Music Panel Discussion's Review
Imagining Lingnan Through the Eyes of Young Musicians
音樂專題座談會——「新生代的嶺南想像」回顧
兩位嘉賓初次接觸粵劇及中樂的過程
梁非同小姐：
中學時期，因參與「一人一藝術」的活動而開始學習二胡、琵琶，學習時初次接觸嶺南音樂，欣賞到當中的恬靜。高中時有幸於戲院學習粵劇。學習的過程多以口傳心授的方式為主，未必有文本參考，讓到她認為身為新生代有保留此文化，讓到自己喜歡的藝術一直傳承下去，因而持之以恒地學習粵劇。
馮啟思小姐：
於中文大學修讀中國戲曲概論時，學習到中國粵劇的知識，初次欣賞到廣東大戲。當中欣賞帝女花的演唱時，留下深刻印象，於是其後再修讀另一個相關課程。期後，在課堂期間參觀了一間具備廣東音樂表演的茶館，在欣賞南音和廣東音樂時，獲邀參與其中，慢慢地每星期都會到茶館參與粵樂合奏，馮小姐亦被廣東音樂「口傳心授，唔多睇譜」的特徵所吸引，開始對此研究。
伍人粵Band的建立過程
起初成員創以製作影片方式參與由香港中樂團所舉辦的節慶活動，聚首一堂；在討論過程中，發現到參加的歌曲的時間長度不夠，因而開始朝創新的道路進發，如在表演過程破格地「講野」。於是以「大膽丶創新」為宗旨成立了伍人粵Band，盼將中樂獨特之處宣揚開去。
學習粵劇丶中樂時所遇到的困難
粵劇：
由於以口傳心授的方式教授學生為主，通常學習時都沒有文本輔助，只能跟師傅所教的重新演唱出來。但同時梁小姐亦提出此讓到粵劇變得多變，作品的演繹會隨著當時人的經歷或年代有所改變，成為粵劇一大特色。
中樂：
學習樂器時大眾都以五線譜為主（貼近西樂）；而傳統的工尺譜則比較難理解或學習。另外，需要花大量時間聆聽及模仿不同的作品，並具備一定想像力，才能把粵樂當中的韻味呈現出來。
粵劇丶粵樂行內情況
梁小姐認為粵劇的行內情況樂觀，教育界有嘗試將粵劇列入高中課程，是好的嘗試。強調要透過活動丶參觀才能讓到學生體驗粵劇的樂趣及當中的困難。馮小姐亦讚同粵劇前景樂觀，因為大學把中樂丶粵劇等相關課程列入必修課程，學生一般都能接觸到戲曲；但中樂或純戲樂則有所保留，因主流音樂以人聲配合為主，喜歡純樂的人們相對較少。
但觀眾未算達至年輕化，通常年輕的觀眾只限於三類。第一，是修讀文學想更了解戲曲的文字/內容；第二，是「懷舊」，想了解舊式香港的氛圍；第三，是陪家人一同欣賞戲曲。新一代普遍認為粵劇表演時間長及難以理解內容，因此梁小姐指出，粵劇現時有加快場境轉換，希望縮減表演時間而方便年輕一代觀賞。而且，粵劇行內一直有創新的文本出現，不再只限於傳純經典如帝女花。讓觀眾透過新的文本，可以有新的想法/觀後感。
粵劇丶粵樂欣賞門檻不高
梁小姐指出普遍人會認為粵劇的欣賞門檻高，看了表演都不明白當中的含義，有既定的刻板印象。但她則認為欣賞門檻其實不高，看表演前可先閱讀劇本的中心思想或主要內容，對表演有些少了解便可。她以看芭蕾舞表演為例，自身對芭蕾舞是完全不熟悉，但在觀賞表演前會事先參考一些資料，再從看表演的過程中，被表演者的所表達的「情」感所感動，繼以有興趣的話才加以研究。
最後，兩位嘉賓希望大眾能給予文化丶藝術表演者更多的支持，嘗試觀賞粵劇丶粵樂！
The Process of Our Guest's First Meeting Cantonese Opera and Instrument
Ms Leung Fei Tung:
When she studied in secondary school, she had started to learn erhu and pipa because she participated in the school activity of "一人一藝術". When she first listened to Lingnan music, she recovered that Lingnan music is peaceful, and she felt so relaxing. Later, she had the opportunity to study Cantonese opera in a theater. The learning method of Cantonese opera mainly applies "口傳心授", which means it may not have any reference. So, as a new generation, she believes that she has the responsibility to preserve this lovely culture, so she continues to study Cantonese opera.
