TAS Vivace Club Brings Music Education to Rural Taiwan

By Lindsey Kundel, Director of Communications & Marketing

Under the guidance of Dr. Lin, the TAS Vivace club recently traveled to 崑山 elementary school in Taichung over the winter break.

Vivace club is an upper school club that aims to help children across the island of Taiwan to learn more about music, especially students in rural areas or those without the same resources available at TAS. It was started by a group of students in 2020, during the summer before their sophomore year, when a small group of students visited Dong Ming Elementary School to teach children music. 

Vivace, to those who know musical terminology, means "lively," which the founding students say represents their core value: to live while enjoying music and recruiting as many fellow music lovers as possible.

According to club co-president Ethan L. ('23), "We first thought of this idea while taking part in an activity with Impact, which is a club that first organized the trip to Dong Ming. We decided to start this club because we felt like our activities are meaningful to us and helpful to our community."

Most recently, students in the club spent time both before and during winter break practicing pieces that they thought students would like and then traveling to share it with them.

According to Ethan, "During the trip, we had an interactive session where we asked them questions related to music and gave them small gifts in return for correct answers. We also donated instruments so that they could have the chance to experience playing music for themselves."

The project in Kun-Shan took off thanks to their prior work with the music teacher in Dong Ming Elementary School. When the presidents asked her if they could help out the kids in Dong Ming again, she told us that Kun-Shan is in a more dire situation and it would be much more appreciated if they went to that school instead. 

This trip has already received attention from both local governments and news organizations, including the Taichung City Government and the Mandarin Daily News.

The club's leaders have big goals for their club's future despite the hardships the pandemic has placed upon their ability to teach music in person. 

"The pandemic has limited our ability to engage in extensive in-person interactions with the music community, but we’ve found ways around it," said Vivave co-president Adam L. ('23). "For tutoring, we’ve switched to free online lessons with kids at Dongming Elementary school."

This semester, Vivace Club will continue to donate instruments to schools in need, and over spring break, they will have online tutoring sessions with Dong Ming students. In the long term, they are planning to perform at a school or hospital over the summer, and also expand on the number of schools and places they can go to in the future.

Both co-presidents say that they have a deep passion for both music and service, which are clearly evident in this newer club.

Adam says that he has been involved with music since he was little. "My parents encouraged me to try different instruments and I stuck with violin and piano and even played a little guitar on the side," said Adam. "My favorite musical memories include going to classical concerts of Maxim Vengerov, Ray Chen, and Benny Tseng, switching genres and going to pop concerts, and of course giving concerts to and interacting with young audiences."

Ethan told us a similar story about growing up in a musical household. "Since my mother majored in music, she has pushed me towards that same path that brought her happiness.," said Ethan. "First I was exposed to piano, then violin, and then finally viola. My favorite musical memories don't come from playing music itself, but the people I meet who share the same love for music. It's often much easier to connect with someone who also finds interest in music.

Although neither co-president is sure whether or not a career in professional music is the right fit for them after TAS, they both say that music will be a huge part of their lives, no matter where their learning journey will take them.

For more information about the TAS Vivace Club, please make sure to follow their social media page on Instagram and a new club website in development.