Artistic growth and award-winning experience:
Born in Hunan, China, 1980, he began to learn piano at the age of four. At the age of nine, he was admitted to the primary school affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music and was promoted to the affiliated middle school with the first place. At the age of thirteen, he gave his first solo concert. At the age of sixteen, he played all of Chopin's 24 piano etudes in the concert and began to win many important prizes in piano competitions at home and abroad. He studied under Professor Li Daoyun, Professor Tina Zhang and Professor Zhao Xiaosheng.
During the eight years from 65438 to 0999 to 2007, he studied at Juilliard School of Music in the United States with a full scholarship, becoming one of the few pianists in the history of the school to receive a bachelor's degree, a master's degree and an artist's diploma (Juilliard School only recruits no more than two pianists worldwide to study for an artist's diploma every year). At school, I studied under the world-famous pianists and educators such as Jerome Lowental and Robert MacDonald, and won the Gina bacall Piano Competition Award and various scholarships from Juilliard. At the age of 23, Zou Xiang stood out from more than 100 young pianists from all over the world, won the first prize of the Hoorns International Piano Competition, became the youngest gold medal winner in the competition, and began to be active in the world music stage frequently.
Artistic experience:
Zou Xiang has performed in more than 50 cities on four continents. His famous concerts include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, lavinia Music Festival, Canadian National Art Center, Italian busoni Music Festival, Swiss Victoria Bull Music Festival, New Zealand Auckland Art Festival, Beijing National Grand Theatre, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Beijing Modern Music Festival, Zhongshan Music Hall, Beijing Music Hall and Shanghai Music Hall. He has performed nearly 20 piano concertos with famous conductors, such as Michael Lancaster, Max Pomer, Michael Christie, Chen Zuohuang, Shao En, Zhang and other famous symphony orchestras in Canada, the United States and China.
Zou Xiang recorded and published two solo albums, namely Mei Xian's Gazing at Twenty Babies, Schubert's Sonata in B-flat Major and Godovski's Passacaglia. He also recorded the piano chamber music of Pulitzer Prize winner Spa Retrain. These records were 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 Radio International, Beijing Art Radio Station, Hunan Satellite TV, Globe and Mail, new york Concert Review, Global Times, New York Sun, Star Telecom, Calgary Harold, Globe and Mail, World Journal, Sing Tao.
Zou Xiang's achievements in playing modern music in recent years are remarkable, and the international media call him "the champion of playing modern music". In 2006, Zou Xiang entrusted Ye Xiaogang, a famous composer in China, to compose the piano piece Namco, which made its world premiere in a solo concert at Carnegie Hall in the United States. Zou Xiang held a special concert of modern piano works at Beijing Modern Music Festival in 2006, and played nearly ten piano works by modern composers from all over the world. In 2008, in order to commemorate the centenary of Mei Xian's birth, Zou Xiang held the China premiere concert of Mei Xian's masterpiece Gazing at Twenty Babies at the Beijing Modern Music Festival, which caused a sensation in the music industry and the media and was regarded as a pioneering work. He is the first China pianist to play these two hours of modern classics completely. He has also played solo and chamber music works by modern composers such as Ligethy, Lutov Lavschi, Cory Gariano, Lofsky, Stouder, Konis, Chen Qigang, Zhou Long, Zhao Xiaosheng, Huang Ruo, Wen Deqing and Jin Xiang, as well as five piano and band works by Chen Yi, Ye Xiaogang, Tang Jianping, Liu Jian and Yu Yang. On 20 12, Zou Xiang will hold the complete piano etudes of Ligethy for the first time in China.
Academic activities:
Zou Xiang has been invited for many times to hold public classes and lectures in world-renowned conservatories of music, including Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Northwest University, Chicago School of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University, Capital University, University of Toronto, Royal Mountain College of 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. Published many papers and articles in national professional music journals. Students have won many prizes in piano competitions at home and abroad, including the Asian Youth Piano Competition in Hong Kong, the National Youth Piano Competition of Kaiser Castle in the Pearl River, and the Academy Cup Competition of the Central Conservatory of Music. He has also served as a judge of many international and domestic piano competitions.
Editing this paragraph, Global Times interviewed Zou Xiang, a famous young pianist-"Lighting up Classical Music".
