Cliburn 2009: May 22 - June 7
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closeTuesday, May. 12, 2009
Cliburn confidential: Ning Zhou
A series of conversations with the Cliburn competitors
Ning Zhou
(pronounced neeng jo)
Nationality: Chinese
Born: Jiang Xi, China
Lives: Shanghai, China
Age: 21
Favorite musician: "Easy: Rachmaninoff. Because of the kind of tough life he led, and those amazing, big hands he had."
Favorite contemporary pianist: "I really like Kapustin, especially his approach to jazz where every note seems to be written down on paper."
When you are not practicing piano, you are: "Playing at my computer, which is not really that 'Wow’ surprising."
Favorite book: "Lord of the Rings."
Favorite movie: "I’ll repeat, Lord of the Rings."
Cliburn dreams: "To be the first Chinese player to ever win the gold medal."
Currently in your CD player or iPod: "I have just about every composer and every kind of music. My iPod is nearly full."
What you love most about living in China: "In a word, the food."
Favorite food: "I love every kind of food in China. And, what’s more, I like to cook."
The first really Texan thing you plan on doing upon arriving in Fort Worth: "The very first thing I will do is just put myself in the city’s fresh air."
Favorite movie star you would most like to meet: Daniel Craig
If you could travel back in time, which famous composer would you like to visit and what would be the first question you would ask? "I would like to find Ravel and ask him directly, 'Why do you like to listen to every little sound of a clock?’ "
What does a Chinese, or Chinese-trained, classical pianist bring to the music — in terms of style and approach — that, perhaps, someone from another country does not? "Music lives in the heart no matter in what place you learn the piano. But, if I think about it, maybe there is something in the Oriental temperament that makes us the players we are."
— Andrew Marton
Bass Hall
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