Chinese composer wows Carnegie Hall

Music is the language Peng Rongxin uses to share his stories of struggle and hope.

"I create melodies with narratives as my inspiration, like a screenwriter. Coming to my concert is like going to a movie," said Peng, a piano and composition graduate student at the Manhattan School of Music.

On Friday, Peng premiered three new orchestral works to a thousand-strong audience in the main auditorium of Carnegie Hall. It was said it made him the first Chinese composer to hold a composition recital at the 125-year-old institution.

The concert featured a violin concerto, a piano concerto and a trio of symphonic songs titled Escape, Fight Fire and There.

Drawing from his personal experience as an international student coming from China six years ago and stories he has heard from friends, Peng said the whole concert tells a three-act coming-of-age story about someone who goes through a journey from the desire to escape to facing challenges and finally discovering a better self.

"I named the last symphonic song There," he explained. "It's a yearning for the future, for a wonderland."

The concert was a big success for Peng and his team, selling more than 1,000 tickets.

"We were all sold out," said producer Yao Min, who admitted that she was at first skeptical about the idea when Peng reached out to her last year.

"Then I listened to his work, and I loved it," said Yao, who has produced several Carnegie Hall concerts for Chinese musicians who are studying in New York. "There have been so few Chinese composers on the international stage. We are changing that one small step at a time."

Yang Feifei, who promoted Peng's show, said that what brought the musicians together was the goal of building a better platform for Chinese musicians, and for that they were willing to put in many extra hours.

"As China progresses, Chinese are taking music more seriously," said Yang. "First lady Peng Liyuan visited Juilliard during President Xi's state visit, and Julliard is opening a campus in Tianjin. All these developments adding up will change the landscape of Chinese music and musicians."

"We will do more concerts," she said. "It's not just about promoting one person; it's also building recognition for Chinese musicians among the American audience."

hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com