2 . Sydney Conservatorium of Music Concerts for January 2017

Conservatorium High School students play a selection (精选) of Mozart concertos (协奏曲).

An afternoon for the young and the young-at-heart. Led by the Giggles Band (乐队), sing children’s songs from your childhood and from all over the world. There will be a special appearance by Willy Wallaby, from the popular children’s programme.

Bring someone special with you and listen to some of the greatest love songs as you look at the stars together!

Dance till late to the rock hits of the last 10 years. Bands playing include The Hippies, The Hypers, and The Heroes. If you have a special request (请求), write it down at the ticket counter when you come in.

World-famous classical guitarist Rodrigo Paras will play a selection of traditional Spanish Flamenco pieces.

4 . So far this winter, a theater in the Alps has staged more than 60 unique concerts. Winter temperatures in the remote mountain village can drop high below zero. Performers wear down jackets and play ice instruments. In fact, almost everything from drums and guitars to horns and harps at the music festival is carved from ice even the stage the musicians play on. The audience sits on ice chairs and benches and claps their hands to listen, both to praise the performers and to keep themselves warm when the air flows through.

The musical instruments used were almost entirely made by an American ice artist, Tim Linhart. Since he created his first musical instrument out of ice more than a decade ago, he has already carved various ice instruments, including violins, violas, timber drum sets, xylophone, double bass, mandolin and cello. He also created his own large wind instrument, which uses the vibration of an ice tube to produce sound when the air flows through.

Linhart makes the different parts of the ice instrument and then uses a liquid mixed with snow to glue them together, with a metal support placed where the strings need to be. A violin can usually be made in two or three weeks, while larger instruments can take more time and efforts, sometimes taking months to make.

An ice instrument has a clearer sound than a wooden instrument. However, ice instruments are more easily broken or damaged than ordinary instruments. The temperature in the ice theater changes depending on the number of people in the audience. This also changes the temperature of the ice instruments, which in turn affects the 1 sound they produce. Musicians need to tune their instruments frequently during performances.

Although playing an ice instrument is not easy, Linhart believes that ice and snow are good materials for making instruments. The only downside is melting when the temperature is above freezing.

6 . Music is considered a great creation. It can be seen as creativity in the pure form. In society, for some people, music is a “pastime (消遣)” while for others, it is a “lifestyle”.     1    

Music is a great source of entertainment (娱乐). Though people are different in culture and language, they enjoy music and get entertainment from it. It may be part of advertisements on TV or ring tones on mobiles.    2    

Music helps communicate thoughts and feelings.    3    In this situation, music is a good way to express them. This is also the reason why some songs get more popular among the public as compared to others. It is so because people connect with some songs more.

Music sends messages to listeners. We all have observed on television many times that in certain background music is played in the scenes (情景) that describe sorrow.     4     In this way, music actually communicates with listeners without the help of words. It is interesting to know that music itself is so powerful that it does not need words.

    5    Music has deep effects on the mind and spirit of people. It directly affects the hormones (荷尔蒙), which creates a feeling of pleasure in the listener. It is because of this reason that listening to peaceful music makes us less worried or nervous.

When I was about four years old, I was sitting around playing with some     1     (toy) on the floor and my aunt decided to put some of those giant, old school headphones around my ears so that I could listen to classical music for     2     first time. Regardless, my first experience with classical music       3     (be) magical.

As soon as she put those headphones on, I stopped everything I was doing and stared curiously out into the Universe, because I     4     (attract) by what was going on between my ears.

Thanks     5     my loving aunt, I experienced an early taste in classical music that set up my life path. I believe that her     6    (decide) to put those headphones on was an important point that created my life path today.

I started taking piano lessons,       7     helped me make my first piece of music at around the age of 9. By the time I was in high school and college, I was in a band with my best friends playing and recording music,     8     it had become a huge part of my life and identity.

Music made me feel alive — free to be myself and free     9     (express) every range of emotion. I began realizing that my music wasn’t just for me — it could heal (治愈) and help others in a     10     (meaning)way.