Chapter 348 Do you know how to play ancient musical instruments?
Like a babbling brook, it flows back and forth among the forest streams, sometimes calm, sometimes turbulent, seemingly a still pool of water, but actually concealing turbulent waves.
Generally speaking, her performance was undoubtedly at a disadvantage in a competition.
Because compared to emotion, connotation, and artistic skills, audiences who don't understand musical instruments are more interested in auditory stimulation.
In this respect, the erhu music was undoubtedly more pleasing to the ear than the other two programs.
Surprisingly, after being immersed in the erhu music, Zhao Xiaoqin's guqin piece unexpectedly brought a completely different experience to all the audience.
Even the senior mentors sitting on the platform were captivated, drawn by the timbre of the piano, the skillful technique Zhao Xiaoqin displayed in her performance, and the many emotions she conveyed in that instant.
When the music ended, many people in the audience were still immersed in the beautiful sound of the piano, unable to come back to their senses for a long time, until Zhao Xiaoqin stood up and bowed to everyone.
Ye Wanxi also clapped at the right moment, and the audience below seemed to wake up from their daze and joined in the clapping.
In an instant, thunderous applause erupted from below, offering their sincere appreciation for this final, grand finale performance.
"Next, please invite all the performance teachers to come up on stage tonight."
There are a total of twelve groups of teachers participating in the performance tonight. Some are groups of two, like Zhao Xiaoqin and her partner, while others are groups of one person.
A group of people went on stage together, and the scene was quite spectacular.
The program invited a total of five mentors and guests, all of whom are experienced and influential senior figures.
Generally speaking, the teachers selected by the program team mostly have their own shining points. Some are hardworking types with particularly solid basic skills, while others are naturally gifted and able to fully immerse themselves in the role...
Regardless of whether the others were satisfied or dissatisfied with their performance, they would offer some pointers to prevent the audience from feeling too much of a difference in their relationship with the performers.
However, tonight, the senior members clearly placed great importance on the performance of both groups.
One group consisted of Xue Jifeng, who performed the chime bells solo, and the other group consisted of Zhao Xiaoqin and another person.
Compared to Xue Jifeng, who is already in his early thirties and has already won many honors, Zhao Xiaoqin, who looks to be only in her early twenties, had a more unexpected performance today.
"You two, your performances today were a pleasant surprise. As for Zheng Baihong, I've seen his performances before. He's the kind of person who's quite conventional, never making any major mistakes, but also never really surprising. He's steady, but his emotions are a bit shallow. But today, under your guidance, his flute playing came alive."
These words were spoken by Dean Yang of the School of Music at M University, who is also a leading figure in the field of ancient music. Receiving such praise from him is the wish of many new students who are learning ancient instruments, and it is also the driving force for their efforts.
As soon as Dean Yang finished speaking, another sprightly old lady next to him immediately chimed in, "Old Yang is absolutely right. Young lady, I can see that there are still some minor flaws in your fingering, but your overall performance today is excellent. Whether it's your focus or your emotional investment in the piece, it's all quite impressive. I'm casting my vote for you today."
"Oh dear, why are you in such a hurry? You've already given out your votes while we were talking. No, I can't fall behind." When Dean Yang saw her suddenly hand out her vote, he immediately regretted being a step behind and hurriedly cast his vote for the two of them as well.
The other performers were disappointed, but they didn't have much of an opinion, since anyone with eyes could see that the two had performed exceptionally well today.
After a series of sharp yet encouraging comments, the mentors cast their votes for the contestants they were satisfied with.
After several rounds of deliberation, Xue Jifeng and Zhao Xiaoqin's group received the most votes, so it was almost certain that the final winner would be one of them.
Ultimately, this crucial decision fell to an elderly man with white hair.
The old gentleman, surnamed Zhong, is the president of the National Ancient Music Association. He didn't immediately draw a conclusion, but instead asked Zhao Xiaoqin with a serious expression, "I heard that your instrument broke before the program started?"
Zhao Xiaoqin was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting the other party to ask this: "Yes...yes, my qin was broken before the show started."
"Whether it was damaged by someone else or you broke it yourself, it is yours and your partner on your journey. You have a responsibility to protect it, not to give others the opportunity to break it."
Zhao Xiaoqin felt a little wronged, but she had to admit that he was right. She lowered her head apologetically and replied, "Yes, it's my fault for not protecting it well."
The old lady who had spoken immediately after Dean Yang softened upon seeing this and couldn't help but speak up for her, saying, "Old Zhong, you should say less. She's still just a child, and this is probably the first time she's encountered something like this. Don't be too harsh on her. She'll just be more careful next time."
President Zhong then softened his expression and his tone became gentler: "I don't mean to criticize you, I just hope you can be more careful next time. Not everything can be made up for. If you hadn't found a replacement piano in time today, you wouldn't be on this stage, and you wouldn't have been able to give us such a great performance. That would be a regret for all of us."
Zhao Xiaoqin was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "I understand, I will definitely pay more attention next time. Here, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank someone."
"Oh, who is it?"
The mentors initially thought Zhao Xiaoqin wanted to take this opportunity to thank the teacher who taught her acting, but unexpectedly she suddenly turned her head to look at something not far away.
When Ye Wanxi saw Zhao Xiaoqin looking in her direction, she almost instantly saw through her thoughts, and her expression changed slightly.
"I want to thank Ms. Ye, the initiator of today's program. If it weren't for her helping me find this violin in the limited time, I wouldn't have been able to get on stage on time, let alone bring you this performance today. She deserves a lot of credit for my performance today."
As soon as Zhao Xiaoqin said this, everyone's eyes immediately fell on Ye Wanxi.
"Oh, you mean this zither, she helped you find it?" Chairman Zhong stared intently at Ye Wanxi, his eyes filled with inquiry.
Ye Wanxi twitched her lips and said truthfully, "I found it. My friend is a collector of ancient musical instruments. I saw this once at his house before. This time, the matter was urgent, so I asked him to lend it to me."
"Speaking of this, Jifeng just mentioned it to me, saying that Ms. Ye has a deep understanding of ancient music culture. She can recite the scripts provided by the program team after only reading them once. It's really impressive."
As the conversation seemed to be heading in a dangerous direction, Ye Wanxi suddenly had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, the next second someone from the instructors' panel said, "Miss Ye has such a deep understanding of ancient music culture, do you also know one or two ancient musical instruments?"
(End of this chapter)
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