On the evening of November 13, pianist and educator Zhu Yafen passed away at the age of 94. Professor Zhu Yafen has cultivated many outstanding students throughout his life, the most famous of which is the pianist Lang Lang. Lang Lang’s first teacher was Zhu Yafen, and Zhu Yafen was also the teacher who taught Lang Lang the longest. As early as Lang Lang was three and a half years old, this 37-year relationship between teachers and students had already begun.
When he heard the sad news of his teacher’s death, Lang Lang was deeply saddened. On November 14, Lang Lang said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily: “With Mr. Zhu, I have my career today. She is the biggest noble in my life.”
Lang Lang started learning the piano with Zhu Yafen at the age of three and a half
She is very strict in her professional attitude
In the 1980s, Lang Lang’s father found Professor Zhu Yafen, who was then the director of the piano department of the Shenyang Conservatory of Music, through friends. The friend used words such as “extremely smart”, “loves the piano” and “different” to introduce Lang Lang, who was only three and a half years old at the time, to Professor Zhu.
Zhu Yafen has revealed many times in interviews that although Lang Lang is very naughty, as soon as he sits on the piano bench, he immediately becomes two different people. In Zhu Yafen’s eyes, Lang Lang was born with a special spirituality towards music.
Although it has been more than 30 years since Lang Lang talked about the first time he saw Mr. Zhu Yafen, it was still like yesterday: “When I went to Mr. Zhu’s house for the first time, I was three and a half years old. With a big cap and a toy gun, Mrs. Zhu said to me, “Please put down the gun first, and then play the piano”. She is very strict in her professional attitude, but she is extremely friendly, she will make you very Relax and learn music without feeling restrained.”
When Lang Lang first started learning the piano with Zhu Yafen, Lang Lang’s father was a little anxious about the progress of his studies. In Zhu Yafen’s view, in order to teach good students, we must grasp the law of talent growth, and we cannot require students to “bloom and bear fruit” when they are studying with themselves, and they must be given enough “nutrition” and “fertilizer”. , so that he can continue to grow throughout his life. So she always advised Dad Lang not to worry, “The smarter I am, the stricter I will be. Now that the foundation is laid, there will be a time when he will be faster in the future!”
Until now, Lang Lang is very grateful to Zhu Yafen for his persistence. “Mr. Zhu pays special attention to basic skills. She is not eager for quick success and is very pragmatic.”
Escort Lang Lang’s career in art
Becoming an internationally influential pianist is extremely difficult and involves all kinds of problems. In Lang Lang’s view, Zhu Yafen is not only his own piano teacher, but also the most important mentor in his life. At every obstacle in his life, Zhu Yafen’s company can save him from danger.
Zhu Yafen taught Lang Lang for several years and felt that Lang Lang should go to Beijing to develop and receive more professional training. Under her recommendation, Dad Lang brought nine-year-old Lang Lang to Beijing to study. At that time, due to various pressures, Lang Lang wanted to give up learning the piano for a time. Zhu Yafen, who was abroad, heard about this, and immediately wrote a letter to encourage Lang Lang, and the first thing he did when he returned to China was to go to Beijing to cheer Lang Lang, and recommended a new professor to him. “Mr. Zhu calmly helped me back from the brink of danger and righted me again. Sometimes there are many problems in life, but every time she can escort me and save me from danger.”
Later, when Lang Lang went to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in the United States, Zhu Yafen often instructed Lang Lang to return to China to play for the audience in the motherland. “Mr. Zhu has always told me how important it is to promote Chinese music as a Chinese pianist. She told me to communicate more, do more master classes, and let more children feel what you have learned. She has been Instill in me this spirit of great love.”
On July 16, 2022, Lang Lang met Zhu Yafen for the last time at the Taihu Stage Art Center of the National Centre for the Performing Arts
“She asked me to be a good person first”
Zhu Yafen’s behind-the-scenes support was indispensable for Lang Lang’s important moments in life, such as before going abroad to compete, before studying abroad, and returning to his first concert in China. After becoming famous, Lang Lang and Zhu Yafen have never stopped learning. On the eve of the recording of “The Goldberg Variations”, Lang Lang also took Mr. Zhu’s class.
Not only is she a good teacher at the piano learning stage, but Zhu Yafen is also a good helper for Lang Lang’s piano career. “Mr. Zhu and I have always fought side by side. I started a school later, and she has been helping me.” On July 16, 2022, Lang Lang held the first event after Lang Lang’s studio settled in Taihu at the Taihu Art Center of the National Centre for the Performing Arts. In a master class, Zhu Yafen also attended the event in a wheelchair, which is evident in the master-disciple relationship.
In Lang Lang’s view, Zhu Yafen is a highly respected and beloved educator, and the biggest noble in his life. “Mr. Zhu’s attitude towards life, life and art has influenced too many people. She is the biggest noble person in my life. She attaches great importance to being a human being. She asks me to be a good person first, and be responsible for the society. Contributions. Therefore, in public welfare and education, she is the person who supports me the most. She is a very amiable grandmother in private, and she is my relative. Although she passed away, she will be my forever teacher. Dear teacher. I will pass on her teaching and love to me forever.” (Reporter Tian Wanting, coordinator of Man Yi)
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责编：张晓荣 ]