Zou Xiang, young pianist, associate professor at the Central Conservatory of Music, visiting professor at Wuhan Conservatory of Music, recipient of bachelor's degree, master's degree and artist (PhD) diploma in music from The Juilliard School in the United States, Canada The youngest gold medal winner of the Honens International Piano Competition, and the winner of the 12th Fok Ying-tung Education Foundation College Young Teacher Award of the Ministry of Education.

Artistic growth and award-winning experience:

Born in Hunan, China in 1980, he started learning piano at the age of four. He was admitted to the primary school attached to Shanghai Conservatory of Music at the age of nine and was promoted to the high school attached with first place. . He held his first solo recital at the age of thirteen. At the age of sixteen, he played all 24 Chopin piano etudes at the concert. He began to win many important awards in domestic and foreign piano competitions. He studied with Li Daoyun, Zhang Yuqing and Professor Zhao Xiaosheng.

For eight years from 1999 to 2007, he studied at the Juilliard School of Music in the United States with a full scholarship, becoming one of the very few pianists in the history of the school to have obtained three degrees: bachelor's degree, master's degree and artist diploma (Juilliard Music School). The Leah Conservatory of Music only recruits no more than two pianists from around the world each year to study for the Artist Diploma). While in school, he studied with world-renowned pianists and educators such as Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald, and won the Juilliard School's Gina Bacall Piano Competition Grand Prize and various scholarships. At the age of 23, Zou Xiang stood out from more than 100 young pianists from all over the world and won the Honens International Piano Competition in Canada. He became the youngest gold medal winner in the competition and began to be frequently active on the world music stage.

Artistic experience:

Zou Xiang’s performances have been performed in more than 50 cities on four continents around the world. Notable venues where he has given concerts include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Ravinia Festival, Canada's National Arts Center, Busoni Festival in Italy, Verbier Festival in Switzerland, Auckland Arts Festival in New Zealand, and Beijing National Center for the Performing Arts, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Beijing Modern Music Festival, Zhongshan Concert Hall, Beijing Concert Hall and Shanghai Concert Hall, etc. He has performed nearly twenty piano concertos with famous conductors Sir Neville Marriner, Michael Lankester, Max Pommer, Michael Christie, Chen Zuohuang, Tan Lihua, Shao En, Zhang Guoyong, etc., as well as well-known symphony orchestras in Canada, the United States and China.

Zou Xiang has recorded and published two solo albums, namely Messiaen's "The Gaze of the Twenty Infants", Schubert's Sonata in B flat major and Godowski's "Pasacaglia". 》. He also recorded the piano chamber works of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Sparetland. The album was published in China, Canada and the United States. Canadian National Broadcasting Corporation, New York Classical Music Station, Chicago Classical Music Station, Cleveland Classical Music Station, China Central International Radio, Beijing Art Radio, Hunan Satellite TV, "Globe and Mail", "New York Concert Review", "Global Times" , "New York Sun", "Star Telegraph", "Calgary Harrods", "Globe and Mail", "World Journal", "Sing Tao Daily", "People's Music", "Piano Art", " Music Weekly and other domestic and overseas media have broadcast and reported on his performances and special interviews.

Zou Xiang’s achievements in performing modern music works in recent years are remarkable. The international media calls him “the champion of performing modern music”. In 2006, Zou Xiang commissioned the famous Chinese composer Ye Xiaogang to compose a special piano piece "Namtso", which was premiered in the United States at his solo recital at Carnegie Hall. Zou Xiang held a special recital of modern piano works at the Beijing Modern Music Festival in 2006, performing nearly ten piano works by modern composers from various countries. In 2008, to commemorate the centenary of Messiaen's birth, Zou Xiang held the China premiere concert of Messiaen's piano masterpiece "Twenty Infant Gazes" at the Beijing Modern Music Festival, which caused a sensation in the music industry and the media and was considered a pioneering feat. . He is the first Chinese pianist to perform this two-hour modern classic in its entirety.

He has also performed modern compositions by Ligeti, Lutoflavsky, Cory Galliano, Levski, Staud, Konis, Chen Qigang, Zhou Long, Zhao Xiaosheng, Huang Ruo, Wen Deqing, Jin Xiang, etc. There are solo and chamber music works composed by the artist, as well as five piano and orchestra works composed by Chen Yi, Ye Xiaogang, Tang Jianping, Liu Jian and Yang Yu. In 2012, Zou Xiang will premiere Ligeti's complete piano etudes in China.

Academic activities:

Zou Xiang has been invited to hold open teaching classes and lectures and other academic exchange activities at world-renowned music schools for many times, including Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Northwestern University, and Roosevelt University in the United States. Chicago Academy of Performing Arts, Capital University, University of Toronto, Canada, Mount Royal College in Calgary, Central Conservatory of Music, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Shenyang Conservatory of Music, Wuhan Conservatory of Music, Xinghai Conservatory of Music, Sichuan Conservatory of Music, Tianjin Conservatory of Music and Sichuan Conservatory of Music, etc. . He has published numerous papers and articles in national professional music publications. Students have won awards in many piano competitions at home and abroad, including the Hong Kong Asian Youth Piano Competition, the National "Pearl River Caesar Castle" Youth Piano Competition, the Central Conservatory of Music "Academy Cup" Competition, etc. He has also served as a judge for many international and domestic piano competitions.

