To spread classic music and make the world know Chinese music
- Source: English.news.cn
- [18:15 March 07 2011]
- Comments
??By Wu Xiaoxiao
??SINGAPORE, March 7 (Xinhua) -- "Imagination is more important than knowledge", 82-year-old Zheng Xiaoying, China's first famous female conductor for the opera and orchestra, likes to quote Einstein's words to express how important responsibility the classic music takes.
??"I think music, especially the classic music can inspire people 's thinking abilities. It can make people feel their souls," she told Xinhua in an exclusive interview during her visit to Singapore, invited by Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) to conduct concerts for the International Women's Day.
??Zheng, also the first Chinese conductor to conduct in the western theater and now works as the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, said she will insist on spreading the classic music like orchestra to the society and making the world know better about China's music of the date.
??As one of the famous conductors and musicians in the world, Professor Zheng had helmed many important responsibilities as the conductor of the China National Opera House, the Central Conservatory of Music, and the Artistic Director of the Women Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra; and also won countless awards for her contributions.
??And the word she prefers to describe the outstanding music pieces is "classic". She said: "I like 'classic' but not the ' classical' because that the previous one is more inclusive." She pays much attention to help common people improve their musical and cultural quality.
??"Actually all the music pieces are inspired by the public, whatever from the Western classics or the Chinese folks. During the work, I've communicated with lots of people to understand that they are the origins of our music."
??"A composer's job is to collect and select good music to make them pass down in a better way," Zheng said. She keeps learning from other musical styles like Peking Opera to combine with her knowledge of Western classics to promote her efforts on musical spread education.
??She continued to give the better music to the public after she took the conductor position of the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra in 1997. Zheng not only made the orchestra national first class, but also improved the music appreciation level of local residents.
??She said: "We have ten free concerts for students every year. I really hope that every high school student can attend one concert in the concert hall before the graduation. Students can know that the orchestra and the classic music are not too hard to contact. They are just another musical style to wait to be known."
??In terms of the popular music which is the major part in the market, Zheng said: "I only hope people can know the classic music 's existence in the market. There are several musical styles and levels. I just want people to learn the basics about the classic music through our efforts. We open one more window for people to make more choices and pursue higher levels about their daily music. "
??And life also rewards her efforts by giving her more confidence in her work. Once when she finished a concert in the U.S., she received a warm invitation from the Silicon Valley. Some engineers invited her to conduct their chorus. And some words in the letter moved her deeply, "I saw your concert when I was in the university, you and the music changed my life's pursuit." These engineers partly attended the concerts which Zheng Xiao Ying organized for the universities.
??Meanwhile, Zheng is devoted to introducing the modern development and achievements of China's music to the western world. "The Resounding of the Earth Buildings", a Hakka symphony which shows the spirits and culture of Hakka, aroused the huge appreciation worldwide.
??Zheng said: "We don't need to compete with German to play their own Beethoven's pieces. I'm the Chinese and I found that our ethnical music has lots of good elements. We can play the Chinese music by the orchestra as well. It can make the Western countries know that China has its own brilliant pieces and also has distinguished philharmonic orchestras."
??The last movement of "The Resounding of the Earth Buildings" is the Hakka's folk song. Zheng leads the chorus to cooperate with the local chorus to sing this song. "They are just two sentences with simple music and so many foreigners are singing with us," she smiled.
??Zheng insists on spreading Chinese music into its mainstream society. The audiences of her concerts are not only overseas Chinese and the western public, but also some officials like senators and governors of states. "I hope that Chinese music can be understood by more western people. I hope their people, especially the dominant society can see our development and learn about our achievements," she said.
??The famous conductor established an opera center in 2011. "Many people don't understand this in terms of my age. But I think I can do something more for opera conducting which I really love. And I hope I can make people know better about opera," she said.
??The professor will conduct two operas in Chinese version to spread the Chinese version operas. "Like the translation for the western literary classics, the translation for the classic operas also needed to be emphasized. Only when the audiences understand what this opera singing about, they can feel the beauty of the music at the same time. I know this is a hard road but I don't scare," she said.
??This is Zheng's first cooperation with the SCO and the second visit in Singapore. She spoke highly of the development of the local classic music and said, "they take much count of fostering the professionals." And she also appreciated the support and assistance the two national orchestras - Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Singapore Chinese Orchestra - received.
??She thought that music is a very important way to help cultural communication. "Music can conquer the language barrier. Singapore has lots of people who have the Hakka Ancients so that music pieces like 'The Resounding of the Earth Building' can strike a chord with them," she said.
