1 . A music festival, which is often presented with a main idea, is a community event mainly about live performances of singing and instrument playing. On the list are the music festivals for fans around the world. Find your favourite now!

Field Day

January 1, 2022, Sydney

Field Day means New Year’s Day for young people in Sydney. Seen as the city’s original outdoor party, it’s a gathering of friends coming together for a great fun-filled first day of the year. There’s an air of hope and active energy on a perfect summer’s day.

Envision Festival

February 21-26, 2022, Uvita

The Envision Festival is an annual event in Costa Rica that wants to provide a chance for different cultures to work with one another to create a better community. The festival encourages people to practise art, music and dance performances. At the same time, our connection with nature is expected to be strengthened.

McDowell Mountain Music Festival

March 2-4, 2022, Phoenix

The McDowell Mountain Music Festival is Phoenix’s musical celebration of community culture. Since its founding in 2004, it is the only 100% nonprofit(非营利的) music festival designed to support, entertain and educate the community. The festival attracts thousands of visitors each year from around the country, and it is an opportunity to experience true culture.

Old Settler’s Music Festival

April 19-22, 2022, Tilmon

The Old Settler’s Music Festival is a nationally known music festival for American music. The festival is held in Tilmon, Texas at the height of the wild flower season. The Old Settler’s Music Festival offers great music and activities for the whole family.

2 . Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer. In his twenties, he had been very famous for his skills on the piano, but then he began to lose his hearing. Beethoven thought about giving up, but in the end he continued to write music. He carried on with the composition until his death in 1827. He composed more than 130 musical works, including his Ninth Symphony (交响曲) .

One day in February 1824, his Ninth Symphony was finally completed. Writing the piece had taken several years. A she proudly signed his name at the bottom of the page, Beethoven tried to imagine how people would respond when they heard it for the first time. Before the performance, the backstage atmosphere at a very famous theatre in Austria was anxious. Beethoven was afraid that the performance would be a disaster. After all, what use is a conductor who could not hear his orchestra (管弦乐) — even if he has a talent for music?

The audience didn’t hesitate to applaud (鼓掌) loudly as the famous composer walked out on to the stage. The theatre’s musical director, Michael Umlauf, joined him and together the two men took charge of the orchestra. For more than an hour, Beethoven jumped about in front of the orchestra, waving his arms wildly in the air, and madly turning the pages of his score (乐谱).

As the symphony came to an end, the audience jumped to their feet, clapping, cheering and waving their hats. But Beethoven continued conducting, his head buried in the score. It was not until Caroline Unger, one of the singers, took his arm and turned him to face the audience that the great man realized his symphony was a victory.

Later, Caroline remembered that Beethoven was not the only one who got a surprise. “The audience was shocked as well,” she said with abroad smile. “Most of them had no idea that he lost his hearing. The one person in the room who didn’t hear the symphony — and never would — was the very man who composed it.”

Researchers discovered that people who go to live concerts live longer. Experts from University College London       1     (study) the lifestyles of over 6,700 British for the past 15 years. They found that the over-50s who     2     (regular) went to concerts were around 30 per cent less likely to die over the next 14 years. The researchers said the over-50s extended their life by taking part     3     the “receptive arts” art galleries, concerts, the theater, musicals, and the opera     4     (include). They examined how often the people went out and what kinds of events they attended. In addition to       5     (live) longer, concertgoers also had more fun.

Lead researcher Dr Fancourt said money played       6     big role in whether people went to concerts and engaged with the arts. Over 40 per cent of people in the least wealthy group never had access to    7     (culture) activities. The UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock believed there could be a lot of       8     (true) in it. He said the arts and culture could improve mental health and release loneliness. He recently announced plans for the UK’s National Health Service to use the arts     9     (improve) people’s wellbeing and health. “Generally, our results stress the importance of continuing to explore new social factors     10     affect our health,the researchers said.

5 . Rave-on!

How about learning new skills on the guitar, drums and keyboard by video? Follow the touch-screen instructions to find lessons on each instrument, or search for a song to practise playing along to. Try our Professional Selection, with video clips of band members who will explain the techniques that make their recordings so individual.

Show-in-a-day!

Be a star singer or dancer for the day in a one-time-only special performance! Experts in international music and dance styles will train you, and costumes provided for the performance help create a really special, individual show. Get your friends and family to come and see you perform, as no videoing or photography is allowed.

Archived Images

Want to find out about a new band, or just want more information about an old favourite? Visit our collection to find out facts and figures, or see the actual possessions of famous bands and musicians you are interested in. You can actually get to touch things worn on stage at major rock and pop events, and there are plenty of other concert souvenirs.

Rhythm-studio

Get your body moving in the studio and learn to move to rhythms and sounds from the past to now, including Soul and Disco. Learn your steps from our professional onscreen dance instructor, then watch your performance and become the star in your own video recording which you can take away!

