The reporter confirmed to informed sources that on the morning of March 14, Wu Zuqiang, a famous composer and former president of the Central Conservatory of Music, died at the age of 94.
Wu Zuqiang, originally from Wujin, Jiangsu Province. Born in Beijing on July 24, 1927. In elementary and middle school, under the influence of musicians Sheng Jialun and Zhang Dinghe, he aspired to learn music. In 1947, he entered the Department of Theoretical Composition of the National Conservatory of Music in Nanjing, where he studied under Jiang Dingxian.
After graduating from the Central Conservatory in 1952, he went to the Soviet Union to study at the Department of Theoretical Composition of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. After graduating in 1958, he returned to China and taught in the Composition Department of the Central Conservatory of Music, successively serving as a teaching assistant, lecturer, associate professor and professor. In 1978, he became the vice president of the Central Conservatory of Music, and in 1982, he became the dean. As a representative of Chinese musicians, he has visited the Soviet Union, Britain, Czechoslovakia, Japan and other countries, and has served as a judge of international music competitions for many times. In 1979, he was elected as the executive director of the Chinese Musicians Association. Since 1985, he has been the vice chairman of the Chinese Musicians Association.
In terms of creation, Wu Zuqiang's most well-known works for ordinary audiences are the Chinese dance drama "Fish Beauty" with Du Mingxin, and the modern ballet "Red Detachment of Women" with Du Mingxin, Wang Yanqiao, Shi Wanchun and Dai Hongwei. In addition, Wu Zuqiang's pipa concerto "Little Sisters of the Grassland" cooperated with Liu Dehai and Wang Yanqiao, and the pipa and orchestra music poem "Spring River Flower Moon Night" cooperated with Liu Dehai are also popular. His adaptations of "Erquan Yingyue" and "Listening to Song" based on Ah Bing's Erhu solo pieces, as well as "Good Night", which are based on Liu Tianhua's original Erhu songs, are also classic works that are often performed.
Source: Life Daily Comprehensive Beijing Daily