The New York Times tells the story of pianist Xu Hong and his parents, who came from China to watch him perform with the Julliard Orchestra:
The Xu family’s story ” of parental sacrifice; of a son’s migration to the West for training; of his endless, single-minded study ” brings together the many strands of one of the most important developments in Western classical music in generations: the rise of China.
With the country’s huge population, cultural vitality, swelling middle class, emulation of things Western and parental devotion to children’s achievement, tens of millions of its people are studying piano, violin and other Western instruments. A wave of talent has begun flowing out in recent years, and Mr. Xu is among the elite of those performers. His teachers, Jerome Lowenthal at the Juilliard School and Douglas Humpherys at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, point to his brilliant technique, soulful lyricism and command of nuance. [Full text]
[Image: Hong Xu, from the New York Times]
