China News Service, July 31. According to the Hungarian European China News Agency, on July 30, local time, the Hungarian Chinese Starlight Choir held a memorial service for Professor Yang Hongnian of the Central Conservatory of Music.
The Hungarian Chinese Starlight Choir has an indissoluble bond with Professor Yang Hongnian. The founder and music director of the choir is Zhang Guozhi, a student who studied under Professor Yang Hongnian in the 1980s and the winner of the Hungarian Cultural Knight Medal. Professor Yang Hongnian has visited Hungary four times and has given careful guidance and care to the chorus. He also wrote an inscription for the chorus "Starlight, starlight, fascinating place; Starlight, starlight, focus on the coordinates of life".
At the memorial meeting, Zhang Guozhi recalled every bit of his interactions with the respected teacher, Professor Yang Hongnian. He said, “Professor Yang is the most important mentor in my life. Forty years ago, he carefully cared for me from a young man who loves music to graduate from university. He selected me to perform in the National Orchestra, and then recommended to the Vienna University of Music for further studies. When I was facing the greatest difficulty, I was given the most selfless and crucial help."
He also said, “Professor Yang has been paying attention to my career development for decades and has visited me five times in Hungary and guided my career development. His love and dedication to music education is a precious legacy left to me. I He has been in close contact with Professor Yang. Before he became ill, he personally wrote the preface for the Kodaly teaching method textbook "The World of Musical Notes" compiled for me."
Zhang Guozhi said that on July 30, the presidium of the German "Cross-Cultural" International Cultural Exchange Foundation Council passed a resolution to launch the foundation's "Fund for the Development and Promotion of Youth Chorus in the Singing World" to commemorate Professor Yang Hongnian and support China The Beijing Philharmonic Chorus inherits Professor Yang Hongnian's spiritual concept of "love and dedication". The foundation will also decide to hold the "Professor Yang Hongnian Memorial Concert" during the 11th World Chorus Competition in Flanders, Belgium in July 2021.
Liao Yuan, the vice chairman and conductor of the Guangdong Chorus League, who is currently staying in Hungary due to the epidemic, is also a student of Professor Yang. At the memorial meeting, he told about Yang Hongnian's masterful demeanor of rigorous scholarship and love for children. He especially introduced Professor Yang's perseverance and commitment to the development of Chinese chorus art in a difficult and difficult environment. He said, "The loss of our mentor, the world is in the same sorrow, Professor Yang’s great personality charm will affect our life, and it is our unshirkable responsibility to pass on his lifelong music career. The skills he imparts to us will make us use for life. And his rigorous academic attitude has set clear artistic standards for us, and we will inherit his career and work hard for it."
Dr. Liu Wei, who graduated from the Liszt Conservatory of Music in Hungary and is now a chorus conductor professor at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music, said that Professor Yang had visited Hungary several times and had in-depth understanding and research on Hungarian chorus education and Kodak teaching methods. Yihe Bartok’s choral works were introduced to the country. Among them, works such as "Twilight Song" and "At the Top of the Mountain" became classics, which also enabled more domestic chorus conductors and primary and middle school music teachers to understand Hungarian music education. "After returning to work in China, Professor Yang also called me and taught me carefully. In Professor Yang, we not only saw his brilliant achievements in his life, but also saw his tireless dedication."
Zhu Guilian, the former head of the Starlight Chorus and the soprano of the New York Haiyun Chorus, said that the development of the Starlight Chorus cannot be separated from the care of Professor Yang. "He made a special trip to guide the professional work of the choir during his visit to Hungary, which benefited us. Very superficial. When the Starlight Choir went to the United States to compete, Professor Yang worked tirelessly and guided us for a long time, which enabled us to stand out from the 365 participating groups and finally won the award."
Yang Hongnian, the founder of the Beijing Philharmonic Chorus, a well-known conductor and music educator in China, a lifelong academic committee member of the Central Conservatory of Music, and a professor of the conducting department, died in Beijing on July 26 at the age of 86. (Li Zhen)