Zhou Guangren

The Piano Is My Life - female pianist Zhou Guangren

Guangren by Zhao Shimin

Modern and Contemporary Chinese Musicians' Biographies

Wei Tingge (ed.) Shenyang, China: Spring Wind Cultural Press, 1994

translated by Elaine Chew, August 1997, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Born in Hanover, Germany, on December 17th of 1928, Zhou Guangren's family hails from the provinces of Zhejiang and Ningpo. Her father was then a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering. While pregnant with Guangren, her mother was learning to play the piano, which apparently left a lasting impression on the child. At birth, her father gave her the German name Ursula.

At age four, Ursula returned to Shanghai with her parents. Her father enrolled her in the German school in Shanghai and her grandparents gave her the name Guangren, meaning vast kindness, deeply evocative of Taoist beliefs.

The German school was on a half-day system, had a varied curriculum and was very strict. Apart from the usual languages, mathematics, nature classes, there were courses in English, Latin, physical education, music and, of course, German. The teachers were all holders of doctorate degrees. Guangren loved the learning environment at this school. Despite her being a non-German, she topped her class in practically every subject. She especially liked the physical education and music classes. These music lessons laid the foundation for her illustrious career as a musician.

The school's music lessons were too few to satisfy Guangren's craving for music. As a result, she would often stand at the window, listening to the streams of piano music wafting out from houses, often forgetting to get home to eat. She herself could not tell why she thirsted after the sound of a piano so. Unfortunately, pianos were very expensive in Shanghai of the 1930s and her family could not afford a piano. However, when Guangren was nine, her family gave in and rented her a piano with the firm admonition to always put schoolwork first since piano playing should not be her future career.

Qian Qi was her first piano teacher. At ten, Guangren passed the test to enrol in Ding Shande's private music school in Shanghai and studied with Ding Shande himself. Ding Shande led her into the world of music and opened her eyes to the possibilities of piano performance.

Guangren's third piano teacher was Yang Jieren who had returned from studies in the United States. While teaching her to play, Yang insisted that Guangren herself took in a few younger students. Hence, Guangren learnt firsthand about piano pedagogy.

Due to the war in 1942, facism permeated all teachings at the German school Guangren was attending. Each day, before classes, all the students were required to raise their hands and shout "Heil Hitler!" Guangren found this intolerable and refused to do it or sing the songs. Eventually, she voluntarily withdrew from the school.

Out of the school, Guangren asked her father if she could major in piano studies. Her father would not agree and tried to reason with her, "Ursula, your grades are so good, you should go into foreign affairs. Furthermore, how are you going to survive as a musician in China?" But Guangren would not budge and in his wrath, her father washed his hands of her.

Hence, at age 16, because of her love for the piano, Guangren was on her own. At that time, she met her fourth teacher - an Italian pianist named Pa Qi. He was deeply musical and had a broad musical knowledge. He had accompanied the famed Italian singer, Carusso, and had come to China as the conductor of the Shanghai Labor Symphony Orchestra. At the same time, he taught piano and voice on the side. He was an excellent teacher and had numerous students. His fees were high, US$5 per lesson. In order to finance her monthly fee of US$20, Guangren took in over twenty young students, traversing Shanghai multiple times each day on her bicycle.

Pa Qi was extremely strict with Guangren. He set very high standards for her from basic technique to musical understanding. From him, Guangren got a firm grasp of the playing of classical music.

Guangren's fifth teacher was Marcus, a Jew. Although not a performer, he was familiar with musical movements. From him, Guangren came to understand the styles of the classical, romantic and modern/contemporary periods. Marcus not only taught Guangren piano, he also pushed her to perform frequently. Marcus was then part of a chamber music group in Shanghai. On his departure, he passed his position on the Guangren, giving her the opportunity to work with some of the top musicians in Shanghai performing weekly with the group. This greatly improved her performance technique and musical style.

At the end of the second world war in 1945, a certain German woman in Shanghai was deliberating what to do with her grand piano. She was laothe to part with it, but could not bring it with her to Germany. On hearing Guangren perform, she said, "You will make my piano produce beautiful sounds. You should be a good custodian of my piano." Hence, she gave Guangren her piano.

Henceforth, his Buliutena(?) grand piano and Guangren's destiny has been entwined. This piano has stayed with Guangren to this very day and has been an invaluable resource in establishing her career.

Guangren's sixth teacher was Bela Belai(?), a Hungarian, a student of Liszt (several times removed). He was a blind musician, extremely musical and had an especially deep understanding of works by romantic composers such as Chopin and Liszt. Regrettably, he left the country shortly after Guangren began studying with him.

Guangren then studied with the Jewish pianist, Widenbaugh(?). formerly, a professor at the Berlin Conservatory, he was deeply artistic. He suggested Guangren play Beethoven's Sonatas, all thirty-two of them, in order to systematically study a single composer's works. This was invaluable in helping her learn to grasp a composer's style.

