Fang Yanghong, director of the cultural center in Kaihua county, Quzhou, gives a music lecture to primary school students in the county's Zhongcun township. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

The Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center organized more than 100 volunteers to give music lectures to rural primary school students across the province during the summer vacation, attempting to fill a gap in art education in many rural areas.

After five vocal music lessons offered through the volunteer program, thousands of children with little to no previous exposure to musical scores are now able to sing in a chorus.

On the scorching hot morning of Aug 21, the Zhangcun village cultural hall in Zhongcun township, Kaihua county was packed with local children and children from neighboring villages. They attentively sang the children's song Little White Boat while beating time under the guidance of their teacher Fang Yanghong, director of the cultural center in Kaihua county. The children's parents and local villagers stood nearby and watched with delight.

Fang, dripping with sweat as she toiled away in the crowded classroom, told the reporter that she immediately applied to participate in the music teaching program upon hearing of the notice from the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center. According to Fang, her first lecture in the village attracted only 20 children, but attendance rose to around 70 in the second lecture. To Fang's great surprise, the third lecture, which she was currently holding, was attended by nearly a hundred children. She was deeply moved by the passion she could see in the eyes of her students.

The scene in the Zhangcun village cultural hall was similar to that in other music classrooms where the program was conducted over the summer vacation.  

An outdoor music class in Fangjia village, in Qujiang district, Quzhou. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]