They may be separated by a span of 16 years, but a pair of musical prodigies from Richmond share a common love for the piano and were invited to put their fingers to the test at a national competition.
David Han Xiang Xu, 23 and seven-year-old Thomas Zhang performed at the National Final of the Canadian Music Competition (CMC) in Quebec City recently.
This was the first time at such a prestigious event for Zhang who goes to school at Spul’ u’kwuks elementary.
Zhang’s piano teacher, Chling Lin, said her young student’s rise to prominence is especially remarkable given he only started receiving formal instruction just over a year ago and began at the Grade 1 piano level.
“He was just a beginner when he was in kindergarten,” Lin said, adding that before coming to Canada from China with his parents Zhang had not benefitted from private lessons and only tinkled the ivories daily for about 10 minutes after school.
“Thomas could only play pretty simple pieces, at first. Not more than one page of music,” Lin said. “But he could already play with two hands.”
Showing a keen desire to improve, Lin said her young student put in plenty of practice time at home and tapped into his natural ability to focus on a task at hand to progress.
“Thomas, he has this incredible power of concentration,” Lin said. “He’s very mentally strong and quick to learn things. He’s also very good at math. Both of his grandparents are doctors back in China. So, he’s naturally very smart.”
Armed with that, Zhang began greatly improving his sight reading of music and started to make an impact at regional music competitions against others who were often three to four years older than him.
Currently, Zhang has graduated to a Grade 9 piano playing level, which is usually attained by those in their mid to late teens.
“He has natural born talent for the piano. Plus, he’s got small hands right now that can move pretty fast across the keys.
In the national finals competition in Quebec, Zhang performed five pieces — four solos and one concerto.
Almost 500 musicians took part in the CMC competition, starting at regional competitions held across the country. The top scorers advanced through regional and provincial rounds of competition, performing different pieces in each round, before the final 268 — those who achieve the minimum score of 85 per cent — qualified for the national final.
Top performers at the three rounds of competition share a total of more than $100,000 in scholarship money to help them further their musical education.
This is the second time at the event for Xu.
“I think I did alright,” said Xu, who had just returned from competing in Quebec when the Newsinterviewed him in late June. “I don’t have the results just yet.”
While waiting can be hard, Xu said it is a relief to be home and out of the spotlight, for now.
Although he has been playing since he was four, he admits to being somewhat uneasy when it comes to performing.
“When I am playing, I have to really focus on the music, of course. When you’re on stage there’s a lot of pressure,” said Xu, who moved to Canada with his parents when he was 11.
Xu added he has to consciously deal with battling the nervousness at the outset of a performance. But most of the time, that doesn’t last too long.
“It usually just takes me a minute or two to get into the music, then I don’t have to worry so much about where I am,” he said. “I enjoy it when I get into that zone of playing.”
To help battle that sense of nerves, Xu said one remedy is to perform as much as possible. And that can end up with impromptu performances with his friends.
“We’ll do that when we’re in school. We’ll play for each other,” he said.
He also enjoys listening to piano music.
So, what’s on his playlist?
“I also listen to violins, oboes and operas. It’s not just the piano. And I love jazz a lot,” he said, adding pop is not his style. “I could listen to it, but I don’t really enjoy it,” he said. “When I listen to classical music I can hear so many things in a performance. It can be very passionate. When it’s pop music, it’s only entertainment.”
This May, he graduated from Eastman School of Music in New York.
and is continuing his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England in September.
Once he’s done with school in the U.K., Xu said he sees himself coming back to North America to do his doctorate in music, and then possibly take on a job teaching music at the university level.