Edit this paragraph Global Times interviews the famous young pianist Zou Xiang - "Lighting up classical music"

Zou Xiang

For those who have something to do with classical music People who feel alienated can listen to the advice of young pianist Zou Xiang and relax: "It's actually not a big deal if the audience applauds between movements of a piece of music. It's not a mistake, and I will still smile at him." "It was difficult to identify his occupation from his shaggy hair and the jeans and sneakers he was wearing. Zou Xiang is one of the youngest piano teachers at the Central Conservatory of Music.

Zou Xiang has one foot in the world of performance and the other in academia. His mission is to introduce new music and new musical attitudes to people. This was something he couldn't quite achieve when he was on tour before. "As a young musician in the real world, the agent who organized the concert would have preferred me to play works that are more popular and accepted by the public, such as Chopin. But now for me, I can choose my own art more independently path and share his artistic ideas with others," he told the Global Times.

As a young musician in China with the dual identities of performer and educator, Zou Xiang has a unique perspective. He believes that many music learners today have lost the purpose and true meaning of learning music. "In English, the word "performance" is "play", which means enjoying playing. But I don't think this state can be realized in our music learning process," Zou Xiang explained. “My students will tell me they want to be a good student or get a diploma and get a good job. These utilitarian goals are somewhat unrelated to music. So my biggest challenge is to inspire Their real interest and passion for music.”

Many students studying classical music in China experience a lot of pressure from their parents. Zou Xiang also understands this situation very well, and he understands it too well. Zou Xiang was born in Hunan and studied at the Primary School and High School Affiliated to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Juilliard School of Music in New York. “I still clearly remember the first day I arrived at the Juilliard School dormitory to report. I stood there carrying two large boxes. I was very nervous and even a little trembling. I think I was frightened by a completely unfamiliar world. Here we are." Zou Xiang recalled with a smile.

Although he studied with two world-famous pianists, Lowenthal and McDonald, at school, he believes that he learned more from the musical environment and soil outside the classroom. "In my first two months in New York, I listened to 40 concert performances of various types. The artistic nourishment I gained from this should be equivalent to two years of studying with a master," Zou Xiang said.

It was during his study in the United States that he discovered that the attitudes towards music learning in Western countries were very different from those in China. Now he's trying to instill some of that attitude toward learning in his own students, too. "In China, many times learning music is to pursue a kind of success; to prove 'who I am' or 'how good I am.' But in the United States, I see more of an integration with music and life. A sense of enjoyment.”

“Sometimes people in China believe that there is an inevitable proportional relationship between age, seniority, and personal value.

In fact, this is not necessarily completely correct. Much of the world's great music was composed when the composer was young. Zou Xiang’s track tonight proves this argument. Schubert's "Sonata in B flat major" is the composer's later large-scale work. Schubert was only 31 years old when it was composed. Liszt was in his twenties when he wrote about the Olbermann Valley. Zou Xiang believes that one of the highlights of the concert is an excerpt from the immortal "Meditations of the Twenty Infants" composed by the 36-year-old French composer Messiaen.

Messian’s music is full of vague tones and briefly flying lines, which are inspired by his fascination with bird songs. This two-hour large-scale work composed of 20 pieces (movements) is considered a piano masterpiece of the 20th century and the pinnacle of late French Impressionist music. Zou Xiang believes that Eastern music tradition and aesthetics have a certain tacit understanding with French Impressionism.

“Chinese people easily accept French Impressionism. Unlike the German and Austrian music traditions, which have a stronger sense of structure, some things in music are more concrete, fixed and meticulous. China’s traditional aesthetics are inherently It has an impressionistic color. It gives people more room for imagination.”

Zou Xiang is the first Chinese to premiere Messiaen’s Meditations on the Twenty Infants and record this work on a record. The Pianist, the record is expected to be released in April. His concern for the future of Chinese music is all-round: "My expectation is not only to be able to play Schubert and Messiaen well and be recognized, but also to be able to perform and study Chen Yi, Ye Xiaogang and many other outstanding Chinese talents. The composer's music is remembered by people."

China continues to rise, and Zou Xiang hopes to call on more people to pay attention to the development of Chinese culture and art, not just the rapid development of politics and economy. develop. He said, "Music shortens the distance between people, countries, and cultures. Maybe I am very young and naive and hope that everyone will pay as much attention to the development, inheritance and innovation of Chinese contemporary culture and art as I do. But even if it is to appeal to people and introduce the importance and future direction of this long-term work, and let people and society think about it again or take some actions, I think it is already a very meaningful thing.