Violinist Chen Xi Leads Classical Music

This is the 20th and last in a series of interviews with the next-generation of classical musicians. ― ED.

The 1981 Academy Award-winning film ``From Mao to Mozart'' documented the Western classical music scene in China as it emerged from the Cultural Revolution. The last 15 minutes of the movie showed an earnest 10-year-old playing the cello before Isaac Stern. This was none other than esteemed cellist Jian Wang.

Now a generation later, China is becoming a major market for almost everything, and it seems classical musicians are one of its hottest exports. If Wang represented a changing China, here are the faces of ``new'' China, pianist Lang Lang and violinist Chen Xi.

>>Read about Mr. Lang Lang here.

Chen Xi's Ongoing Musical Journey

It came as a small surprise when the soft-spoken, unassuming professor Hyo Kang personally recommended a young man for the ``next generation'' series. But it seemed only natural the artistic director of the Great Mountains Music Festival and School would bring attention to Chen Xi. Kang is teaching the 23-year-old violinist at Yale beginning this fall, but Chen was already introduced in Korea last yedar as a ``genius with gorgeous tones and colors.''

The Korea Times spotted Chen conversing animatedly with Jian Wang and other musicians at the music festival. Chen looks up to Wang and Lang Lang like older brothers, but he is fast building his own reputation as one of the most promising artists of his generation.At 17, he became the youngest top prizewinner in the history of the International Tchaikovsky Violin Competition, finishing second where no first prize was awarded.

This was despite an unfortunate hand injury before the semi-finals. The Moscow event coincided with the 2002 World Cup, and hooligans who weren't happy with the match against Japan attacked Asians including Chen. He couldn't play for three days. While this handicap would have been enough to devastate anyone, Chen relaxed.

``I was here for the experience,'' he said. He was no stranger to injuries. When he was 10, he hurt his neck from excessive practicing. Fortunately, he was able to recuperate, and has been a firm believer in moderation ever since. It also reaffirmed his passion for music.

It's hard not to draw more similarities between Chen and his ``older brother'' Lang Lang. Like the pianist, the violinist fulfilled the musical ambitions of his father, who had to submit to the Cultural Revolution. ``When I was born, he checked to see I had all 10 fingers. Then he checked my face to see how I looked,'' he said laughing.

Growing up in Shenyang, he was already naming Mozart and Beethoven pieces at age two and was fiddling the violin for fun as a five-year-old with his neighbor, pianist Lang. When he was 12, he became the youngest student at the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Following the advise of Lang, he moved to the United States to study at the Curtis Institute.

Chen and Lang would later tour together in Taiwan with the China Youth Symphony Orchestra.There weren't many quality concerts where he was growing up, he said. He admitted being a rather ``snobby'' soloist who got ``bored'' during rehearsals with orchestras. Moving to the U.S. and meeting passionate musicians changed his life. He discovered his love for chamber and orchestral music.In Beijing alone, there are some 300,000 violin players and 1 million pianists, including professionals and amateurs, said Chen.

Does he have any advice for those who want to follow a similar path? ``It's important to know what you want before studying abroad,'' he said. No matter how far from home, he always remembers what his teacher back in China told him. ``There are three things to keep in mind: history, the composer and nature,'' he said. Man is part of nature and music is a means of expressing human emotions, he explained.

The violinist looked surprisingly young offstage, wearing a T-shirt and boyish grin. But his gaze remained steady and the confidence in his voice was unwavering as he spoke about music. Winning a prize, let alone the top prize, at a tough competition was a big surprise. He had tried his best and was happy, but always keeps looking ahead: ``the competition was not my final goal. It's not my final destination,'' he said.

His journey has just begun.