1 . An orchestra is attempting to bring people living with dementia (痴呆) back into the present. The work being done by Manchester Camerata has never been more important, given that there are about 900,000 people with the condition in the UK, a number that is predicted to nearly double by 2040.

People with dementia often find listening to music can reignite old memories from long ago. Much more overlooked, though, is the impact that making music can have on the present. While some with dementia can often feel trapped in the past, some researchers believe the act of creating music—as well as listening to it—can help to reconnect then to the here and now.

A new BBC documentary—Dementia, Music and Us—follows the work of Manchester Camerata and its principal flautist (长笛手) Amina Hussain. who, also a professional music therapist, leads classes across the north-west of England that have been described as life-changing. Classes for the community consist of improvisation (即兴创作), singing, and writing their own music.

Keith, 62, was diagnosed with dementia when he was 53. Like many, he really struggled to come to terms with his new reality. He found the sessions to be genuinely life-changing. “I think the thing that saved us was the first ever music group we went to because from that group it opened other groups up for us.” he said. “The workshops make you smile, enjoy life and it just brings the best out of you.”

Researcher Dr Dowlen is seeking to better understand the “in the moment” benefits of music-making for people with dementia. She believes the improvisational music workshop experience allows people to “create something that is held now in the moment.” She added, “Improvisational music-making is particularly important for people with dementia, especially when it comes to building their confidence and their self-esteem.”

2 . At the age of 12, I withdrew into my bedroom with my guitar. I had neither musical talent — many_______music lessons had proved that — nor musical training. My fingers ached as I tried to press down on the strings without making them buzz (发出嗡嗡声). _______, I worked my way through 2-, 3- and even 5-chord (和旋) songs and discovered the _______ thrills of these musical notes. No one _______ me to do this. I did this myself and of my own free will for a week, and the sense of happiness－ true happiness _______ in absorption in something － has _______ me. Fifty years later, that week’s self-directed practice became a model and _______ for almost every meaningful thing I have done since. It makes me understand the _______ between achievement and accomplishment.

The world favors achievement while _______ accomplishment. The former is the completion of the task imposed (强加) from the outside — the ________ being a path to the next task. The latter is the end point of an activity we have chosen, whose bonus is the sudden ________ of happiness.

The seeking of accomplishment always ________ people. I learned so long ago in that ________ week that simply lifting one finger from the guitar’s C chord, you should get the most moving ________ in tune. I didn’t know then it was a major 7th chord, a favorite of some masters’. I just ________ accomplishment. That’s real human “achievement”.

5 . While most musicians work with other artists when creating their music, Holly Herndon, an American musician and sound artist who is now based in Berlin, takes a different way, working with the machine learning software called Spawn. The software uses artificial neural networks modeled after the structure of the human brain. These networks learn patterns from datasets during the training process. Based on the data, the networks create new material that includes Herndon’s own voice.

When producing her album, PROTO, Holly trained datasets to write new music. The process requires the input data of music written by people or by artificial intelligence (AI). The neural networks then produce variations of that music. “Computers surprise you in a way that an instrument doesn’t,” Holly said. So what does music sound like when composed by what is essentially a robot? It sounds like music from the future!

But Holly Herndon isn’t the only one exploring AI in composition. Machines have played an increasingly important role in music over the last century. The godfather of computer science, Alan Turing, developed the first computer generated music in 1951. Then in 1980. David Cope from the University of California, Santa Cruz developed EMI — Experiments in Musical Intelligence, a system that analyzes existing music and produces new pieces based on it.

AI might not take over the job of the “pop star” anytime soon, or will it? Miquela Sousa is a computer-generated artist with over one million followers on Instagram. “I’m a model and singer. And I’m a robot,” Miquela said. This then raises the question: Can we reproduce creativity using a computer?

Though those questions are not easy to answer, I believe the next frontier of music lies somewhere in between. I can see the path forward with a new dawn of creativity that combines human inventiveness with AI. And the next chapter of music will certainly become wonderful as music and AI become even more closely connected.

