Zhu Yafen:The Elegance of Piano Education

正THE piano and music are what I love most,"said Professor Zhu Yafen about her lifework.Hearing Zhu speak about her creative life is like listening to an elegant and melodious piece of piano music–it evokes a sense of calm,making one feel soothed and relaxed.     

Popular With the Young

Located along the West 'Third Ring Road of Beijing,the piano school of the Jiang Jie Culture and Arts School,one of the most popular music schools for children in the city,has never been short of students.With more than 100 small piano teaching rooms in six storeys,it is one of the largest piano training schools in the city.     

Special Stamps： Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai

N October 2003, the State Postal Bureau issued a set of five special stamps featuring the Chinese folk legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai.Liang and Zhu are the Rorneo and Juliet of the East, whose tragic love story is known in every Chinese household.The legend goes that Zhu disguised herself as a boy in order to be able to study. The first stamp shows her and Liang, her classmate, on Caoqiao Bridge     

Wang Yujing-A Little Singer and Little Diplomat

Growing up in Shenzhen, one of the most modern cities in China, Wang Yujing has a particular passion for Qiang music. Though she has been part of the Qiang Children＇s Choir for no more than a year, this little eight-year-old has learned a great deal about Qiang music, at the same time showing off her talent in many singing, dancing and painting competitions. As Yujing says, “I love Qiang songs, and I wanna share the very best of it with everyone in the world.”     

Activity

正RRhonda Larson Flute Concert DD ate:July 11,2014PP lace:Guangzhou Xinghai Concert Hall PPrice:RMB 680/380/280/180/100An exceptionally talented flautist,composer and conductor,Rhonda Larson started to learn l ute at the age of 10.In 1985,she won i rst prize at the U.S.National Flute Association’s Young Artists Competition.Later,Larson won a Grammy Award.She has collected a variety of valuable and rare flutes from indigenous peoples and nations around the world,to enrich her musical instruments and the timbre of her music.In her Guangzhou concert,the flautist will render folk songs,classical music and world new-school music,playing more than 10 types of l utes.     

The Soundtrack of Beijing

A friend of mine recently moved from Europe to New York City. To calm her worries about moving to a new continent, some of her friends came up with the idea of creating mixed CD’s with music associated with the city. The playlists included songs from New York City artists or lyrics referencing the place.     

A Devoted Music Educator

While tamous concert pianists gain widespread recognition and public accolades, equally talented musicians who dedicate their lives to music education often remain largely unknown outside a small circle of students. Zhang Jin is one such educator. Since graduating from China＇s Central Conservatory of Music （CCOM） in 1987 with a piano major; Zhang has been engaged in music education work at the affiliated secondary school of CCOM, He is presently head of piano teaching and research.
Many of Zhang＇s students have been admitted to noted overseas music institutions like the Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music in the U.S., and the Liszt School o1 Music in Germany. His favorite pupils, Hu Bo and Jin Wenbin. are studying with lull scholarships at the Juilliard School and Yale University respectively. World-renowned pianist Lang Lang is also among Zhang＇s former pupils. Among his current students, 17-year-old Wang Chun won first place in the Villa-Lobos International Piano Competition and fifth place in the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition, while 14-year-old Huang Nansong is the champion of the Seiler International Piano Competition.     

Six Poems

Helen Snow passed away on January 11, 1997To commemorate this old friend of the Chinesepeople, we publish six of her poems and the intro-duction to these poems by Chinese poet Zhu Ziqi.These poems and the following article were firstpublished in the magazine Poem inJanurary,1993. From Lu Cui's letter,Helen cameto know that her poems were published and shehappily wrote to Lu Cui and Zhu Ziqi, express-ing her thanks to them. She said that this was thefirst time that her poems were translated into Chi-nese and published in a Chinese magazine, andthis was also the first time that she got remunera-tion for her poems in China. With the remunera-tion Lu Cui bought two silk blouses for her andasked a friend to bring them to her.     

TheMany Sounds of Civilization

<正>British-American historian Bernard Lewis famously condemned Arab and Islamic civilization for not having a polyphonic sense of music,even accusing them of accepting totalitarian ideologies and regimes because of their taste for"monophonic"music.That is,having one single singer with all the music following the ups and downs of his or her voice.Polyphonic music,by contrast,is when a piece of music has two or more independent melodies in it.As for the related notion of counterpoint,this is from many voices present in the chorus of a classical Greek drama and a reference to the coordination evident in choir singing.     