Guangren was like a gigantic sponge, absorbing the teachings of each teacher, internalizing them and making them her own, hence maturing as a performer.

In 1948, nineteen-year-old Guangren soloed with the Shanghai Labor Symphony Orchestra, then reputed to be the best orchestra in the Far East. She played Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor and caused quite a stir. Her name was mentioned by music critics both inside and outside of China.

At the beginning ot 1949, Guangren gave a solo recital. She performed Chopin's four Ballades and Schubert's four Impromptus. The critics were extremely favorable and the public began to notice this young female pianist.

Shortly following the Communist takeover, Guangren was faced with a difficult decision. Her piano teachers have all either passed away or left Shanghai. The Symphony Orchestra and her Chamber Group have all disbanded. One departing personnel of the French Embassy, also a fine violinist who had appeared on stage with her before, invited her to France saying, "We can have concerts on the ship, and when we reach France, there is music everywhere." Another person, an elder Chinese musician and head of Central Conservatory, Huadong campus (i.e. Shanghai Conservatory), without mincing words, said to her very sincerely, "Please stay, we need talented people to build the Socialist regime, the country will repay you later."

Guangren decided to stay, and taught piano at the Central Conservatory, Huadong campus.

March of 1951, the office of Cultural Affairs organized a representative group of some of the most famous musicians in China including Zhou Guangren, Ma Sicong, Yu Yixuan, An Po, Guo Lanying and Du Minxin. They were sent to participate in the "Spring of Bulage(?)" Music Festival. Following that, Guangren took part in the third Berlin International Youth and Student Peace and Friendship Festival as part of the Chinese Youth Arts Group and came in third in the piano competition, thus becoming China's first international prize-winning pianist. On their return, this fine group of artists formed the prestigious Central Song and Dance Troupe.

In 1954, Guangren participated in the Fourth Romanian International Youth Festival.

That same year, Guangren married the leader of the Central Orchestra. He fully supported Guangren's career, taking on all household responsibilities, giving Guangren the flexibility to concentrate on her music. Guangren began her tutelage with the Russian piano professor, Tatuliang(?), then teaching at the Central Conservatory at Tianjin. She accepted the Russian school of playing. The training increased her playing volume and quality and improved her color range. Experts admired her playing, praising her as a complete and touching performer.

At the suggestion of Tatuliang(?) at the end of her studies, Gangren stayed on at the Central Conservatory as a member of the piano faculty, performing regularly at both the Beijing and Tianjin concert stages.

In 1956, Guangren participated in the first Schumann International Piano Competition in East Germany, coming in 8th. Her rendition of Schumann's Fantasie was the epitome of her performing career then. The critics found her sound beautiful and clear, her technique strong, her tone fine and style true. At 28, Guangren had become an outstanding pianist and the assistant head of Piano Pedagogy. The head was Zhu Gongyi and the piano faculty head was Yi Kaiji.

Unfortunately, in 1956, Guangren, out of faithfulness to the communist party and in response to the party's requests offered her ideas for change. As a result, she was marginalized as a Rightist element, the preparations for her to become a party member were withdrawn and she was criticized. Henceforth, she withdrew from the stage and threw her whole heart into teaching piano.

The Cultural Revolution had begun. Guangren suffered the same fate as the other artists. Misfortune followed after another. In 1968, her husband was framed and committed suicide in protest. She was a strong woman. She supported her son and daughter, then barely in their teens, through this difficult time. In the time she was sent to work as a farmhand in the countryside, she participated in all kinds of physical exercise such as erecting fences, tilling the ground, planting rice seedlings etc. Due to excessive use, her left index finger was crippled.

At the beginning of the 70s, the Central "Five¥Seven" Art Schools were formed. Zhou Guangren and Li Qifang were sent back to Beijing to head to piano department. Finally in 1978 when the Central Conservatory was reinstated, Guangren became the head of Piano Pedagogy and resumed her artistic life. She the first solo recital at the Conservatory, and due to her hard work, other piano faculty soon followed suit and gave their own solo recitals.

The Edgar Snow Foundation at the University of Missouri, Kansas, invited Zhou Guangren to lecture in the United States in 1980, to systematically introduce Chinese Piano music. Even though her left hand had not completely healed, by sheer willpower and hard work, moved by a desire to glorify her homeland, she changed her fingering and retrained her hands to perform. Because of the depth and breadth of her treatment of the topic and her outstanding performance, the University of Missouri awarded her an honorary doctorate.

Zhou Guangren's introduction to Chinese Music and accompanying performance, titled "The Development of Chinese Piano Music" was broadcast to the entire United States via satellite. Twenty-eight more invitations to give talks and performances at other universities ensued. Apart from performing the usual works by Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin, she more frequently performed works by Chinese composers like He Luting's "Cowherd's Song", Li Yinghai's "Flutes and Drums at Sunset", Wang Jianzhong's "Embroidering", Chen Peixun's "Autumn Moon in Calm Lake", and her own "Variations on a Xiabei Theme." She was the first musician to introduce Chinese piano music to the American tradition.

