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On April 7, ECNU held the “Spring Voices, Dream Building” Multimedia Concert of Original Choral Works for Rural Schools at the Grand Neobay Cultural Arts Center. Seven rural school choirs from Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Henan, Ningxia, and other regions performed on the same stage with musical groups including ECNU’s School of Music Choir, the Little Companion Art Troupe Choir of China Welfare Institute Children’s Palace, and the ECNU Affiliated Zizhu Primary School Choir.
“This was a concert brought to life by dreams and hope,” said Meng Zhongjie, vice chair of the university council. He explained that this grand artistic exchange also vividly illustrated ECNU’s efforts to support rural education through aesthetic education, enabling young students to grow through hands-on service and practice.
Since 2020, ECNU has been implementing the “Dream Big, Build Bigger” initiative. Through assistive pairing, dispatching expert teams for on-site guidance, as well as sharing high-quality educational resources, the university has helped alumni working in the basic education sector in remote areas of central and western China realize their educational aspirations—contributing to both rural revitalization and the advancement of a strong education nation.
As a flagship project of the “Dream Big, Build Bigger” initiative, the Rural Dream Choir program—led by faculty and students from the School of Music, ECNU—has expanded to more than ten rural primary and secondary schools across provinces including Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Henan, and Ningxia. By launching and supporting over a dozen school choirs, the program delivers music education resources, conducts teacher training, and creates original musical works. These efforts have injected new energy into rural education, fostering the development of aesthetic education and cultural vitality in the countryside.
Over the past five years, more than 300 faculty members and students from ECNU’s School of Music have actively participated in the initiative. “Witnessing the transformation of children from shy to confident during our teaching support experiences has made me truly appreciate the role of music education in nurturing the inner growth of rural children,” said Huang Yuanzhi, a graduate student in choral conducting at ECNU, who has been a committed participant in the program for several consecutive years.
Since the launch of the “Dream Big, Build Bigger” initiative five years ago, over 1,000 faculty members and students from ECNU have traveled across the country to support alumni in realizing 151 educational dreams. The initiative has carried out more than 200 on-site assistance missions, organized over 300 themed lectures and specialized workshops, and donated more than 50,000 books. In total, it has benefited nearly 40,000 teachers and students from more than 150 primary and secondary schools across 21 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China.