Culture> Music and Theater

The youth sounds out

By Chen Jie ( China Daily ) Updated: 2013-12-20 07:39:48

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Xiao Ying, first-prize winner of NCPA Young Composer Program. Photo provided to China Daily

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It was Chen who proposed launching the competition in September 2010. The music director of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the last student of Olivier Messiaen (1908-92) believes composing is important to music's development in China, noting that the country has many world-class soloists and conductors but lacks contemporary composers and great works.

"Young composers need support. They need to be known, and their works need to be heard. That's why we arrange professional orchestras to perform these works in formal concerts and we record the works and introduce them to conductors, orchestras and music festivals," Chen says.

Chen Zuohuang, NCPA's music director and chief conductor of the NCPA orchestra, agrees: "Symphonic music needs good conductors, soloists and audience, but the foundation is the composer."

Chen Zuohuang says: "From Bach to Mozart to Beethoven, every generation of great composers received tremendous support from all walks of society. Today's composers badly need support, too. NCPA has the ability and has also realized the responsibility to do the job."

The conductor says that when the NCPA orchestra rehearsed, the musicians freely discussed the new works they were playing. Some nodded with enthusiasm while some scoffed that a piece was "bullshit".

"No matter whether comments are good or bad, the critical attention is all support. Please don't assume these works will be classics one day. The real judge is the audience and time."

Listen to the works of the winners here

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