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The objective of this qualitative research study is to analyze the contemporary transmission methods and educational approaches employed in preserving and revitalizing Chinese Jinghe opera to address current challenges in Hubei Province. The research site, Jingzhou City in Hubei Province, serves as the backdrop for exploring this multifaceted cultural heritage. Nine key informants, including scholars, practitioners, and community members, provide diverse perspectives on Jinghe Opera and its transmission. Semi-structured interviews serve as the basis for data collection, and thematic analysis follows to reveal recurring themes and patterns. The study reveals the historical significance of Jinghe Opera, its evolution, and the critical roles of supporting institutions, such as the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center and Yangtze University. Challenges facing Jinghe Opera, such as a shortage of original works and an aging transmission workforce, are discussed. Proposed solutions include fostering creativity, modernizing education, and establishing institutional support. This research contributes to the broader discourse on cultural heritage preservation and demonstrates the resilience of traditional art forms in a changing cultural landscape.

The Chinese Luoyang Quju Opera holds significant cultural importance in Henan Province. Despite its historical richness, this art form confronts challenges amidst modernization and evolving entertainment preferences. This study investigates literacy strategies for preserving and contemporaneously developing the Chinese Luoyang Quju Opera. The research in Luoyang engages performers, educators, and scholars through qualitative methods, such as interviews, field observations, and archival research. The findings underscore the necessity for systematic documentation, scientific preservation techniques, educational integration, governmental backing, and digital platform utilization to sustain this opera. Emphasizing a comprehensive approach to cultural conservation, blending traditional and contemporary methodologies to captivate new generations, the study recommends digital experience centers, social media outreach, curriculum inclusion, community initiatives, and cultural tourism programs. These strategies aim to uphold the enduring legacy of Luoyang Quju Opera in contemporary society.

Yue Opera holds the distinction of being the second largest opera in China and is celebrated as the country's second National opera. This study aims to examine education and literacy of historical development in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China. Through a multidisciplinary approach encompassing musicology and ethnomusicology it investigates the historical development, cultural contexts, and artistic characteristics of Chinese Yue Opera. The research methodology involves conducting interviews with key informants who have extensive experience and expertise in Chinese Yue Opera, as well as observing live performances. The collected data is analyzed and interpreted in accordance with existing literature and theoretical principles. The findings of the study trace the evolution of Chinese Yue Opera from its origins as a rap art form to an opera prototype, and its subsequent development into the "Small Song Class" and "Shaoxing Opera." The comprehensive examination of the cultural and artistic aspects of education and literacy in Chinese Yue Opera provides valuable insights into this traditional Chinese opera genre. The study sheds light on its historical significance, artistic expressions, and cultural heritage. This research enriches our understanding and deepens our appreciation of the distinctive artistry encapsulated within Chinese Yue Opera.

Huai Opera is a traditional Chinese operatic form known for its distinctive vocal techniques,melodic tunes, and captivating storytelling, originating from the Huai River region in China. Thestudy's primary objective is to investigate vocal technique literacy in Huai Opera for school-based musicians education in Shanghai Municipality, China. Anchored in musicology and ethnomusicology, this research is conducted within the School of Huai Opera, encompassing the Southern and Northern Schools, known for their distinctive regional influences and vocal styles. Two key informants,a seasoned Huai Opera performer and vocal instructor and an accomplished ethnomusicologist,lend their unique insights to shed light on the multifaceted nature of vocal technique literacy inHuai Opera education. The structured interviews and systematic observations that were used tocollect data are carefully analyzed to show the different breathing techniques, vocal techniques, and rhythms that makeup Huai Opera's vocal technique literacy curriculum. The study's finding sunderscore the significance of integrating traditional arts into contemporary education systems to preserve cultural heritage and enrich students' educational experiences. It emphasizes the need for innovative pedagogical approaches and highlights the role of traditional arts in nurturing cultural engagement among youth.

