指挥泰斗黄飞立

Huang Feili,the Conducting Giant

Huang Feili worked very hard while studying in the U.S., and his extraordinarily high grades made him one of the best students of Paul Hindemith. Under the guidance of this great master, Huang obtained the bachelor’s degree in Music at the Yale University. He returned to China in 1951, and became a teacher at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing where, in spite of the heavy teaching tasks, he never forgot about conducting. At that time, the conservatory’s student orchestra was where he conducted his artistic experiments. In the 1950’s, the orchestra as well as the conservatory’s chorus group participated, under his baton, in the first National Music Festival where they performed classic operas such as La Traviata, Rogoletto and The Queen of Spades. His oth- er rich conducting experiences include, among other, the China premier of Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin, Adolph Adam’s dance drama Giselle with the Central Opera and Dance Drama Company, the Chinese ballet Fish Beauty on the occasion of cele- brating the 10th anniversary of the founding of the new China, the premier of the modern Chinese ballet The Red Detachment of Women in 1964, concerts tours with the Central Symphony Orches- tra in China, the world premier of the woman composer Xin Huguang’s symphonic poem Gedameilin, as well as Mahler’s Song of the Earth with the Central Opera Symphonic Orchestra in the 1990’s.... In Huang Feili’s entire artistic career, the success of the Bei- jing Symphony Orchestra under his direction and guidance is his most important achievement. With his brilliant talent and artistry, and in particular, with his passion for music and his strong sense of responsibility, the orchestra ultimately turned out to be a profes- sional one with decent artistic level. In 1956, the Central Conservatory of Music decided to estab- lish the Conducting Department. Huang Feili was then entrusted with this task under the suggestion of the well- known musician Lu Ji. He became the first dean of the Conducting Department. At the beginning, there were only a few teachers including Zheng Xiaoying and Shen Wujun, and most of the students were selected from various places for short- time training. Now after 50 years, the de- partment has developed to be a huge academic institution with ad- vanced teaching systems and teaching methods, and has made tremendous education achievements. Huang as professor and dean of the department for a few dozen years has trained countless conducting talents. Born into an intellectual family with faith in Christianity, Huang was strongly influenced by his parents’ religious thoughts and cul- tural backgrounds. A kind- hearted and gentle person, he treated with his students, colleagues, friends and even his family in a manner of modesty and openness. In his entire life, he has beenpursuing the ″truth, sincerity and beauty″with a strong belief that mu- sic is the best means of expression to represent this ideal. No won- der he has committed himself to the cause of music so fervently.