Zou Xiang
For those who are somewhat estranged from classical music, they can listen to the advice of the young pianist Zou Xiang and relax: "If the audience applauds between the movements of a piece of music, it's not a big deal, it's not a mistake, I will still smile at him." It is difficult to tell his occupation from his fluffy hair, jeans and sneakers. Zou Xiang is one of the youngest piano teachers in the Central Conservatory of Music.
Zou Xiang dabbled in show business with one foot and academia with the other. His mission is to promote new music and new musical attitudes to people. This is something he couldn't completely do during his previous tour. "As a young musician in the real world, the agent who organizes concerts will prefer me to play Chopin and other works that are more popular and accepted by the public. But now for me, I can choose my own artistic path more independently and share my artistic ideas with others, "he told the Global Times.
As a young musician in China, Zou Xiang has a unique perspective. He believes that many music learners have lost the purpose and essence of learning music. In English, the word "play" means "play", which means to enjoy playing. But I don't think this state can be experienced in our music learning process. "Zou Xiang explained that my students told me that they wanted to be an excellent student or get a diploma and find a good job. Some utilitarian purposes of these tapes have nothing to do with music itself. Therefore, my biggest challenge is to stimulate their real interest and enthusiasm for music. "
Many students studying classical music in China are under great pressure from their parents. Zou Xiang is very aware of this situation, and it is too understanding. Zou Xiang was born in Hunan, and studied in the primary school affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the secondary school affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Juilliard Conservatory of Music in new york. "I still clearly remember the first day of reporting to the dormitory of Juilliard. I stood there holding two big boxes, and the whole person was very nervous, even a little trembling. I think I was scared by a completely strange world. " Zou Xiang smiled as he recalled.
Although he studied under two world-famous pianists, Tamtar and MacDonald, he thought he learned more from the music environment and soil outside the classroom. "In the first two months in new york, I listened to 40 concerts of various types. The artistic nutrition gained from it should be equivalent to studying with a master for two years, "Zou Xiang said.
It was while studying in the United States that he found that the attitude of western countries towards music learning was quite different from that of China. Now he also tries to instill some learning attitudes into his students. "In China, many times learning music is to pursue a kind of success; To prove' who am I' or' how good I am', but in the United States, I have seen more integration with music and life, and a sense of enjoyment. "
"In China, sometimes people think that there is an inevitable proportional relationship between age and seniority and personal value. In fact, this is not necessarily completely correct. Many great music in the world was composed when composers were young. Zou Xiang's performance tonight proved this point. Schubert's sonata in B flat major is a large-scale work of the composer in his later period. Schubert was only 3 1 year old when he wrote. Liszt was only in his twenties when he wrote Ober Bangkok. Zou Xiang thought that one of the highlights of the concert was an excerpt from the immortal famous song Meditation on Twenty El Ninos written by 36-year-old French composer Mei Xian.
Mei Xian's music is full of vague tonality and short-lived lines, inspired by his fascination with birdsong. This two-hour large-scale work composed of 20 pieces of music (movements) is considered as a masterpiece of piano in the 20th century and the peak of late French impressionist music. Zou Xiang thinks that the tradition and aesthetics of oriental music have some tacit understanding with French Impressionism.
"China people can easily accept French Impressionism. Different from the German-Austrian music tradition with a stronger sense of structure, some things in music are more specific, fixed and meticulous, and China's traditional aesthetics is naturally impressionist. It gives people more imagination. "
Zou Xiang is the first China pianist who premiered Meditation on Twenty El Nino in Meixian County and recorded it as a record, which is expected to be released in April. His concern for China music in the future is all-round: "My expectation is not only to be able to play Schubert and Meixian well and get recognition, but also to be remembered by people for playing and studying the music of many outstanding composers in China, such as Chen Yi and Ye Xiaogang."
China continues to rise, and Zou Xiang hopes to appeal to more people to pay attention to the development of China's culture and art, not just the rapid development of politics and economy. He said, "Music shortens the distance between people, countries and cultures. Perhaps I was young and naive, and I hope that everyone will be as concerned about the development, inheritance and innovation of contemporary culture and art in China as I am. But even if we call on people to introduce the importance and future direction of this long-term work and let people and society reflect on it or take some actions, I think it is very meaningful.