Suzhou Pingtan is a traditional Chinese opera originating from Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, known for its melodic tunes, storytelling, and expressive performances. The objective of this study was to explore the transmission process of Suzhou Pingtan Chinese Opera in Jiangsu, China, and its impact on education and literacy. This study utilizes a combination of fieldwork, interviews, and questionnaires as research tools were used to gather data from three key informants, two main informants, and three general informants. The data collected are analyzed through qualitative methods, including content analysis and thematic analysis. The research findings reveal ten main modes of transmission, including the inclusion of Suzhou Pingtan in the national intangible cultural heritage list, the establishment of inheritors, the Suzhou Pingtan Art Festival, the enhancement of performance level and frequency, the development of Suzhou Pingtan School, the establishment of Suzhou Pingtan Museum, the expansion of performance venues, the integration into primary and secondary schools and universities, international transmission, and strong government support. The study suggests the importance of continued support for educational initiatives, the preservation of performance venues, and the cultivation of young audiences to ensure the sustainability and wider appreciation of Suzhou Pingtan.

The study focuses on the preservation and transmission of Gannan Tea Picking Opera knowledge after the Cultural Revolution in 1949 using qualitative research methods such as interviews and observations with seven key informants. The following findings were obtained, which can be divided into three distinct periods: The tortuous development phase from 1949 to 1966 marked significant growth and development, with the establishment of specialized schools and the implementation of the "three reforms" contributing to knowledge transmission and preservation. The survival dilemma period from 1966 to 1976 during the Cultural Revolution imposed constraints on artistic expression, but the return of artists from rural areas and their role in recruiting apprentices supported the continuity of Gannan Tea Picking Opera. Finally, the Ganzhou Gannan Tea Picking Opera Troupe and educational institutions contributed to the revival of this traditional art form during the period of rebirth from 1976 to 2023. Retired artists continue to play a vital role in knowledge preservation and dissemination, reflecting the enduring resilience of Gannan Tea Picking Opera.

Changde Sixian Opera is a cherished intangible cultural heritage traditional folk opera known for its vibrant melodies. The objective of this study is to propose guidelines for the literacy transmission of Changde Sixian Opera within schools and educational institutes. The study was conducted in Changde City, Hunan Province, and enlisted two key informants, including experienced Changde Sixian performers and educators. Employing a mixed-methods approach involving semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis, the study unearthed a multifaceted integration of Changde Sixian into primary and secondary education, higher education, community activities, television programming, and professional performance groups. The research findings underscore the importance of educational institutions in preserving and transmitting Changde Sixian Opera while emphasizing the need for ongoing strategies to address declining interest among younger generations, ensuring the continued vibrancy of this cultural treasure.

This paper takes the music class of Fuzhou Preschool Normal College, Jiangxi Province, China as a case study to analyze the different attitudes of students to the traditional Chinese opera--Fuzhou tea-picking opera which has been introduced into the music class of the school, thus affecting the cultural inheritance effect. A total of 150 non-music major local college students were selected from three classes to carry out the music course inheritance practice for four months in Fuzhou Preschool Normal College. This study was divided into three stages, (a) student assessment, (b) teaching the lesson, (c) feedback and assessment. The aim of this study was to study the perceptions of students from Fuzhou Preschool Normal College, Jiangxi Province, China towards the art from of Fuzhou tea-picking opera, and to explore the factors affecting the learning attitudes of these students. Mixed-methods design was employed within the study. The study found that the implementation of the course significantly improved students' positive attitude towards Fuzhou tea-picking opera. The implementation of the course played a positive role in promoting the inheritance of the tea-picking opera. Although this is a study on the inheritance of traditional Chinese music course, the ideas of course design and research results are applicable to other traditional Chinese music, and even to other countries which have needs for the inheritance of traditional music.

This article reflects on the evaluation of an innovative educational arts project at a primary school in Liverpool. Based on an animated film version of Janácek's "Cunning Little Vixen," an opera populated by animals, this child-led project was considered to be a successful endeavour. Yet there remain unanswered questions over how this success might be defined and indeed what conventional methods of evaluation research can hope to capture. The article draws on debates from the new wave of childhood studies and considers how some of the recent theoretical and methodological developments in this field, particularly around post-qualitative research, could and should influence the way that evaluation is carried out. Yet there are tensions between the complexities that these developments raise and the intention of evaluation which is to provide straightforward answers.

The article is devoted to the development and formation of the Italian vocal schools in the era of the New Age. The most important aspects of the development of the Italian vocal school are the domination of castrate singers in the 18th century and their gradual ousting in the era of the romantic opera formation. During the 20th century, the internationalization of Italian opera and vocal teaching methods take place. The study is based on a complex of historical methods. The materials are of interest to researchers of vocal technology and cultural history.

