I've mentioned it before but it's been a while. One of the PBS stations our cable system shows has a show called "From the Top at Carnegie Hall," featuring pianist Christopher O'Riley with young classical musicians, ages 11-17. Tonight's program had an 11-year-old cellist, a 17-year-old french horn player from a gang-infested neighborhood in Salinas (not one of the finer cities in Northern California), and a string quartet from Chicago playing an Astor Piazzola tango featuring lots of slides, pizzicato, and using the instruments as drums.
The players are simply marvelous, at least all the ones I've seen in the last year or so, and it makes me feel a bit more optimistic about the future of classical music. Apparently it still has the power to grab young people by the gut, as it did me so many years ago, and inspire them to do the hard work -- and it is hard work -- to achieve excellence.
Showing posts with label Asian classical musicians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asian classical musicians. Show all posts
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Monday, June 08, 2009
Will Asians save classical music?
The results from the 13th Van Cliburn piano competition may just validate an intuition I have had for some time now. If classical music (I know the term is imprecise, but most people still have a rough idea of what it means when you use it) is to survive another generation or two, it may be Asians that save it. The top finishers in this year's Van Cliburn competition were Noboyuki Tsujii, 20, of Japan, and Haochen Jhang, 19, of China, who shared first prize, while Yeol Eum Son, 23, of South Korea won the silver medal. Finishing well in the Cliburn competition usually leads to an international career.
This is an interesting irony. Although I would make a case that what we call classical music is universal in appeal, it is (despite some signal contributions from elsewhere) quintessentially a Western European art form. But it went global long ago, and it sometimes seems as if Asians respond to it with more skill and artistry than almost anybody else (especially if you include Asian-Americans). Apparently Asian parents are more inclined to pressure children into learning to play traditional classical instruments. Among prominent virtuosi, think of Yo Yo Ma, Midori, Sarah Chang, Lang Lang, Young-Dae Park and others. I have CDs played by symphony orchestras from Shanghai, Taipei, Seoul and Singapore, and all are excellent technically and artistically.
This is an interesting irony. Although I would make a case that what we call classical music is universal in appeal, it is (despite some signal contributions from elsewhere) quintessentially a Western European art form. But it went global long ago, and it sometimes seems as if Asians respond to it with more skill and artistry than almost anybody else (especially if you include Asian-Americans). Apparently Asian parents are more inclined to pressure children into learning to play traditional classical instruments. Among prominent virtuosi, think of Yo Yo Ma, Midori, Sarah Chang, Lang Lang, Young-Dae Park and others. I have CDs played by symphony orchestras from Shanghai, Taipei, Seoul and Singapore, and all are excellent technically and artistically.
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