A little more than a year ago, students at Xiti Primary School in Duancun, Hebei Province, didn’t recognize any music instruments aside from a violin. This summer the same children got together and rehearsed “Ode of Joy” from Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9” rather than playing outside.

To say the students have changed is an understatement. Such is the power of music and the arts that their families and even villages have changed along with them.

It’s all been made possible by Li Feng, who established Hefeng Art Foundation in 2012 to bring arts to underprivileged villages near Beijing.

“Art is a great tool, a weapon, in helping overcome poverty,” Li tells Shanghai Daily.

Li says he studied some successful cases from other countries, like El Sistema, the National Network of Youth and Children Orchestras of Venezuela. It’s a non-profit state foundation founded in 1975 by José Antonio Abreu overseeing more than 100 youth orchestras and training programs in Venezuela.

The majority of the students come from poor social economic backgrounds.

“The program rescued many children from drug abuse and crime environments and gave them hope,” Li says. “The biggest problem for the poor is not material possessions, but the human spirit. They lack hope and care from other people, and they can’t see the future.”

The project, shortly referred to as the “system,” has been introduced to the United States (El Sistema USA), Canada, UK and Portugal. Now there are more than 50 programs in different states across America.

“In China, a large percentage of people are still living in rural areas,” Li says. “Even though some places have no problem with food and clothing, they are still culturally poor.”

He chose rural villages to see what an impact the foundation can make on the lives of children.

“I wish to establish a model in China, I’m doing an experiment to show everyone and inspire people,” he says. “When I talk to people about art and villages, many people think it’s just a hobby for the children, but it’s so much more than that.”

The foundation partners with some of the best institutions in China including Beijing Dance Academy, China Philharmonic Orchestra, the Central Academy of Drama and Beijing Normal University.

“I also want to replicate this method in other places; the result of my survey shows many local governments are eager to introduce art education,” says Li, who is in his 50s. “They have no solution for the poor environment as you can’t make a system just with money. So I’m doing it to give more people a model of what can be done.”

Real change starts with people. And this is Li’s philosophy. By introducing music, ballet, drama and painting, he says they have witnessed impressive changes in the children. He says one major difference is the students are now more confident as the program gives them the chance to perform on stage for others.

“I don’t want them just to practice in the studios, I want them to perform for other people,” Li says. “We have a lot of visitors, including professionals and international guests.”

Progress has thus far exceeded everyone’s expectations. Two girls, aged 8 and 9, from Duancun were picked to study the French horn, a relatively difficult instrument to learn, in March 2013, Li says. Six months later both could perform 10 songs.

“I talked to the teachers and the people from the philharmonic and they said it’s talent because the girls like it and are willing to practice,” Li says.

Another thing Li has observed is the wider changes occurring in villages. When one child participates in the program it affects his or her family and even the village.

“The parents are probably in their thirties and they still have the ability to learn new things,” Li says. “In China when a child goes to art class, the parents go with them. So we encourage them to come into the classroom and now many of the parents have learned how to read music.”

Some parents even start dancing in the corner of the classroom when their children are in class.

“The parents said the children now consider dancing an important part of their lives,” Li says.

Another example is a boy who is learning the cello. He and his parents live with the great-grandmother. The whole family now has a routine of listening to him playing before dinner.

Getting into families like this is a very important function of art and Li adds that he has no intention of stopping.

“I’d like to build a complete system so they will have the chance to learn everything,” Li says. “I want the ballet and music class students to sing in the choir and also learn drama and painting.”

The foundation now offers its art education program in Duancun and Doudian Town, which is in Beijing’s Fangshan District. It plans to expand to Anhui and Fujian provinces by next year at the latest.

“I will use local resources and the schools shouldn’t be too far from the teachers, ideally within a 2-hour drive,” Li says. “In Anhui it will be near Hefei, the capital city, and in Fujian we’ll work with the college of arts at Xiamen University.”

Other non-profit organizations also are bringing the arts to those less fortunate.

The 5 Project (舞计划) — the number has the same pronunciation as dance in Chinese) — is a collaboration between Ballet Magazine and Maitian, a volunteer organization aiming to change education in China’s rural areas. Their first project was to start a dance class for children of migrant workers in Beijing.

The class takes place at the Included community center in the capital city’s Changping District every Saturday during the school year. Included is a nonprofit organization that works primarily in areas where migrants gather in big cities, helping migrant children and their families.

Zhang Bozhi is a volunteer who is a dance major at Beijing Normal University. She has been teaching migrant children ballet every weekend for nearly three years.

Zhang tells Shanghai Daily she has just returned from a summer camp in a Sichuan Province village where she went with other Maitian volunteers.

She also has noticed changes in the students since she got involved.

“Before taking the class they were quite shy but after a semester they become more confident,” the dance major says.

The 5 Project also exposes students to other arts including tours of the National Center for the Performing Arts. At the same time, volunteers have an opportunity to improve their teaching abilities.

“Initially our idea was to help them open up and express themselves. We want them to be happier,” Zhang says. “The idea isn’t about turning them all into professional dancers. That’s just unrealistic. “Sometimes we turn on the music and let them improvise. They have so much fun,” she says.