Recent years have witnessed significant growth of interest in science-art integration in schools as an approach to creative teaching and learning. This conceptual turn in education implies profound institutional and philosophical changes. Central to this turn has been the development of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math (STEAM) education. In this article, we detail a progression from an existing model of pedagogical principles and educational objectives in science education within a global STEAM education environment, Global Science Opera, towards shared pedagogical principles and educational objectives in both science and arts education within that same environment. In this work, we rely on a transdisciplinary approach towards the integrated disciplines and the educators who teach them. We outline the need for the new, integrated approach to be validated in other, empirical, contexts in order to establish its capacity in the field of creativity in education, and specifically in global STEAM environments in order to ensure its relevance to teaching and learning of a kind which strengthen students' knowledge, abilities and democratic and inclusive values. We propose the Janus metaphor for the new approach as it represents the possibility of having a double perspective of a single focus of attention. We conclude by pointing at limitations of discipline integration in which pedagogical principles in science education are not in harmony with the pedagogical principles in arts education.

The purpose of this article is to give the history teacher who is interested in or passionate about music--but nervous about transforming that passion into a useful classroom lesson--some resources, tools, and ideas to begin incorporating music into their teaching. It will focus on what is arguably the most difficult musical genre to teach with: the European tradition of art music, including opera. Such music is often regarded as being far away from the world of contemporary popular music, and art music may be the genre students are least likely to casually listen to. However, it is an incredibly rich resource for classroom instruction, and the underlying principles can be applied to more popular forms of music or to non-Western musical traditions. The dramatic principles inherent in opera provide another way to combine audio and visual sources to drive student discussion. Music is yet another method of reaching students by engaging them with something they are likely to have opinions about and have at their fingertips (given the ubiquity of streaming services and unlimited smartphone storage); and since music is used to market goods, enforce informal social boundaries, and serve as a marker of identity, training students to think as critically about music as we train them to think about texts and visual media is a vital part of equipping them to live in the modern world. Finally, classical music will be attractive to students who are interested in the arts and in musical performance who might otherwise find history a little remote. Historians and history teachers ignore the power and potential of music at their peril.

Objectives: The humanities, including narrative arts, are a valuable tool to foster reflection for professionally competent clinical practice. Integrating such study into traditional medical school curricula can prove challenging. A preclinical elective on opera and medicine was developed and piloted at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for pre-medical and medical students to foster reflective capacity supporting professional identity formation. Methods: Interdisciplinary faculty from the departments of arts and sciences conducted nine facilitated discussion sessions. A field trip to the Metropolitan Opera, NY complemented students' operatic studies. Students were asked reflection-inviting questions concerning their emotional response to operatic scenes, characters, and physician-patient interactions throughout the course and given opportunities to discuss how opera reflects and reinforces stereotypes and societal stigma of patients, diseases, and physicians. A final reflective paper prompted analysis of more and less successful patient-provider interactions, exploring how students felt about these relationships, and drawing conclusions about how they would like to ideally act in the future. Formative feedback was provided using a reflection rubric. Results: Course evaluations demonstrated that sessions were well received. Students' qualitative comments described the influence of the course on the development of their professional identities, as well as the potential impact on their future careers as physicians. Lessons learned and future directions are suggested. Conclusions: This novel curriculum can serve as a model for using opera to enhance reflection and foster professional identity formation at other health profession and liberal arts institutions.

Australia is currently responding to an international trend that encourages social inclusion and the provision of equal opportunity for all. In a climate that is encouraging and supporting social inclusion, it can be enriching to look back at Australia's history and consider the benefits that have been gained in a previous era when people were given new opportunities in a more socially inclusive environment. This paper will discuss how the composition of Australia's first opera by a woman, Mona McBurney's "The Dalmatian," exemplifies what can be achieved when social change gives rise to new opportunity. The particular musical significance of "The Dalmatian" is that it is the first opera to be written by an Australian woman, however, this is not its only point of significance. "The Dalmatian" is a product of a unique period in Australia's history when, as a result of various major social changes, women were offered increased musical opportunities. The opera stands as proof of the benefits that can be reaped when society provides equal encouragement, support and opportunity for men and women in their musical endeavours. It is a musical work that speaks to contemporary societies in the pursuit of more socially inclusive environments with equal access to opportunity for all.

