Editor's Note

A wide variety of arts education courses and practical activities are an integral part of the educational framework at Xinya College. Arts education groups such as the Xinya Orchestra and the Dance Association of Xinya College remain highly active. The band was born out of a late-night conversation in Building 10 North (Building Nanshibei in Chinese). Inspired by their shared living space, Xinya College students sought to create a musical ensemble at Tsinghua that embodies both the spirit of Xinya College and their own individuality. Let us delve into this spiritual community that channels passion and nurtures dreams.

The lights come up, the drums kick in, and vocals resonate through the auditorium. Year after year at New Year's galas and student festivals, a band never fails to make an appearance. This is the North Building 10 Band of Xinya College, a group deeply rooted on campus that continues to grow vibrantly despite constant changes in its lineup, coexisting and co-creating with the campus arts scene.

Unlike most bands with fixed lineups, the North Building 10 Band resembles a ship continuously sailing forward. Successive cohorts of members come and go, yet their musical creativity remains ever-flowing and vibrant. From the adjustment period during lineup transitions to daily rehearsals and performances, and from confronting the practical challenges of a campus band to building an open and shared musical space, the North Building 10 Band has long evolved beyond a mere performing group. It has become a spiritual community that channels passion and nurtures dreams, not only within Xinya College but across the entire campus. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the formation of the North Building 10 Band. Over the past decade of flowing melodies and changing lineups, stories of passion and dreams, along with the romance and perseverance unique to campus life, have been woven into every melody, enriching the youth of many.

Part 1: A Musical Legacy Enduring Through Lineup Changes

At the 2023 Welcome Gala, the North Building 10 Band, composed of its founding members, performed the song Let Your Heart Run Wild. Fast forward to the 2026 New Year's Gala, the North Building 10 Band once again performed Let Your Heart Run Wild. It was the same song, but with an entirely new lineup of musicians on stage.

A natural turnover of members has been an inherent feature of the North Building 10 Band since its inception. The band recruits two or three members each year. As senior members gradually leave upon graduation or for exchange programs, it continues to operate smoothly through a mentorship model in which veterans guide newcomers. Currently, the most senior member in the band is the keyboardist "Guoshi," who has witnessed the continuous evolution of the band's lineup along the way. Young people from different grades and majors come together for the love of music. Some are drawn by the cheerful personalities of senior members; some specialize in classical music and want to explore different genres in the band; others have studied instruments since childhood, with music already integrated into their daily lives, making the band the perfect place to channel this passion.

Inclusivity is the most profound first impression the band leaves on newcomers. When new members are still finding their rhythm during the transition period, everyone is willing to offer understanding and a helping hand. If anyone has a favorite piece they want to perform, the rest of the band will cooperate to give it a try; if someone is temporarily absent from rehearsal, the others will flexibly adjust and keep the practice going.

Different from traditional campus bands, the North Building 10 Band operates more like a long-running music project. Rather than revolving around a specific cohort of members, it uses music itself as a medium to continuously recruit new talent, take on performances, and produce works. It functions like an annual project: as one season ends, the next naturally takes the baton. The two performances of the song Let Your Heart Run Wild vividly illustrated this characteristic.

Members liken the North Building 10 Band to the "Ship of Theseus": while the band's lineup constantly changes, its soul remains unchanged. It is like a relay race with no finish line, where successive generations of students take up their instruments to carry on the same passion. This is also the fundamental reason why the North Building 10 Band has endured and remained vibrant for a decade.

Part 2: Fueled by Passion, They Embrace the Effort

For the North Building 10 Band, Rehearsal Room B105 is a warmer and more vibrant home base than the stage itself. Located in the basement of Building 10 in the South Wing, this room has witnessed all the band's sweat, laughter, and growth.

As a campus band, it is fueled by the passion of all its members, yet it also faces many practical difficulties typical of such groups. The first challenge is coordinating everyone's schedules. Due to different class schedules, it is exceptionally difficult to carve out a solid block of time for rehearsals. Squeezing in two to four hours a week to rehearse together is already a rare luxury. Another challenge is transporting equipment. Moving the drum kit is the biggest headache for Wanshen, the drummer. Every performance requires a collective effort to safely transport the instruments from B105 to the venue and then haul them back after the show. Furthermore, there are venue limitations: in various campus cultural events, the band is often just one of many acts, and the stage, sound systems, and mixing equipment are rarely tailored specifically for live bands. Unexpected on-stage technical glitches have thus become common occurrences during campus performances.

The daily routine of selecting and arranging songs is a process where diverse musical tastes collide within the band. Everyone has their own preferred style: some favor lyrical melodies, while others are drawn to heavy, rhythm-driven rock tracks. However, these clashes of taste have never divided the members; instead, they have empowered the band with more diverse modes of expression.

