"Shining Names": The musical world of a 94-year-old conductor and autistic children

"Shining Names"

We have a group of children around us: they are not deaf, but they turn a deaf ear to external sounds; they are not blind, but turn a blind eye to everything around them; they are not dumb, but they don't know how to speak. They are not a minority of people with autism. The latest United Nations data shows that 1 in 58 children is autistic. They are also called "children of stars" because they are like stars in the sky, shining alone in their own world.

However, with the help of Cao Peng, a top conductor in China, these "children of stars" were able to shine on the performance stage and "dialogue" with the audience with one note after another. In the concert hall of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, at the National Center for the Performing Arts, and even in foreign concert halls, you can see an octogenarian conductor and a group of innocent autistic children, who shine with touching notes and figures. Heart into the audience.

Dating back ten years ago, Shanghai Cao Peng Music Center and Shanghai City Charity Foundation jointly created the "Angel Friends Salon" charity service project for autistic children. Through compulsory music training, this project allows many autistic children to learn to sing, dance and play musical instruments, bringing long-lost laughter to families of autistic children.

If you pay attention to topics related to autism, you will understand how touching the story of this 94-year-old man using music to "open" the ears, eyes, and mouth of an autistic child. It conveys "love and respect" and allows every life to bloom.

At 21:30 pm on February 14 (Thursday), Dragon TV's "Shining Names" approached Cao Peng."Seeker" Chen Chen and "Performer" Zhao Lixin joined hands to tell you the story of conductor Cao Peng's care for autistic children.

In Cao Peng's home, Mr. Cao and his eldest daughter Cao Xiaoxia told Chen Chen about their original intention and achievements in choosing to use music to help autistic children. Cao Peng picked up a piece of manuscript paper with the traditional character "listening" written on it. He said that he had a conclusion: "Listening to the word, there is the word" king "under the ears. The upper right corner is the body, and the lower right corner is the heart, which means that the ears are the king. Through the body, you reach the heart. So when children with autism open their ears, they can go straight to their hearts, and when their hearts are open, they can go straight to their hearts."

When Cao Peng personally opened the heart of an autistic child, how moved would he be? Actor Zhao Lixin had a wonderful interpretation on the show. Cao Peng (Zhao Lixin) stood on the podium. The originally anxious or excited and noisy autistic children cast a trusting look and happily held the musical instrument in their hands. As the baton in Cao Peng's hand gently lowered together, the pleasant notes played by the children instantly captured the hearts of the audience. What moved at this time was not only the musical notes, but also the gratified expression on Cao Peng's face and the ray of hope in the eyes of parents of autistic children.

Precisely because he discovered the positive impact of music on improving social interactions and parent-child relationships among autistic children, 94-year-old Cao Peng still stubbornly assisted children in playing. What incredible methods did Cao Peng use to open the locked hearts of autistic children?

At 21:30 pm on February 14 (Thursday), Dragon TV visited the documentary program "Shining Names" to pay tribute to Cao Peng, the "Symphony Orchestra is Eternal Pine". Art is not old, but youth is always there.