This article invites teachers to consider how to strengthen links between English, music, arts, and acting, maximizing the potential for children to become successful language learners at a young age. It will show how children's opera can act as a catalyst for learning and using the language. The findings demonstrate that teaching English with a children's opera allows developing the basics of elementary communicative competence as it has everything that children of this age like rhythm, melody, story, and acting.

This study aims to examine how and why students transform in terms of learning motivation in learning the Cantonese opera with a teacher-artist partnership approach in Hong Kong schools. An artist and seven teachers from four schools collaborated to teach the genre for eight weeks. Students' learning motivation changes in Cantonese opera was measured by a set of pre- and post-learning questionnaires. Qualitative data were drawn from class observations and focus group interviews with teachers and students. Results indicate that students' motivation in learning the genre has been changed. The statistical analysis suggests that, while primary students had significantly increased their motivation in learning Cantonese opera, the secondary students' motivation had not increased. Attributions include age differences, self-consciousness, intrinsic value and socio-cultural impact. However, the partnership was found to be an appropriate and effective approach in teaching the ethnic genre for its "role supplementation" between the teacher and the artist. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

In recent years, pre-service teacher education has attempted to incorporate into programs an understanding of Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences as it applies to schools. In this paper the tension between "learning about" multiple intelligences and "learning through" multiple intelligences supports Gardner's (1993) distinction between "understanding" and "coverage". This paper examines the use of the performing arts in the professional studies component of our teacher education program. During 2002 at The University of Melbourne, a group of education students were offered the opportunity to develop an opera in order to learn about assessment and curriculum. Thirty-seven of the students volunteered to be involved and over a period of six months met this challenge. Our action research study asked two critical questions. To what extent is the understanding of multiple intelligences by pre-service teachers improved by "learning through"? Can pre-service teachers address fundamental issues in curriculum and assessment through the development of a performance? This experience would be of value to other teacher educators.

The goal of this qualitative study is to provide theoretical knowledge and design principles for a creative educational environment characterized by simultaneous study and exploration of science or math, and the arts: Write a Science Opera (WASO). To do so, we used a theory of creativity in education which links collaborative co-creation in creative activity, and identity: Wise Humanizing Creativity (WHC). Data were collected from teachers in interventions during which the WASO environment was implemented in two Norwegian primary schools. The topics of study were the multiplication table at the first school, and temperature at the second. Data relating to these participants' experiences and perceptions were coded and analyzed in order to articulate the kind of creative activity witnessed. The data, which consisted of interviews and reflective notes, were analyzed based on Educational Design Research (EDR) theory in order to explore design principles which could enrich WASO in the future, as well as to provide theoretical knowledge to other educational researchers.

Performance in drama, dance, music, puppetry, or combinations of these arts can be an exciting encounter for young children. This case study investigated one 4-year-old's responses to a children's opera. Her responses before, during, and after the performance were systematically observed and analyzed. Data showed that the child had some knowledge of the conventions of opera and performance before the show. Overall, she was attentive to the performance, with periodic mental diversions not appearing to affect her understanding of the show's narrative. Some aspects of the performance seemed to evoke particularly animated responses, such as puppets and dancing. The child appeared to identify strongly with the central character, a little girl, and during the performance, she also engaged in spontaneous drawing of what she observed on stage. A post-performance opportunity to explore the stage and props and to talk to performers indicated that the experience had been a positive one for the child; she interacted with many new people and did not want to leave. Several weeks after the performance, her play-acting revealed an influence of the opera, and she composed a song dealing with the opera's narrative. These observations suggested that quality performance experiences may have the potential to stimulate children to generate their own original, artistic responses. (Suggestions for appropriate inclusion of performances in early childhood education are provided. Contains 21 references.) (EV)

In this essay I explore problems of pedagogy related to Hans Krása's "Brundibár" by drawing heavily upon the thinking of two divergent theoretical perspectives regarding Holocaust testimony as advanced by Giorgio Agamben (2002) and Shoshana Felman (1992). I theorize that lodged within a space of difficult knowledge coalesced through violence, trauma, complicity, memory, and music lies a rupture at the heart of the "Brundibár" experience. This space is created yet not altogether embraced by contemporary musical experiences of "Brundibár" in the most extensive and all-encompassing comprehension of its musicking: experiencing the operetta allows its participants to hear those whom it is impossible to hear. I claim that the musical experience as inhered within and enabled by the operetta serves a testimonial and therefore pedagogical function. This function, figuratively hearing and being present to "Brundibár's" present absences, implies an empathic walking-beside-in-solidarity and is a position that I suggest allows participants to engage with the operetta more fully.

