Piano man inspires students

As the seventh speaker at the Southwest Associated University Forum, Chinese pianist Li Yundi performed a solo concert and offered advice to young piano students on how to keep their ideals and dreams for music alive at Yunnan Normal University in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province.

From 6 am on Wednesday, thousands of students and Li's fans waited in a long line outside the university's music hall hoping to lay their hands on one of the 130 available tickets to watch the highly anticipated performance.

Chen Shuyu, 11, a student at the primary school affiliated to Yunnan Normal University, was accompanied by her mother to the lecture. Chen started playing piano at age 6 and longed to see Li's performance.

"It's a great opportunity to watch such a great pianist play in Kunming. What Li said is inspiring to me and reinforced my determination to continue playing music," the girl says.

Li played six solos, most by the world-renowned Polish composer Frederic Chopin. The audience cheered after each piece, while the students and fans who failed to secure tickets applauded at the giant screen outside the hall.

Li then gave one-on-one instructions to two piano majors at the university. The two students became emotional at the close interaction with their idol.

Li won the championship of the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland, at the age of 18. Since then, he has been an inspiration to more than 50 million Chinese piano students, says Yang Lin, president of Yunnan Normal University.

"At that time, I didn't expect to win the championship. My teacher told me to learn from other famous pianists," Li says. "However, dreams are really important for me and all of you. People come across many troubles and difficulties, but based on my career, I believe learning music needs confidence, persistence, courage and focus.

"From childhood, I dreamed of becoming a pianist to create melodious music like many other great pianists all over the world. Music has no end and won't be perfect, but what really matters is musicians have to maintain their heart to pursue perfection," says Li.

The Yunnan Normal University is where the Southwest Associated University, combining Peking University, Tsinghua University and Nankai University, was based during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45). In 1945, the universities moved back to their original campuses in Beijing and Tianjin.

This year saw the four schools jointly host a series of lectures by celebrities who share a connection with the Southwest Associated University. Li's grandfather, a Yunnan native, studied at the SAU and Li says the trip was a chance to look for his roots in the province.

After the lecture, Li was awarded a guest professorship at the university and he promised to offer more lectures to benefit young students in the future.

Li visited SAU's old campus and paid homage to those who sacrificed their lives to further the scientific research and musical creation of the country.

"Our generation has to maintain the traditions and also find innovative ways. The old SAU campus reminded us to pursue a revival of China as the country has suffered too much in the past century," Li says. "For me, the piano is the way to win respect at international contests and I hope all the students can fulfill their goals with what they have learned."

Li Yingqing and Guo Anfei contributed to the story.

huyongqi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 11/08/2013 page14)