Yin Chengzong
Encyclopedia
Yin Chengzong (born 1941 in Gulangyu Island
, Xiamen
, Fujian
) is a Chinese
pianist
and composer
.
in Xiamen
, Fujian
, in the People's Republic of China
. Although trained as a classical pianist, he is perhaps best known to the West through the Yellow River Piano Concerto he arranged based on the Yellow River Cantata
and performed in many Western theaters since the 1980s.
at the age of nine. At twelve, he joined the preparatory school of Shanghai Conservatory of Music
. In 1959, Yin won an award at the World Youth Peace and Friendship Festival in Vienna
, Austria
, and in 1960, he was sent to the Leningrad Conservatory
to study. In 1962, he was the second-prize winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition
(Vladimir Ashkenazy
took the first-prize). In 1965, Yin joined the Central Symphony Orchestra of China
as a soloist.
(1966–1976), Yin's name changed by “殷诚忠”.When all Western arts and forms were forbidden, Yin ingeniously found an application of his talent: he created the piano-accompanied version of The Legend of the Red Lantern
, one of the Eight model plays, the only plays, operas and ballets which were permitted during the period. Although, musically speaking, there was not much originality in the work, it was refreshing for genuine music lovers who were longing to have access to Western music. Another creation attributed to Yin is the now well-known Yellow River Piano Concerto. Yin and other members of a special committee arranged this work in 1969 based on the Yellow River Cantata
by Xian Xinghai
. In the final movement of the concerto, Yin incorporated the melody The East Is Red
. The instruments used, the piano and the orchestra, were all Western, but the music was heavily influenced by Chinese folk melodies.
, Yin immigrated to the US, and in the same year, he made his debut in Carnegie Hall
in New York city
. Yin has since performed under the baton of Eugene Ormandy
and the Philadelphia Orchestra
, Claudio Abbado
and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
, Kirill Kondrashin and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
, and Sir Malcolm Sargent
and the
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
. Yin has also appeared in Boston
, San Francisco, Chicago
, Toronto
, and at Lincoln Center. His solo performances were featured on China Central Television
and CBS Sunday Morning. Formerly a professor and artist-in-residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music
, Mr. Yin now lives in New York City
.
Yin has released more than 20 albums, including an all-Chopin CD, a recording of Debussy
's Preludes, and the Yellow River Concerto.
Gulangyu Island
Gulangyu "Drum Wave Islet" is a car free island off the coast of Xiamen, Fujian province in southern China, about in area. It is home to about 20,000 people and is a very popular tourist destination....
, Xiamen
Xiamen
Xiamen , also known as Amoy , is a major city on the southeast coast of the People's Republic of China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city of Fujian province with an area of and population of 3.53 million...
, Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
) is a Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Biography
Born on the "Piano Island" of Gulangyu IslandGulangyu Island
Gulangyu "Drum Wave Islet" is a car free island off the coast of Xiamen, Fujian province in southern China, about in area. It is home to about 20,000 people and is a very popular tourist destination....
in Xiamen
Xiamen
Xiamen , also known as Amoy , is a major city on the southeast coast of the People's Republic of China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city of Fujian province with an area of and population of 3.53 million...
, Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
, in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. Although trained as a classical pianist, he is perhaps best known to the West through the Yellow River Piano Concerto he arranged based on the Yellow River Cantata
Yellow River Cantata
The Yellow River Cantata is a cantata by Chinese composer Xian Xinghai . Composed in Yan'an in early 1939 during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the work was inspired by a patriotic poem by Guang Weiran, which was also adapted as the lyrics...
and performed in many Western theaters since the 1980s.
Education
Yin started learning the piano in 1948 when he was seven years old, and gave his first recitalRecital
A recital is a musical performance. It can highlight a single performer, sometimes accompanied by piano, or a performance of the works of a single composer.The invention of the solo piano recital has been attributed to Franz Liszt....
at the age of nine. At twelve, he joined the preparatory school of Shanghai Conservatory of Music
Shanghai Conservatory of Music
The Shanghai Conservatory of Music , as the first music institution of higher education in China, was founded on November 27, 1927. The teachers and students have won numerous awards both home and abroad, thus earning the conservatory the name, “the cradle of musicians”.-History:The Shanghai...
