Horn performer Han Xiaoming: What kind of art education is effective? Age Group | Band | Education

"To learn art, we need to make it a part of life, not just in the classroom. In Europe, music is within reach, there is music on the streets, and there is music for weddings and children's birthdays. Love music is as important as food." On the occasion of this year's 60th birthday, Han Xiaoming, the lifelong horn professor of the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Berlin Academy of Music and Art Performance, released the Chinese version of "Strauss Romantic Horn Works". In the past few days, he has returned to his home country to give master lessons to the children at the Yuanhao Summer Camp.

Han Xiaoming grew up in the family building of Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Father Han Xiaoguang participated in the Geneva International Music Competition in 1960, achieving a breakthrough for Chinese horn musicians in international competitions. After graduating from Shanghai Conservatory of Music, his older brother Han Xiaoguang became the chief of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

In 1978, Han Xiaoming joined the Central Orchestra. The following year, when conductor Masanor Ozawa visited China, he conducted the Central Orchestra to play Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. He was moved by Han Xiaoming's horn performance and recommended him to attend the Boston Symphony Orchestra summer camp. Later, he was recommended to enter the New England Conservatory of Music. In 1985, Han Xiaoming was admitted to the German Broadcasting Philharmonic Orchestra, where conductor Zheng Mingxun served as the artistic director, and began his artistic career in Europe. In recent years, Han Xiaoming has regularly returned to China to give lectures, bridging the gap for outstanding young musicians to study abroad. From 2010 to 2012, he was hired as the General Manager of the National Theatre Orchestra, "fulfilling the trust of Master Seiji Ozawa and gradually leading the growth of Chinese music talents."

At the summer camp, Han Xiaoming faced students of different age groups with consistent standards. "Our music training requires more collaborative classes. In China, students have fewer opportunities for band rehearsals, score recognition, participation in music festivals, and various performances. Symphony is a collective product, and regular ensemble training is insufficient. After graduation, students cannot be favored by professional orchestras."

The discussion on technical and cultural courses for art students is constantly ongoing. Han Xiaoming does not hesitate to say that there are always prodigies, and only a few have become true performers. "Thirteen or four year old children are amazing, perhaps because they have extraordinary talent and hard work. They spend two to three times more time studying competition pieces and practicing than foreign children. Competition is just an opportunity, and how to seize the stage, ensure form, and expand the repertoire is another level of requirement. Becoming a true performer is actually a long-distance process."

Every year when returning to his hometown and encountering a constant stream of seekers for advice, Han Xiaoming always sighs, "There are really many children learning music nowadays, especially in Shanghai. But I don't understand why there are so few people listening to concerts. There are various types of concerts in cities big and small in Europe, not only in music halls, museums, but also countless indoor performances. Shanghai has hundreds of art spaces, and there should be more classical and light music for everyone to listen to." He revealed that European bands will arrange concerts for the daily routines of young people. "The performance starts at 7:30 pm, which is a bit tight for office workers. There are concerts in the Netherlands that start at 9 pm and continue to play until 10 pm, without rest for an hour. The venue of the performance is still in the concert hall, which is very formal. The Berlin Philharmonic's Sunday concert is changed to 5 pm, making it convenient for everyone to have a dinner at 8 pm. Our band's Sunday concert lasts from 11 pm to 1 pm. After listening to the music, everyone gathers for entertainment, and then goes home to rest and welcome the new workday."

In recent years, Korean students have been winning gold and silver in international music and dance competitions, and Han Xiaoming has also noticed this phenomenon. Every year when he goes to South Korea to give lectures and perform, he bluntly said, "Japanese and Korean children have been self-discipline since childhood. My relative's child is learning piano, violin, horn, guitar, and dancing. She is very capable and intelligent, learning everything quickly, but scattered and without rules. She didn't learn well because there are no rules. Her performance is not so precise, and her rhythm and pitch are not very accurate. I asked her, you are so smart, why don't you pay attention to the possibility of these details?"

For his own students, Han Xiaoming remains strict and merciless. "I recommend excellent students to further their studies in Germany, and it will take them two more years to truly engage in dialogue and high-quality cultural exchanges with foreign counterparts." He asked the students to work in restaurants. "The current children are too comfortable and lack perseverance. I let them work in Chinese restaurants in Germany, not to make money, but to experience society. They have no social experience, have not tasted the ups and downs of life, and their understanding of music works is just a blank sheet of paper, completely based on their own imagination."

In addition to outstanding performers, the audience is also looking forward to more original masterpieces, such as the violin concerto "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" and the piano concerto "Yellow River", which can deeply penetrate people's hearts. Han Xiaoming's answer is, "Give more opportunities to young people. Foreign bands have more than two weeks each year to perform new works, and give new members a chance on a monthly basis. The band will also give young composers one week, with carefully selected mature composers and conductors helping them create. Domestic bands have assessments for directors, but there seems to be no assessment for composers. Original works cost a lot of money and energy, and they disappear after one performance. New members need more bands to support their creations."

Nowadays, Han Xiaoming is full of peaches and plums, and his students Man Yi, Gu Cong, Li Tao, Zhou Ning, Wen Yang, Xu Yiqi, and others serve as professors at the Central Conservatory of Music, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and Xinghai Conservatory of Music. At the 17th Tchaikovsky International Music Competition held in June, Jin Zhicheng, a student of Man Yi, won second place in the brass group, achieving the best ranking among Chinese players in this competition. Han Xiaoming said with satisfaction, "Congratulations on the emergence of another world-class player in the Chinese horn industry."