nowadays, autism is no longer a mystery to the public, and every year on World Autism Day, various events are held around the world to let people know and care for this group. Some non-profit organizations and institutions also help children concentrate by teaching painting, and people often perceive the inner world of this group from paintings.
Using music to connect with autistic children is also an attempt. A classroom on the 2nd floor of the Shanghai Huangpu District Youth Science and Technology Activity Center is the location of the Angel Soulmates Salon. Every Saturday afternoon, Cao Peng's team and autistic teenagers gather here for rehearsals. On the afternoon of April 4, the reporter observed the dance class of autistic teenagers here, although their dance posture was not as uniform as that of professionals, but they were very serious and devoted, and the smile on their faces was particularly infectious.
Autistic teenagers rehearse their dances at the "Angel Soulmates Salon" event. Photo by Wan Xiaojun
During the interview, Cao Peng took the reporter's notebook and wrote down the traditional character "listen" for "listen". "There is 'king' under the ear, which means that the ear is the most important. There is 'heart' next to it, the same English ear, add an h to become hear, and add a t, which is heart. Both Chinese and English ears are with the heart. Cao Peng explained, "So, opening their ears with music is the most important thing! ”
The baton of love
Although the children have made unimaginable progress, Cao Peng and his team do not stop there. In Cao Peng's view, learning music is only to open children's ears, but also to learn cultural knowledge so that they can have more connections with the world.
Therefore, they opened the "Love Classroom", inviting professional teachers to teach autistic children, including Chinese and English, abacus, art and artistic accomplishment. With the support of the Jade Buddha Temple, they also sent the children to the temple for five days to practice calligraphy and painting behind closed doors.
They also tried to make autistic children more contact and integrate into society, so they joined forces with social forces to set up a "love coffee" social practice base on the first floor of the Shanghai Youth Activity Center. Every Monday to Friday afternoon, autistic teenagers will carry out social practice here, wearing aprons, with a clear division of labor, some operating machines to grind and make coffee, and some carrying coffee to "customers".
Autistic teenagers learn to make coffee and serve customers at the "Love Coffee" social practice base. Photo by Wan Xiaojun
And these "customers" are volunteers who sign up in advance. There is no charge for drinking coffee at "Love Coffee", and volunteers interact with autistic teenagers while experiencing the services of them to help them recognize and understand society.
Autistic teenagers learn to make coffee at the "Love Coffee" social practice base. Photo by Wan Xiaojun
In order to make children connect more with society, Cao Peng's team really took great pains. A prominent feature of autistic children is that they have amazing mechanical memory, are very sensitive to maps and routes, and can remember quickly. The team took them to the subway station many times to volunteer and show passengers the way.
In addition, the children also followed Grandpa Cao and the volunteers of "City Jiao" to the nursing home for six consecutive years. "Through various social activities, children who originally need to be cared for begin to care for others and become relay volunteers for public welfare charity." These shifts have given parents hope from despair. Cao Xiaoxia said.
With the strong support of his family and all walks of life, Cao Peng's philanthropy has continued to expand. Together with Wanxiang Trust, they established the country's first Autism Care Charitable Trust, which is used to help autistic people in the life cycle of rehabilitation treatment, education and training, employment support, guardianship and care.
In May 2015, at the Shanghai Science Hall, Cao Peng cooperated with the Shanghai City Symphony Orchestra to bring a wonderful performance to the audience. Photo/Visual China
In February 2023, 2 individuals (teams) including Cao Peng won the first "Shanghai Charity Award" Charity Model Award. The jury wrote to him the following words: "Famous in the world for outstanding artistic achievements, and helping the "children of the stars" with broad philanthropy. He waved the baton of love, built a life lesson, and lit up hope in the world. (End)