. In 1959, Yin won an award at the World Youth Peace and Friendship Festival in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, and in 1960, he was sent to the Leningrad Conservatory
Saint Petersburg Conservatory
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory is a music school in Saint Petersburg. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.-History:...
to study. In 1962, he was the second-prize winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition
International Tchaikovsky Competition
The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow, Russia for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 30 years of age, and singers between 19 and 32 years of age...
(Vladimir Ashkenazy
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy is a Russian-Icelandic conductor and pianist. Since 1972 he has been a citizen of Iceland, his wife Þórunn's country of birth. Since 1978, because of his many obligations in Europe, he and his family have resided in Meggen, near Lucerne in Switzerland...
took the first-prize). In 1965, Yin joined the Central Symphony Orchestra of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
as a soloist.
Cultural revolution
During the Cultural RevolutionCultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
(1966–1976), Yin's name changed by “殷诚忠”.When all Western arts and forms were forbidden, Yin ingeniously found an application of his talent: he created the piano-accompanied version of The Legend of the Red Lantern
The Legend of the Red Lantern
The Legend of the Red Lantern is one of the Eight model plays, the only operas and ballets permitted during the Cultural Revolution in China. The official version was that of a Beijing Opera...
, one of the Eight model plays, the only plays, operas and ballets which were permitted during the period. Although, musically speaking, there was not much originality in the work, it was refreshing for genuine music lovers who were longing to have access to Western music. Another creation attributed to Yin is the now well-known Yellow River Piano Concerto. Yin and other members of a special committee arranged this work in 1969 based on the Yellow River Cantata
Yellow River Cantata
The Yellow River Cantata is a cantata by Chinese composer Xian Xinghai . Composed in Yan'an in early 1939 during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the work was inspired by a patriotic poem by Guang Weiran, which was also adapted as the lyrics...
by Xian Xinghai
Xian Xinghai
Xian Xinghai was one of the earliest generation of Chinese composers influenced by western classical music and has influenced generations of Chinese musicians...
. In the final movement of the concerto, Yin incorporated the melody The East Is Red
The East Is Red
"The East Is Red" is a song that was the de facto anthem of the People's Republic of China during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. The lyrics of the song were attributed to Li Youyuan, a farmer from northern Shaanxi, and the melody was derived from a local folk song...
. The instruments used, the piano and the orchestra, were all Western, but the music was heavily influenced by Chinese folk melodies.
United States
In 1983, following difficulties with the new regime due to his alleged closeness to the Gang of FourGang of Four
The Gang of Four was the name given to a political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution and were subsequently charged with a series of treasonous crimes...
, Yin immigrated to the US, and in the same year, he made his debut in Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in New York city
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Yin has since performed under the baton of Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five...
and the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
, Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,...
and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
The Vienna Philharmonic is an orchestra in Austria, regularly considered one of the finest in the world....
, Kirill Kondrashin and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1951 by Samuil Samosud, as the Moscow Youth Orchestra for young and inexperienced musicians, acquiring its current name in 1953...
, and Sir Malcolm Sargent
Malcolm Sargent
Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works...
and the
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra was formed in 1882 and is Russia's oldest symphony orchestra.It was initially known as the "Imperial Music Choir" and performed privately for the court of Alexander III of Russia. By the 1900s it had started to give public performances at the...
. Yin has also appeared in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, San Francisco, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, and at Lincoln Center. His solo performances were featured on China Central Television
China Central Television
China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China. CCTV has a network of 19 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers...
and CBS Sunday Morning. Formerly a professor and artist-in-residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music
Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music is an independent music conservatory located in the University Circle district of Cleveland, Ohio, United States and is overseen by president Joel Smirnoff and Adrian Daly, dean....
, Mr. Yin now lives in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Yin has released more than 20 albums, including an all-Chopin CD, a recording of Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
's Preludes, and the Yellow River Concerto.