Xian Xinghai（冼星海） was a very famous musician in China. He wrote one of the greatest pieces of music of the 20th century. In his short life he wrote about 300 songs and an opera.

Xian was born in 1905. Because his father died before he was born, Xian moved from place to place with his mother. He began learning to play the violin when he was 20 years old. In the beginning, his violin was so cheap that he could not play it well. His friends laughed at him. Xian did not stop practicing and soon showed his talent. In 1934, he was one of the first Chinese students who studied in a special school in Paris. Before he left, Xian became one of the school’s best students and won several prizes for his talents.

In 1935, he returned to China and helped fight against the Japanese army. Later, he came to Yan’an to teach music at a college. Although there were no pianos in Yan’an at that time, Xian wrote some of his most important music there, including The Yellow River, his most famous work.

In May 1940, Xian went to the Soviet Union（前苏联） to write music for movies. In the Soviet Union, life was very hard. Xian got sick and later died of a lung illness on October 30, 1945, aged only 40. Xian’s music, however, lives on in the people’s hearts.

Ofentse Pitse, living in Johannesburg, South Africa, used to be an architect（建筑师）. 1 And she listened! Now she’s the 27-year-old leader of Anchored Sound. That’s an orchestra and choir（合唱队）. She started the group in her home country of South Africa.

Why did Pitse start Anchored Sound? To change the lives of young black people. Pitse, who loved music as a child, put together a choir in 2017. She picked great young singers. They lived in poor communities. 2 And she kept going. In 2019. she put together the orchestra. It has 40 players and she’s the conductor（指挥）.

In the world of classical music, Pitse is a pioneer. In 2017, a study was done. It found that only 5 of the world’s top 100 conductors were women. And there are few conductors of color. 3 So she gets much attention.

4 At classical music concerts, you often hear music written long ago by composers from Europe. Beethoven is one example. But Pitse’s group plays pieces by African composers. This lets listeners know: Classical music is alive in Africa.

A young Chinese illustrator (插图画家), who loves traditional Chinese culture, has created many interesting drawings. The artist’s online name is Jiao Xiangyue. She often posts her works on the Internet and the creative illustrations have won her more than 300,000 fans.

Jiao’s book, Da Tang Feng Su Zhi, came out in October 2018. The book, with beautiful pictures and writings, shows interesting daily lives of people in the Tang Dynasty. On the last day of 2019, Jiao posted the drawings she had created during the past year online. Since then, the illustrator and her works have caught the attention of the public.

“I’m deeply impressed by the people, culture and art of the Tang Dynasty,” Jiao says. In her drawings, most people have round faces. Her best-known series include drawings of women from the Tang Dynasty and classic images (形象) from Dunhuang art. In fact, many of her drawings are based on classic paintings from the Tang Dynasty, as Jiao hopes her works will help develop people’s interest in Chinese history and traditional art in this way.

Jiao pays a lot of attention to details. She has bought lots of books and studied ancient paintings to make sure she can draw things correctly. “Once a person told me that the pipa of Tang Dynasty had four or five strings (弦) while the pipa of today has only four,” she says. Through her works, people will realize that images from ancient times can also be cool and cute.