Currently, the band mainly covers songs in performances while also building a repertoire of original music. During Xinya College's Winter Solstice Festival and Student Festival, the band always performs one or two original pieces. However, the path of original composition is always fraught with challenges. The band's creation of the theme song for this year's Student Festival at Xinya College once hit a bottleneck: although a demo was ready, starting the arrangement process proved extremely difficult and highly dependent on individual skills. At the time, Guoshi, the core member of the band, was overwhelmed with academic coursework and found it hard to set aside sizable blocks of time to polish the piece. Covering songs is a collision and fusion of musical tastes, and creating original pieces is the ultimate test of a band's dedication and energy. The band knows well that creating original music is an indispensable step in its growth. No one gave up easily, and eventually, the Xinya College Student Festival theme song, Interlude, was released as promised. Drawing inspiration from fragments of everyday campus life, it gradually pieces together a vibrant collective portrait, becoming a shared memory for yet another cohort of Xinya College students.

The feedback from the audience offstage always soothes the fatigue of rehearsals, providing the band with an endless stream of creative motivation. At this year's Student Festival of Xiuzhong College, the band performed Dreams as the opening act. After the show, Guoshi remarked, "I read comments on the bullet screen. They were both fun and heartwarming. We could feel that at least some people truly loved our performance."

Part 3: A Community of Youth

Amid fast-paced campus life, this is a corner where one can relieve stress, a space to make close friends and express oneself, and a place to find a simple yet grounded sense of joy.

Sometimes, academic life is consumed by utilitarian goals. It seems as though everything must lead to tangible results and rewards to be considered meaningful. But the North Building 10 Band is different. From a utilitarian perspective, music is entirely "useless." Yet it is precisely this "uselessness" that engenders the purest joy. Here, rehearsing diligently and performing earnestly reap not knowledge or accolades, but the sense of accomplishment after a performance, the unspoken understanding in a shared smile among bandmates, and the heartfelt applause of the audience. Such pure positive feedback is especially precious in the fast-paced environment of a university campus.

Yixue, a brass player, considers the band an inseparable part of his life. Having played instruments for years, he notes that he has "always been either playing in a band or on the way to forming one," and that performing is "as natural as eating and drinking" to him. Drummer Wanshen believes that the band's relaxed and free-spirited vibe perfectly aligns with young people's innate desire to express their individuality and pursue their passions. Here, there is no pressure, and they can truly just enjoy the music.

Now that all members enrolled in 2021 have graduated and only new members enrolled in 2023 and 2024 remain, the band seems to face a "generational gap." However, the band's enduring vitality today proves that the resilience of the "Ship of Theseus" goes far beyond imagination. As long as the spark remains, even new wood can burst into roaring flames. The "project-based" operational model ensures that its vitality is never dependent on any single individual. As Guoshi said, "Beyond our time as members, the band is a legacy meant to last forever." For individual members, graduation does not mean saying goodbye to music. Many alumni continue to form bands and record albums after graduation, holding fast to their musical dreams. This is the eternal spiritual asset that the North Building 10 Band, as a community of youth and dreams, bestows upon each of its members.

Part 4 The Value of an Excellent Campus Band Goes Beyond Honing Its Own Stage Performances

Over the past decade, the North Building 10 Band has also proactively taken on responsibility as it has grown. Leveraging its own influence, it has shaped the artistic atmosphere across the Tsinghua campus, cultivating an open and shared environment for all music-loving students.

Rehearsal spaces are the starting point for the development of all campus bands. The North Building 10 Band has opened its home base, Rehearsal Room B105 in the North Wing of Building 10 in the South Area, to the public. By introducing a standardized reservation mechanism and developing a booking mini-program, they have enabled all bands and music enthusiasts across the campus to reserve the space to interact and practice. Inspired by the North Building 10 Band, other bands practicing here have begun to enrich the rehearsal space: most of the speakers and equipment in B105 are free donations from other bands and enthusiasts, and many individuals leave their own instruments in B105 for shared use. In this small room, the goodwill and passion of a group of people converge.

From a dedicated rehearsal room to a music space shared by the entire university, the North Building 10 Band chose to step beyond self-interest and embrace fellow enthusiasts. They have leveraged the resources accumulated over a decade to pave the way for more music lovers on campus.

To those students on campus who harbor musical dreams but are hindered by a lack of equipment or companions, the band members offered their most sincere advice: dare to try, take the initiative to get together, and make good use of existing public spaces on campus. The collective passion of a group can ultimately overcome all practical obstacles.

Epilogue

Some say that campus bands are a romance exclusive to one's student days. Upon leaving campus and stepping into the real world, the passions of student days are often gradually set aside. However, the North Building 10 Band has spent a decade proving that youth may fade, but passion does not; members may leave, but the community will not dissipate.

This is the most touching aspect of the North Building 10 Band: it is not a static roll of film freezing a moment in the past, but a ceaselessly flowing river where every drop represents vibrant youth. As the older waves recede, the new waves follow, surging forward endlessly without pause. It carries the purest passion, the most sincere friendships, and the most fearless ideals on campus. Here, the band is no longer merely a gathering of performers but a spiritual home for fellow travelers advancing hand in hand.

When we talk about the North Building 10 Band, we are talking about more than just a band; we are talking about the original aspiration in the ivory tower, uncorrupted by utilitarianism, the goodwill of students brought together by passion, the perseverance of generation after generation, and the endless hope for campus arts. Members chase their dreams, gather together, and bid farewell amidst the melodies, while the story of North Building 10 continues.