Just as Guangren buried herself in her pianistic endeavors with a passion more fervent than youthful, another tragedy happened.

On the afternoon of May 14th, 1982, while preparing to perform for some foreign guests, Guangren volunteered to help move a grand piano, one of the legs suddenly broke, the piano collapsed on the floor, crushing her hand: the fourth finger of her right hand was broken, the middle and little fingers were crushed. According to normal hospital procedures, all three fingers would have to be amputated. But on hearing that this female patient is a pianist, the doctor said, " I will try my best."

The operation was experimental, more art than science, the broken fourth finger on careful reconstruction, only became less than one digit shorter. The tip of the broken fourth finger were used to reconstruct the middle and last fingers, but would she play again?

Guangren began preparing herself for a life of teaching as a backup plan in case her hands would never play again. She employed gainfully this big chunk of free time to read many books on education, psychology and psychiatry (*zhexue?). It was at this time that she came up with yet another plan: to combine the newest piano pedagogy with her own experience in teaching to come up with a new piano curriculum. She also thought of popularizing piano education: there are less then ten music schools in all of China; music should be for the masses. Popularizing music education, will not only raise the cultural awareness of the general public but build firm foundations for future professional musicians. Comforted by the thought that she could continue her work in piano education, Guangren felt at peace.

When the bandages were remove and Guangren took a good look at her recovered fingers, she said to the doctor, " Thank you very much, I think they will play the piano again."

Not a few days later, she began moving her fingers, using her crippled fingers to knock on wood. Never hed she imagined how much pain and sweat was now required to move in any slightest way her formerly supple fingers.

After a year of stubborn and strong practice, Guangren was once again able to play. On May 16th, 1983, Guangren gave a public concert at Beijing University, inviting the doctor who performed the operation on her hands, Dr Li Tingni. That night, the university students drank in the melodious strains of her playing, admiring her strength, moved by the sincere friendship shared by the pianist and her doctor.

Once her fingers recovered, Guangren despite her heavy teaching load, continued to concertize widely. But she never forgot the plans she hatched on the hospital bed.

September of 1983, Guangren together with some like-minded colleagues and the help of Beijing's Xinghai Piano Company and the Beijing Second Highschool founded the Xinghai Youth Piano School, she was the principal, testing out her new theories for teaching young children piano. Since the founding of "Xinghai", she has never had a day of rest on Sunday. Not only so, in order to save time, in spite of her age, she learnt to ride to motorcycle. The officials at the department of motor vehicles had no idea that she was a famous pianist as she confidently answered the questions in the traffic exam.

At the end of 1985, Guangren's left ear became deaf overnight; this was diagnosed as sudden deafness. The doctors advised her to take good care of her remaining ear as it would be unbearable to be a deaf musician. But she still selflessly uses her remaining ear in her piano career.

Under her careful fostering, "Xinghai" and its students performed excellently in the Beijing Youth Piano Competitions. The number of "Xinghai" students who entered conservatories numbered in the teens, many went abroad to study, some won prizes at international competitions.

At the beginning of 1990, the district of Haidian gave her very good conditions under which to start another piano school. Guangren accepted the invitation and founded the "Yueyou" (Friends of Music) Piano School, of bigger scale than "Xinghai", employing many young new teachers under the guidance of Zhou Guangren.

Since the retirement of the head of Piano Faculty at the Central Conservatory, Yi Kaiji, and the passing away of Zhu Gongyi, Guangren has served as the acting head. Apart from her administrative duties as department head, teaching duties, research projects, she has edited the satellite television's middle and high school teaching text "The Basic Training of Piano Performance", produced two volumes of "Beginning Piano Curriculum", and written numerous articles on the teaching of piano to the masses.

Zhou Guangren has served many times on the panel of Beijing's Xinghai Youth Piano Competition and the Pearl River Piano Compeition. Currently, as part of her many professional activities, she is a member of the National Artistic Education Board and National Piano Examination (Amateur) Expert Panel, and is an advisor to the Beijing Light Work Department's Piano Manufacturing Division.

In recent years, Guangren has frequently visited the United States, Chile, France, Japan, Norway and Germany as a judge in international competitions or to lecture. Oftentimes, she would be advised to stay abroad, but she always refused. It would be easy for her to immigrate, two older sisters, an older brother, a son and a daughter now reside in England, the United States and Germany. But she often says to her relatives abroad, "When you are old and want to come home, I am the faithful watchdog, preparing a nest for you."

At the gentle persuasion of her longtime friend, Liu Shuoyong, she finally married him in July of 1990, thus ending her twenty-two years of living alone.