Ms Jessica Fung:
When she studied the course "Introduction to Chinese opera" at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, she learned about Cantonese opera and enjoyed it for the first time. She was so impressed by the performance of "帝女花"; therefore, later, she took another related course at the university. Afterwards, she visited a teahouse during the course with a Cantonese music performance, and she was invited to join in Nan Yin and Cantonese music performance. Gradually, she joined the Cantonese music ensemble at the teahouse every week. She was attracted by the characteristics of Cantonese music, which is "口傳心授，唔多睇譜". Moreover, she has been studying Chinese instruments until now.
The process of establishing "TroVessional"
In the beginning, the members were grouped because they wanted to create a video to participate in the festival organized by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. They realized that the songs they were chosen were not long enough during the discussion. Therefore, they started to move on the path of innovation, such as "Talking" during their performances. The band was established with the aim of "Boldness and Innovation", which aims to spread the uniqueness of Chinese music.
Difficulties in learning Cantonese Opera/Instrument
Cantonese Opera:
Since Cantonese opera is mainly taught by oral instruction, students usually learn without references/documents. Moreover, students can only re-sing what the masters have taught to them. At the same time, Ms. Leung mentions that this characteristic of Cantonese opera allows its culture to become more versatile. For example, the interpretation of the artwork will change according to people's experience of the era.
Cantonese Instrument:
Most people use sheet music (Western music) when learning musical instruments. However, the traditional "工尺譜", which is the Chinese style of "Sheet music", is more challenging to understand and learn. In addition, it needs to take plenty of time to listen and imitate different music pieces and have a certain amount of imagination to bring out the rhythm of Cantonese music.
The Outlook of Cantonese Opera and Instrument
Ms. Leung claims that the outlook of Cantonese opera is optimistic, and it is a good attempt to include Cantonese opera courses in the high school curriculum. She stressed that students should experience the fun or difficulties of Cantonese opera through activities and visits. Ms. Fung also agreed that the future of Cantonese opera is optimistic because at a university level also have included Chinese music and Cantonese opera course as mandatory courses. So, students can generally learn Chinese opera at the university. However, she states reservations about the outlook of Chinese instruments or Instrumental due to the mainstream music is mainly with vocal, and relatively few people like instrumental.
Nevertheless, the audience is still relatively with old age, and usually, there are only three types of young audiences. Firstly, those who study literature and want to have a deeper understanding of the text/content of Cantonese opera; secondly, those who are "nostalgic" and want to experience the atmosphere of old Hong Kong; and thirdly, those who want to enjoy Cantonese opera with their families. The stereotype of Cantonese opera in the new generation is generally long and challenging to understand, so she pointed out that Cantonese opera is now speeding up the change of scenes, hoping to reduce the performance time that caters for the younger generation. Moreover, the Cantonese opera industry has been developing new and innovative stories, which are no longer limited to classical artwork, such as the "帝女花". The audience can have new ideas/afterthoughts through watching the new story.
The Threshold for Appreciation of Cantonese Opera and Instrument relatively low
Ms Leung pointed out that people generally believe that the threshold for appreciation of Cantonese opera is high. It is hard to understand the meaning of the performance and have a stereotype. However, she believes that if the audience can read the main idea of the script or the performance's main content before watching the performance, at least they will understand a little about the story. She took a ballet performance as an example. She was not familiar with ballet at all. However, she would read some information before watching the performance and feel touched by the "emotion" expressed by the performers. Then, further study should continue if you are really interested.
Finally, the two guests hoped that the public will give more support to cultural and artistic performers and try to enjoy Cantonese opera and Cantonese music!
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點擊圖片，前往YouTube觀看專題座談會「新生代的嶺南想像」！
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