6 . Music is a language which speaks to everyone-from the day we are born we hear music of some kind of our lives. But there are as many different kinds of music as there are different languages, and it is impossible to describe them all. Here are just a few well-known types.

Classical music is serious Western European music from the Middle Ages to the present (1500 to today) and it was often written for a large orchestra, or for a small group of players. Many instruments can be used. A lot of music was also written to be sung-as opera. Classical music is very popular and schools often teach this type of music.

Jazz developed in the Southern United States at the beginning of last century. The black people of these states, who were originally slaves from Africa, had their own rhythms. Jazz brought classical music and African rhythms together.

Blues was originally black country music from the Southern United States at the beginning of last century. It is slow, usually sad music which is often sung by one person with a guitar.

Rhythm and Blues (R&B) developed from the blues in America in the 1940s. It became faster and more complex and used more instruments such as saxophones (萨克斯管) , guitars, pianos, drums. The music was often about city life and white musicians started playing it as well.

Musicians in the 1950s developed rock and roll from Rhythm and Blues and it became popular with young people. It spread to Europe in the 1960s and is now known in most countries. A lot of pop music comes from rock and roll.

Pop music developed from rock and roll in America and Britain in the 1960s and is now in every country. The name is used for most commercial (商业的) music, which we can buy on records and hear on “pop radio”. It is usually played by groups who often use electronic instruments and make videos to go with their records.

7 . Language is part of our daily lives, no matter where we live in the world. It is the same with music, whether you listen to it on the radio on your drive to work or sit before an orchestra. Both language and music play a huge role in our culture.     1     .

Both language and music have a writing system. In English we record language using the alphabet, which is a collection of letters. In the same way, we use notes to keep a record of music. Just as you are reading this collection of letters on the screen and find meaning in it, musicians read notes and create meaning in the form of music which we can hear.     2    . By writing pieces of text or music, we are able to share experiences through time. I can read the ideas or hear the composition of someone who lived hundreds of year ago, which is really quite exciting.

    3    . You can make a good guess at where someone is from by listening to the language they use. In the same way, we know that styles of music are different around the world, giving us the opportunity to explore many different cultures through their music and providing us with music for every situation.     4    . Even if you don’t like Britpop melodies, you may love the energy of Latin American salsa music.

Both share emotion. How do you know that I am angry? Of course you may be able to see it in my face, but you will know for sure through my words.     5    . Music can show you exactly how the composer was or is feeling, and allows us to share in that emotion. When you feel happy, you might want to sing and dance to a happy song to celebrate your happiness. In contrast, you have probably also listened to sad music when you were feeling down. I think we have all used music to express or process our emotions, often combining it with language in the form of song lyrics.

8 . There is a tendency to think of each of the arts as a separate area of activity. Many artists, ________, would prove that there has always been a warm relationship between the various areas of human activity. ________, in the late nineteenth century the connections between music and painting were particularly________. Artists were invited to design clothes and settings for operas and ballets, but sometimes it was the musicians who were inspired (给……以灵感) by the work of contemporary painters. Of the musical compositions that were considered as ________ to the visual arts, perhaps the most famous is Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Mussorgsky ________ the piece in 1874 after the death, at the age of 39, of the artist Victor Hartmann. Though their friendship had not been a particularly long-lasting one, Mussorgsky was shocked by Hartmann’s ________ death. The following year the critic, Vladimir Stasov, who decided to hold an exhibition of Hartmann’s work, suggested that Mussorgsky try to ________ his grief by writing something in memory of Hartmann.

The exhibition served as Mussorgsky’s inspiration. The ten pieces that make up Pictures at an Exhibition are intended as ________ rather than representations of the paintings in the exhibition. Between each is a promenade (舞曲中的行进), as the composer walks from one painting to another. The music is sometimes witty and playful, sometimes almost ________ and frightening. Through a range of surprising ________, Mussorgsky manages to convey the spirit of the artist and his work.

10 . Music, as a way of entertainment, is becoming more and more popular in people's daily lives. And different music can bring us different feelings. So what's going on between you and music? What kind of music do you prefer? Maybe you can just have a try of American music.

Popular music in America is what every student likes. Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class, and at lunch. Students with cars buy large speakers and play the music loudly as they drive on the street. Adult drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work. They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, and the life of American people. Most of the radio programmes are music.

Pop or popular music singers make much money. They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in many places. Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people buy his or her tape. Some of the money from these tapes goes to the singer. Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her. Now the singer has become a national star.

There are other kinds of music that are important to Americans. One is called folk (民间) music. It tells stories about the common life of Americans. Another is called western or country music. This was started by cowboys (牛仔) who would sing at night to the cows they were watching. Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music.