Two of the most influential works of the Western nineteenth century were completed in 1859: Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species" and Richard Wagner's opera "Tristan and Isolde." Although created within very different cultural traditions, these works show some striking similarities: both brought about a critical, long-lasting debate and caused conflicting reactions after their publications, and both had fundamental and compelling impact on their disciplines. In this article, the author focuses on the following questions: (1) How is the idea of evolution expressed in "The Origin of Species" and "Tristan and Isolde"? (2) What are common essences of that which Darwin referred to as "descent with modifications" and Wagner to as "becoming" ("das Werden")? (3) What educational potential exists for exploring and understanding evolution when comparing its historical emergences in biology and music? Using a phenomenological approach, the author aims to survey, describe, and compare significant parallels between the two works. He expands the comparison of the two works to considerations of how teachers can facilitate students' meaningful learning of evolution and which joint role art and science might play. (Contains 1 figure and 82 notes.)

Content-based instruction (CBI) has been part of the foreign language curriculum for many years at US colleges, leading to courses that combine language instruction with specific content domains, such as film, literature, politics, sports and many others. This article presents a rather unusual choice of content domain for a second-year language course: German Opera. Based on current research on CBI, personal teaching experiences, and student evaluations, this article outlines the structure, didactics and practical components of this pioneer course.

There is a long history of debate over what opera is. Since it's more or less formal beginning in the sixteenth century as a reconstruction of ancient drama, opera as an art form has been controversial. The received understanding--emphasized by the genre's founders and in periodic efforts at reforming the standards of composition and production--is that opera is musical drama. Others view opera as music; while others consider it as revelation. These three conceptions of opera are not meant to include all of the conceptions that play a role in debates about the meaning and value of opera. At the same time, they serve as the most visible and, for many, the most plausible conceptions. However, the author thinks that each conception is problematic. In this article, the author suggests that opera performances have the potential to be truly extraordinary aesthetic experiences. He proposes to follow a suggestion by Benjamin Britten. "Music," Britten says, "does not exist in a vacuum, it does not exist until it is performed, and performance impose(s) conditions." The central condition is that it is an experience that occurs only in what Britten calls the "holy triangle of composer, performer, and listener." (Contains 30 notes.)

A continuing line of research indicates that focus of attention is perhaps the most important attribute of actively participating in meaningful music listening and a model accounting for these findings has been developed. Music teachers are especially concerned with meaningful listening when having students discern important elements or attributes of music. Although newer listening devices offer sophisticated methods for continuous measurement, the educator usually does not have access to the advanced equipment used by researchers. This study is built on a previous investigation by examining the use of a paper-and-pencil drawing for recording aesthetic responses across time. The authors also asked the 50 university music major participants to reflect and write comments concerning their listening experiences. Findings indicate that a teacher using only a simple paper-and-pencil representation might be able to elicit and document an "overall emotional effect" that provides almost as much information as using more sophisticated measuring devices. (Contains 2 figures.)

The world of classical music, says the writer, has always been international, and has now become truly global. Opera is perhaps traditionally, and most conspicuously, global. At any performance of the Metropolitan Opera of New York, for example, one encounters several different nationalities on stage, back stage, and in the orchestra pit. But the same is true of the plastic, dramatic, and literary arts nowadays, very different from the days when Henry James, Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein, fled to Europe to find the stimulation and recognition they could not find at home. Meantime, Americans are exposed to a vast array of artistic productions from many countries and cultures: from Asia, India, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and Australia. Even as American artists have found their place on the world stage, so also have artists from around the world found theirs. In the aggregate they form a kind of global citizenry of the arts as reflected in the currency of their works, international conferences, critical recognition, and access to them in print, films, exhibitions, recordings, and live performances. This serves as background for a reconsideration of the controversy over government funding for the arts in the United States as the author introduces the concept of global citizenship into the debate over government support for the arts. (Contains 11 notes.)

Discusses the collaboration between an art and a music teacher whose seventh grade students wrote an opera based on the children's story "The Egyptian Cinderella." Addresses familiarizing students with composing music, student roles, and writing the compositions. Provides helpful hints and considers the benefits of this project. (CMK)