STORY: Lebanese music students, teachers enthusiastic about China-funded conservatory project
SHOOTING TIME: April 27, 2024
DATELINE: April 29, 2024
LENGTH: 00:03:54
LOCATION: Beirut
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of teachers and students visiting the project
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): HIBA KAWAS, President of the conservatory
3. various of teachers and students visiting the project
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): HUANG SHUAI, Project manager from CSCEC at the conservatory
5. various of teachers and students visiting the project
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (Arabic): ADEL NASSEREDDINE, Music professor

STORYLINE:

Teachers and students at the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music expressed enthusiasm about the new music school, a China-funded conservatory project, during a visit on Saturday.
   
President of the conservatory Hiba Kawas said the new conservatory is a landmark in the region, which will encourage Lebanese musicians to deliver great performances and witness "musicians from all over the world visit Lebanon."

SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): HIBA KAWAS, President of the conservatory
"We are here with teachers and students and representatives of the conservatory to make them feel that this dream is being realized. This is not a project on paper and especially in Lebanon we hear about projects but we never see them realized. This time is different. Everybody is seeing that the project is materialized. After few months, we will be here and this would enhance the musicians to elevate their standard. Music has a future in Lebanon. With this project the students will look forward to joining the higher education and the students in higher education will look forward to achieving dreams of being recognized musicians."

As one of the biggest construction projects in Lebanon undertaken by China, it features teaching rooms, a library, lecture and auditorium halls, and a theater hosting up to 1,200 people, according to the constructor China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited (CSCEC).

Kawas said that new teams will then work at the conservatory with a new curriculum, enabling teachers to devise innovative teaching methods.
   
Started constructing in December 2020, the project, with a cost of 62 million U.S. dollars and covering an area of 39,000 square meters, is currently in the decoration phase and will be completed soon, according to CSCEC.
   
Huang Shuai, project manager from CSCEC at the conservatory, said the project aims to strengthen ties between Lebanon and China, and promote bilateral cultural communication by boosting exchanges between music teachers and students from the two countries.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): HUANG SHUAI, Project manager from CSCEC at the conservatory
"We invite the representatives of teachers and students of the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music to visit the project, so that they can know more about the project. And we also want to let them see what the project will be like in the future. We also want to enhance the relationship between us and the teachers and students through this kind of exchange, so that the two peoples can understand each other better and the Lebanese people can know more about Chinese music."
  
Meanwhile, Lebanese music teachers and students expressed their enthusiasm about the new project, hoping to be able to access the facilities that are comparable to those in other countries.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Arabic): ADEL NASSEREDDINE, Music professor 
"Truly this is a kind of project that has never been achieved before, and this huge work is building the good ties between China and Lebanon. Maybe there have been similar projects but not on this scale. This is a very distinguished project that will be remembered in history, and it will be a kind of ship for the new generation of Lebanese talents to shine."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beirut.
(XHTV)