Xiao Bai, a first-class composer and famous conductor
Medical treatment is ineffective due to illness
On April 23, 2022
Died in Shanghai Huadong Hospital
He died on December 31, 2012 at the age of 9
Xiao Bai, a Manchu, joined the school choir at the age of 15, embarked on the road of music, graduated from the Conducting Department of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and also studied composition; he is the former permanent conductor of Shanghai Opera House, vice chairman of the China Choral Association, director of the Choral Professional Committee of the Shanghai Musicians Association, and winner of the Choral Lifetime Achievement Award of the China Choral Association.
At the age of 27, Xiao Bai won the prize at the Vienna World Youth Festival for "Happy River Chorus". His opera "Shouting in the Sky" won the Special Award of the Ministry of Culture at that time, and the opera "Farewell to the King" won the 13th Wenhua Awards and 5 individual awards.
After retiring from the Shanghai Opera House, Xiao Bai continued to devote himself to the choral art he loved, serving as the artistic director of the Shanghai Philharmonic Choir, the artistic director of the Shenzhen Musicians Association Choir and the Wuxi Shanhe Choir, and published the monograph "The Art of Choral Conducting".
In Xiao Bai's view, chorus is the most popular and widely participatory art form, no matter what era, chorus has never been separated from society and the masses.
In 2002, at the age of 70, Xiao Bai conducted the Shenzhen Musicians Association Choir and won three awards: the Gold Award, the Outstanding Conductor Award and the Best Performance Award at the 5th Riva International Choral Competition in Italy.
In 2013, at the China Choral Centennial Conference, Xiao Bai was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award of Chinese Choral Chorus.
Entering the old age, Xiao Bai, who was full of silver hair and elegance, was still active on the command platform and the podium.
Upon learning of Xiao Bai's death, baritone singer Yang Xiaoyong said: "Before the epidemic, I also received the opera score of "Farewell to the Overlord" sent by Teacher Xiao Bai, saying that it was to be rearranged, and talking about his grand plan, I didn't expect ..."
For the choral conductor, Xiao Bai poured a lot of effort. He believes that choral singing is the second classroom of music education. "After the reform and opening up, life has become richer, and the spiritual and cultural needs have increased. And the chorus is both elegant and popular, the combination of artistry and mass, the chorus is like a flowing building, it is high and low, so it will have the current trend of the fire, the number of participants is very large, and the momentum of development is very good. ”
For the development of the chorus, Xiao Bai also did two things:
1. Changed the structure of the Shanghai Choral Committee;
Second, insist on promoting a cappella chorus, he believes that a cappella is the most chorus.
Xiao Bai believes that through a cappella chorus, many concepts and some basic methods and artistic standards can be gradually solved, so as to enter the common aesthetic standards of the world chorus and pursue unity, balance and harmony. The a cappella chorus has played a certain role in maintaining and improving the level of the Shanghai choral team. In a nutshell, singing a chorus is not just about singing notes, but finally singing about culture, and nutrition can be improved in an all-round way.
When he was a teenager, Xiao Bai had an artistic dream of opera, hiding in his heart the trilogy of Chinese opera tragedies, and later realized two, but considering the limitations of age and energy, Xiao Bai regrettably gave up, if not to go up a step higher than before, he would rather seal the pen. "From my youth to the present, I have been following a path, I don't know what kind of end I can achieve, but I am willing to go all the way, think seriously, and work hard."
Teacher Xiao Bai, all the way!
Edit | Jin Yingying
Source | Jiefang Daily, Shangguan News (Author: Wu Tong), Shanghai Literary Association
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