6 . In August, Jason M. Allen’s piece “Theatre D’opéra Spatial” — which he created with Al image generator Midjourney — won first place in the emerging artist division’s “digital arts photography” category at the Colorado State Fair Fine Arts Competition. The definition for the category states that digital art refers to works that use “digital technology as part of the creative process”.

Allen’s award-winning image has led to debates about what, exactly, it means to be an artist and whether AI can truly make art. “It felt bad for the exact same reason we don’t let robots participate in the Olympics,” one Twitter user wrote. “This is the literal definition of ‘pressed a few buttons to make a digital art piece’,” another tweeted.

Yet while Allen didn’t use a paintbrush, there was plenty of work involved, he said. First, he played around with phrasing that led Midjourney to generate images of women in elegant dresses and space helmets, in an attempt to mix Victorian-style costuming with space themes. Over time, with many slight changes to his written prompt (提示符), he created 900 different versions of what led to his final image. Then he improved its resolution through Gigapixel AI and finally had the images printed.

Allen is glad the debate over whether AI can be used to make art is attracting so much attention. “Rather than hating on the technology, we need to recognize that it’s a powerful tool and use it for good so we can all move forward,” Allen said.

Cal Duran, one of the judges for the competition, said that while Allen’s piece included a mention of AI, he didn’t realize that when judging it. Still, he sticks by his decision to award it first place. “I think the AI technology may give more opportunities to people who may not find themselves artists in the conventional way,” he said.

7 . Adaptation and innovation(创新) of traditional opera is the important trend of Chinese opera circle in recent years. In order to attract young audiences of new generation and catch up with the time, traditional opera circle makes efforts to create new works. In recent years, traditional opera came across the change of time and society. They gradually lost the main elderly audiences and traditional opera was not attractive for young audiences.

In order to find new opportunities, using modern sound, light and digital stage effects, China’s traditional Peking Opera is appealing to young people in a fashionable and innovative way, as the classic art faces an aging audience.

The centuries-old Tianleyuan Theater in Beijing has introduced fashionable performances of Peking Opera. The opera combines instrumental music, vocal performance, mime(哑剧表演), dance and acrobatics(杂技).

Tianleyuan has a jingju art experience section and fashionable performances. It has attracted more than 2,000 audiences members, mostly young people, according to theater staff.

“Good art should keep pace with the times, so does jingju,” said Zhang Zishang, a 22-year-old performer of The Drunken Beauty, one of the classic jingju plays performed in the theater. “I feel today’s performance is very special,” Zhang said. She was born into a family of jingju performers and has had 10 years of stage experience, “Innovation is good, but we must also carry on the basic elements of jingju,” another young performer Deng said.

According to Deng, innovation is perhaps the best way for jingiju to deal with the problem of an aging audience. It has made successful attempts to combine jingju with local opera forms such as ballet when organizing performances abroad. “Innovation can help traditional arts go further. We are happy to see many young faces, and some of them even come twice to experience the ‘new’ art,” she added.

9 . Music has been around since the first man walked on the Earth. Every beat or sound our ancestors heard was in some way a kind of music. Dating back to the early age, music would have been something as simple as the sound of the sea wave, or a wild animal running across the plain. Today’s music is so varied that almost every child or teenager has a long list of favorite songs that they like to listen to on their smartphone or other devices.

But even with such a large variety of music forms today, I’m sure the traditionalists wouldn’t agree with what today’s youngsters refer to as good music. Nowadays, young people are looking to discover the latest “in music”. This is the sort of music that is able to make everyone feel great at the moment but soon forgotten once something better comes along.

For me, I’m truly in love with rock music. Rock is a hugely misunderstood type, with many people simply connecting it with negative social problems such as drugs and overdrinking, given that some of the world’s most famous rock stars have been in the press for their frightening behaviors under the influence of beers or wines. However, it is important to tell the difference between artists and their music, and not make unnecessary judgments about the music just because of the behavior of the musician.

Another widely misunderstood belief is that rock music is only about drums and guitars, when that is just its outward face. A wide variety of other instruments are important to rock, and make an important contribution to the sound of the music as a whole, other than just guitars and drums.