An Unconventional Classicist

Kong feels that as a Chinese musician he should go beyond Beethoven, Liszt and Chopin. He wants to adapt Chinese classics, folk songs, even popular music to the piano, and so bring Chinese music to the world.     

Faded Memory

Yang Jihong, who recently planned a program about Alzheimer’s disease for China Central Television (CCTV), cherishes many memories of her father.One of her fondest memories as a child was of her father riding a bicycle, carrying her mother, her two brothers and Yang to a river, where they swam and caught fish and shrimps.     

Lady Gallants of Old

THE standard scenario in films and literary works about ancient China is that of an honest man being attacked and robbed by bandits, or a beautiful woman about to lose her virtue to a gang of ruffians. Just when it appears nothing can save them, a knight errant and master of martial arts, rather than officer of the law, comes to his/her rescue in the nick of time. The knight errant makes mincemeat of the villains and they flee, limping and bleeding,     

Musical Upward Mobility

LI Juan has been taking her son, Dong Ziyan, to his weekly piano class on the back of her bicycle since he was four years old.     

Architecture and Nature

Chinese-American architect Maya Lin has become renowned by people in China recently because of her latest work-"What is Missing?" The multi-site project aims to raise public awareness of the current crisis surrounding biodiversity and habitat loss. Lin recently talked about the project’s background and her understanding of the relation between architecture and nature with Beijing Review.     

Sexual Harassment-A Matter of Social Concern

WHILE working as consultant on a women's helpline I received many letters and calls about sexual harassment. One 26-year-old woman told me how she had been demoted from her position as accountant to that of cleaner because she rebuffed the sexual advances of her manager. On reporting him the manager concerned suffered no reprisals whatever. She, on the other hand, was ostracized by her colleagues and friends. Even her husband upbraided her for being oversensitive. She wrote to me asking for legal advice.     

Resounding Music Within the High Walls

The No. 4 Prison in Yunnan Province is resounded with beautiful music every day, striking the note of the care about the cultural life among the inmates inside the high walls. The prison organized the orchestra in October 1999. Despite the tight pocket of the prison, it spent nearly 20,000 yuan buying electronic organs, guitars, drums, violins, saxophones and trumpets and later to the orchestra were added such Chinese musical instruments as Sheng, Gu Zheng, Piba and clarinet. Now the orchestra boasts 53 pieces of musical instruments in 22 categories. The members of the orchestra have increased from the original 23 to 29. The name of the orchestra "Concern" signifies that the prison needs the understanding and support from the society and prison inmate needs social care and assistance in their correction. At the beginning, few of the members knew anything about music. The prison     

Soong Ching Ling and Her Magazine-An Interview with Israel Epstein, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of China Today

MAY 29, 2001 was the20th anniversary of thedeath of Mme SoongChing Ling. In commemoration of this great woman,and her significance in modernChinese history, I interviewedeighty-six-year-old Israel Epstein,an old friend of Mine Soong. Mr.Epstein confirmed that he hadknown Soong Ching Ling sincechildhood, and that he started towork with her in his 20s. He is stillinvolved in her great cause ofintroducing China to the rest of theworld.Reporter: Would you please say afew words about Mme So…     

Rural Roots,City Shoots

China's vast army of rural migrant laborers is gradually finding a more permanent place in the cities Just months ago,Zhu Xueqin,a 31-year-old migrant worker in Shanghai,couldn't imagine that she would be in the center of the media limelight as one of three migrant worker deputies of the 11th National People's Congress(NPC)held in March. When she came to Shanghai from the countryside 12 years ago,she had only a middle school diploma.But her diligence and intelligence have helped her to work her way     

For Doctors, What Matters Most?

Since 2001, Yu Ying practiced medicinein the emergency department of the prestigious Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Her candid and humorous stories about her work as a doctor won her a measure of fame in the microblog community as Emergency Department Superwoman, with 2 million followers.However, she recently announced her resignation from     

Crossing Musical Boundaries

Chinese songstress makes major inroads into international music markets Singer Zhu Zheqin (Dadawa) is fly-ing the Chinese music flag high after winning the World Fusion award of the Seventh Independent Music Awards of the United States