For Chinese people, Zhou Shanxiang’s name may be a little unfamiliar, but this Chinese musician born in the 1990s is very popular in Europe and the United States. He completed high school mathematics at the age of 5, entered college to study composition and physics at the age of 7, studied piano at the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 11, and became a disciple of the piano master Brendel at the age of 13... This series of jaw-dropping resumes are enough to illustrate Zhou Shanxiang's career. Extraordinary.
From March 15th to 17th, this talented pianist born in the 1990s will make his debut at the National Center for the Performing Arts in the International Piano Series Concert Series. With five music "marathons" over three days, he will bring more than 70 piano works to the audience. Starting from the Renaissance when keyboard art began, through Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th century, and up to the present works created by pianists themselves, it provides a panoramic interpretation of the 500-year development of keyboard art, depicting a three-dimensional and full world of piano music.
During this visit to Beijing, Zhou Shanxiang will fully demonstrate his superhuman intelligence, understanding and memory in the field of music. The five concerts not only include well-known classics such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin, but also expand the horizons to a wider world, including the works of many niche musicians such as John Boole and Thomas Tallis. The relics and the present that are closely related to modern people will be presented to the audience. In an exclusive interview with reporters on March 13, Zhou Shanxiang said, "I don't regard music as a profession, it is my biggest hobby. I hope to share my thinking and understanding of music with everyone through concerts."
shows Amazing memory and off-the-record performance of more than 70 pieces
The repertoire of this concert will start from the Renaissance in the 16th century, and go through the complex Baroque period, the balanced and rigorous classical period, the romantic period of sensual fantasy, and the 20th century where diverse styles coexist. In the avant-garde 21st century, more than 70 master works that pianists think are most worth listening to and their favorites have been selected. Due to the vast number of repertoires, it is extremely difficult to choose, so Zhou Shanxiang decided to focus on a theme every hundred years. "I really want to give the Beijing audience a panoramic interpretation of the 500-year development of keyboard art, and depict a three-dimensional and full world of piano music that I understand." In Zhou Shanxiang's view, "Performance is not just about performance and display, but also about The large-scale selection of music presents the audience's own views and understanding of music and music development."
Works from different eras and styles compete on the same stage, which poses a great challenge to the pianist's technical performance and style control, and Regarding the presentation of the concert, Zhou Shanxiang expressed that he did not want to treat the music from an "archaeological museum" perspective, but rather presented it from an "art exhibition gallery" perspective. Zhou Shanxiang further explained, “The most superficial aspect is to present the performance characteristics of different styles in different periods, but I hope that through my performance, I can walk into the music hand in hand with the audience and feel the beauty of the work. I hope the audience can experience deep enjoyment. ."
What's even more surprising is that such a staggering amount of repertoire has already been loaded into Zhou Shanxiang's head, and he can play more than 70 pieces off-script throughout. "I generally don't memorize scores." For Zhou Shanxiang, memorization is not a difficult task, and it often happens naturally. "I spent a long time preparing these pieces. This process requires constant thinking. After time, I will naturally become very familiar with these works."
Maintaining purity and curiosity Music is my biggest hobby
Zhou Shanxiang was born in Los Angeles, USA in 1992. Influenced by his mother who studied science and engineering, Zhou Shanxiang has been interested in mathematics and science since he was a child. He has a strong interest and has completed high school mathematics at the age of 5. In order to let the child have some hobbies besides mathematics, his mother took him to learn music. Unexpectedly, this opened the door to art for Zhou Shanxiang. At the age of 5, Zhou Shanxiang first came into contact with music and fell in love with this art. Today, as a pianist, composer and organist, Zhou Shanxiang has traveled all over the world and has performed with many outstanding orchestras in the world, such as the Vienna Philharmonic and the Dresden Staatskapelle.At the same time, Zhou Shanxiang did not give up her passion for mathematics. When he was 9 years old, he studied biology, physics, and mathematics at Utah State University. When he was 11 years old, he studied chemistry and mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania. Got a master's degree in mathematics. Over the years, he has made impressive achievements in different fields such as natural sciences, mathematics and even game development.
Driven by the two precious qualities of purity and curiosity, Zhou Shanxiang has extended his interests and research infinitely. "I am happiest when I have the conditions to study things that interest me." Zhou Shanxiang said that before the age of 15, he was a science-minded person and had no idea what literature was. "But because I am interested in music, I once played piano accompaniment for a tenor singer. The tenor singer introduced me to many art songs. Because I like the music of these songs very much, I am very interested in these arts. I became interested in the lyrics of the song, so I began to study and think about why these authors created such works? Where is the inspiration?" Driven by curiosity, Zhou Shanxiang began to study literature. Later, he began to study literature in his 20s. He started composing art songs, "When I have nothing to do, I will write poems and then set them into music."
In the eyes of many people, mathematics and music seem to be two completely unrelated subjects, but Zhou Shanxiang believes that, Mathematics and music have something in common. “To make art, you need to use scientific methods, and some science or mathematics itself is also art.” In Zhou Shanxiang’s view, science and music are not contradictory in his life allocation, “I am now I have been constantly doing scientific research, but if you ask me what my profession is, it must be a musician. I do not regard music as a profession, but as my biggest hobby." As for why he wants to perform concerts, Zhou Shanxiang said, "It's not to further my career, but purely to share what I like."
text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Tian Wanting
photography/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Li Na
editor/Cui Wei
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