This fashionable and handsome big boy is the new generation of pianist Zhang Haotian. He has won many grand prizes in piano competitions, appeared on stage at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and Carnegie Hall in New York, and composed his own compositions. On the evening of December 12, he will bring a piano solo concert "Time Traveler" at the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall.
Maugham said: "Smart travelers only travel in the imagination. In this concert, Zhang Haotian will be immersed in his experience of living and growing up in a foreign country, into his unique understanding of the music world. In his footsteps, under the keys of his piano, the world unfolded a magnificent picture, but also full of freewheeling fantasies. From Asia, America to Europe, from classical, romantic to modern, he interprets the voices of the masters one by one.
Looking back on his growing career, Zhang Haotian's piano journey includes three very important teachers. The first was Dr. Sasha Starcevich, whom he met in Vancouver. Zhang Haotian finished kindergarten and went to Vancouver with his family. There, there were pianos and children who could play the piano, which made him feel a little lost. Fortunately, not long after, his mother took him to a concert and met the piano teacher Stanovich. Stanovich admired Zhang Haotian's musicality and accepted him as a student.
Stanovich never forced Zhang Haotian to play a song he didn't like, not so much to educate him as to guide him to play his own traits. However, when he first started, Zhang Haotian found his own gap. When he saw other children performing better than himself in the background, he often couldn't accept it and was eager to prove himself on stage.
At this time, it was Teacher Stačević who urged him to keep practicing, playing a song hundreds of times, and finally taking the stage to realize his dream of premiering. When he missed the first place in the game and was extremely upset, Stačević wrote to him in the early morning, telling him that the pursuit of life should not be to seek the first in everything, but to surpass his past self and be the best version of himself. During the bottleneck period, the teacher once called for two or three hours to soothe his anxious mood. Unbeknownst to him at the time, the teacher fell down the stairs with a broken foot bone but was reluctant to hang up the phone.
Under the guidance of Stačević, Zhang Haotian became more and more diligent, practicing for six hours a day before participating in major competitions and even practicing for more than a dozen hours. At the age of 12, he won the Canadian Music Competition. At the age of 13, he won the second place in the finals of The Kingsville International Young Performers' Competitions, becoming the first Chinese in the history of the competition.
By the time he was 15 years old, Mr. Stačević told him, "You should leave me and march towards a better stage in the world." He did not live up to the expectations of his teachers, received a full scholarship from the Mannes College of Music in the United States, and set out for New York.
In New York, Zhang Haotian met another important teacher in his life, the famous pianist Pavlina Dokovska. Dokovska is the first prize winner of the Debussy International Piano Competition in France and the Senigallia International Piano Competition in Italy, the head of the piano department of the Mannis Conservatory, and has trained many international competition winners. Her music is delicate, gentle and expressive, and her teachings make up for Zhang Haotian's shortcomings and make his piano skills perfect day by day.
At the age of 20, Zhang Haotian was admitted to the Royal Conservatory of Music and traveled from New York to London to study with Ruthtem Hirutinov, the youngest professor at the Royal College of Music. As a Russian school player, Khirutinov's magnificent, gorgeous and enthusiastic performance deeply influenced Zhang Haotian. In the Academy, they also learned from each other and discussed the creation of music in new forms of expression. Zhang Haotian has made rapid progress, ranking among the young Steinway artists at the age of 20, and at the age of 24, he became a judge of the International Piano Competition of the Vitoso & Berkanto International Music Festival in Italy, becoming the youngest judge in the history of the competition.
Piano is not Zhang Haotian's only hobby. He was also obsessed with figure skating, and skated very well, but the person who played the piano could not be hurt, and he had to endure the pain of cutting love. In addition, he has also studied fashion and has worked with many brands. For example, he has toured 19 cities in China with "Magic Piano and Chopin Short Stories" combining piano and animation, for example, he has cooperated with singers such as Lin Junjie and Yang Zongwei to carry out classical and popular crossovers. In addition, Zhang Haotian is also very enthusiastic about public welfare. He is the "Ambassador of Xiangrui Art Publicity of Palace Culture and Palace Culture of the Forbidden City" and the "International Peace Ambassador" of the China World Peace Foundation and the Beijing International Peace Culture Foundation. In his concerts, there is always an area reserved for children who have not entered the concert hall but love music.
In the "Time Traveler" piano recital on the evening of December 12, Zhang Haotian will perform Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", Debussy's "Moonlight", Glinka's "Lark", Chopin's "Smooth Line and Gorgeous Polonez" and other works. Of course, the concert is indispensable to the Chinese repertoire, born in Nanjing, he will use the piano to perform the Jiangsu folk song "Jasmine". The finale of the whole concert will be Zhang Haotian's own work "Limit Breaker". As Teacher Stačević told him when he was a child, the pursuit of life is to put everything first, but to surpass the past self and be the best version of yourself. Zhang Haotian hopes that he can always remain sharp and constantly break through the limits of his own.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Li Junna Text Editor: Li Junna Photo Editor: Xiang Jianying