Translator: Nika Bederman Reviewer: Theresa Ranft
(Chopin, "Nocturne in C Sharp Minor")
(Applause)
That was Chopin's Nocturne in C Sharp Minor,
one of my all-time favorite compositions.
I gave my first solo recital at age six
with around 1,000 people in the audience,
and basically started my performance career since then.
Professors from many different countries wanted me to study abroad,
and each tried to convince me that his or her country
could provide me with the best musical education
by pointing out the flaws of education in other countries.
I guess that's normal.
But I still hesitated because I'm not sure where to go
and I was pretty young at that time -
around ten years old.
So I stayed in China.
The US has always been a mysterious yet inspiring place for me.
The trigger for my departure was that my beloved piano teacher, Hung-Kuan Chen,
who is teaching at Juilliard right now,
left for Boston from Shanghai in 2009.
And during that gap year, I took lessons from many different professors,
but somehow always failed to find the mutual understanding
that I established with Mr. Chen.
So, in 2010, I decided to leave China and study in Boston.
You know, making a decision is always easier
than actually doing it.
So, I would say my life experiences in the US
really made me grow as a musician and as a human being.
I discovered that there were so many musical talents here -
there in Boston, too.
Er ... here. (Chuckles)
And some of them have performed in as many countries
and have played with as many orchestras,
have played as much repertoire
and have seen as much or more of this world than I had.
I felt a little bit lost
because I found that the title of "prodigy"
doesn't really work the same way here,
even though I never really enjoyed that title anyway.
So I started to think, what exactly is it that I want?
Performing with all the greatest musicians?
Playing in all the greatest musical venues?
Or something else?
Last year,
during my freshman year at Juilliard,
I felt even more intense competition around me -
you know, that city full of talents and opportunities.
I tried to get more concerts for myself, to prove myself,
and thought that the more concerts I did,
the more people will recognize me as a successful musician.
But many managers kept trying to convince me
that it is not as easy to market me as before,
because of my growing age.
They suggested that the most important thing
is for me to study hard
and reveal my true self in music over time.
I could not quite understand; it felt pretty stressful.
This summer, at a festival that I attended in Europe,
a wonderful friend of mine asked me a question:
"What exactly is it that you want to achieve
in your entire lifetime?"
This should be a very easy question for me,
since I've been interviewed by newspapers and the press
on the same question for over a hundred times maybe.
I could simply say, "I want to be a great pianist,"
for example.
But this time,
I actually didn't answer him right away and reflected for a few days.
Later, I told him,
"I want to continue to perform onstage until age 80 or even 90,
like my idols, Horowitz and Rubinstein.
I want to continuously absorb new knowledge,
so that I don't get used up quickly.
I want to continuously shine myself and bring good energy to the entire world
through playing concerts and much more."
Yes, this is exactly my aspiration.
This is exactly where a big part of my passion toward music comes from.
Some people have asked me in the past:
"If 99% of the people sitting in the audience
are amateurs and non-musicians,
and only 1% are professional musicians,
whom would you play for?"
I would normally smile and say, "I will play for all of them!"
But when they insist on the answer,
I would say,
"If I'm forced to make a preference,
I would play for the 99% of the audience."
My answer has raised controversy, but I don't care,
because for me, arousing interest in classical music for more people
feels far more important
than satisfying certain professional musical standards.
Thank you for listening to my little personal story,
and I will finish my talk with this piece, La Campanella, by Liszt.
I hope you enjoy. Thank you.
(Applause)
(Liszt, "La Campanella")
(Applause)