Eight concertos and two instruments in one night: Pianist Niu Niu takes on big challenge for kids with cancer

The former child prodigy is taking on one of his most ambitious performances yet for Viva Foundation's 20th anniversary concert, bringing together Eastern and Western music in a performance involving movements from eight major concert works, while raising support for children with cancer.

Niu Niu was in Singapore to give a private recital ahead of his Oct 27 concert. (Photo: CNA/Wallace Woon)

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Pianist Niu Niu isn’t one to shy away from a challenge. At his upcoming concert in Singapore, the Xiamen-born Chinese musician will be performing highlights from no less than eight great concertos and making his stage debut on the violin, to boot.

Some might call him an overachiever – and they’d be objectively right. The 29-year-old, whose real name is Zhang Shengliang, started out as a child prodigy who embarked on his musical career at the age of six, going on to become the youngest student ever enrolled in the affiliated primary school of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music at age eight, sign with record label EMI Classics at age nine and earn a full scholarship to The Juilliard School in New York at age 17.

At Viva Concerti: Where The Twain Shall Meet, to be held on Oct 27 at the Esplanade Concert Hall, he will be performing movements from concertos by Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Liszt and more, together with the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra under the baton of Chan Tze Law.

The concert, organised by the Viva Foundation for Children with Cancer, is being held in celebration of the organisation’s 20th anniversary. The foundation is a Singapore charity dedicated to improving childhood cancer survival through medical care, research and education.

“Niu Niu is a very sensitive musician,” said Viva’s chairperson and founder Jennifer Yeo. “He has a very open mind and open heart to all kinds of music, which makes him an amazing musician. Most of all, he loves music, and you can hear it in his playing. I also know that he has a soft heart for those who are less fortunate, including children with cancer.” This made him an ideal collaborator for Viva's 20th anniversary, she said.

(Photo: CNA/Wallace Woon)

“I think this concert also represents us all moving forward together, using music to share love and harmony,” Niu Niu said.

“With Maestro Chan Tze Law and the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra, together with the audience as well as with the Viva Foundation, we are creating something very harmonious together, and I think that kind of power is very important. I hope to convey that kind of power to all the children with cancer. Even if there's a very slight possibility of them getting power and reassurance from music – I would like to try.”

When deciding the concert lineup, Niu Niu said he particularly wanted to include pieces by Chinese composers. And so, he’ll be performing He Zhanhao and Chen Gang’s Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, as well as the fourth movement of the Yellow River Piano Concerto by Yin Chengzong et al.

“I started performing in Europe when I was seven or eight years old. I've always tried to play one or two Chinese pieces in the encore, even up until now,” Niu Niu explained. “People absolutely love it, because I think cultural pride is one of the most important things that allows a musician to stand in an international world.”

The Butterfly Lovers concerto will mark his Asian violin debut, and he feels “honoured” to be doing so with “this most famous Chinese violin concerto”, he said. “As a Chinese, I have a very deep feeling toward it. I feel a deeper connection with my homeland after all my years of studying abroad, and I hope to convey all these emotions on that night.”

He added: “I think being able to do something like playing the violin in the middle of the other seven piano concerto movements is a great challenge for me, but it's also making my dream come true to do something that's rarely or never been done before.”

Additionally, “I’m working toward my big goal of being able to play both of these Chinese concertos, the Butterfly Lovers and the full Yellow River concerto, in the same concert. We are planning that for next year, when there will be a tour in China.”

The concert’s theme is fitting because a confluence of Eastern and Western influences has shaped the musician he is, too.

“Honestly, I think I'm very fortunate to have received education in both China and the US,” he said. “I think China gave me very strong foundation that allowed me to have very solid techniques and skills to be able to fulfill what I want to express in music, and it also allowed me to build a very strong repertoire. In the US, I think it was more about elevating the imagination, individuality and originality, and then being able to achieve a higher artistic level. I would really say that one could not exist without the other.”

In his personal life, as well, east does meet west. “I try to keep a disciplined lifestyle – I practise at the same time every day, like going to work – while at the same time, being very spontaneous all the time,” he shared.

That said, playing the piano is never just a job for him. “Nowadays, I treasure every performance opportunity more and more, especially after COVID-19,” he said. Plus, “I really love music, because it is actually one of the languages in which I communicate with people.”

In his own time, he even likes playing pop songs on the piano, like JJ Lin’s Those Were The Days and Practice Love. “I really love listening to very sad, romantic songs,” he divulged.

He also enjoys dancing to hip hop and K-pop, especially right before a concert. “It helps me to relax,” he said.

While “many of my friends like to play pop songs to pursue girls”, “I don't always use music as a pickup line – sometimes I say I'm an IT guy,” he quipped. That’s because “I want them to like me as a person, not because I can play JJ Lin or Jay Chou songs. I feel that having a genuine character is very important.”

One thing he’s asked all the time is how to deal with nervousness before a concert, he shared. “I always say that you have to embrace it.”

Before every concert, “I try to be a little bit nervous, because I have experienced many different stages of this, performing for 23 years”. As a child, "I was totally not nervous. When I played in front of Prince Charles, who’s now King Charles, I didn't feel anything. I was just doing my thing, because I was into expressing myself in front of people. I really wanted to show that I could do this and that. As I grew up, I became more self-conscious – age 12 to 20 is a very weird time. Now, I know what I'm doing. I try to stay focused and a little bit nervous.”

Viva Concerti: Where The Twain Shall Meet is on Oct 27, 7.30pm at the Esplanade Concert Hall. For tickets, visit https://www.sistic.com.sg/events/donaviva1026 .

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这位昔日的神童将在 Viva 基金会成立 20 周年音乐会上带来他迄今为止最具雄心的表演之一，将东方和西方音乐融合在一起，演出曲目包括八部主要音乐会作品的乐章，同时为患癌儿童筹集善款。

牛牛在新加坡举行了一场私人演奏会，为他10月27日的演唱会预热。（图片：CNA/Wallace Woon）

这段音频是由人工智能工具生成的。

钢琴家牛牛从不畏惧挑战。在他即将于新加坡举行的音乐会上，这位出生于厦门​​的中国音乐家将演奏不少于八首伟大协奏曲的精彩片段，并且还将首次以小提琴手的身份登上舞台。

有些人可能会称他为“超常人”——客观来说，他们的说法没错。这位29岁的年轻人，真名张胜亮，从小就是个音乐神童，六岁就开始了他的音乐生涯，八岁就成为上海音乐学院附属小学有史以来最年轻的学生，九岁与EMI古典唱片公司签约，十七岁获得全额奖学金进入纽约茱莉亚音乐学院深造。

在 10 月 27 日于滨海艺术中心音乐厅举行的“Viva Concerti：两首协奏曲的交汇”音乐会上，他将与大都会节日管弦乐团合作，在指挥家陈子罗的带领下，演奏柴可夫斯基、肖邦、拉赫玛尼诺夫、李斯特等人的协奏曲乐章。

这场音乐会由新加坡儿童癌症基金会（Viva Foundation for Children with Cancer）主办，旨在庆祝该基金会成立20周年。该基金会是一家新加坡慈善机构，致力于通过医疗、研究和教育来提高儿童癌症患者的生存率。

“牛牛是一位非常细腻的音乐家，”Viva的董事长兼创始人杨慧玲说道，“他对各种类型的音乐都非常开放包容，这使他成为一位杰出的音乐家。最重要的是，他热爱音乐，这一点在他的演奏中显而易见。我也知道他非常关心那些不幸的人，包括患癌儿童。”她表示，正因如此，牛牛是Viva成立20周年庆典的理想合作对象。

（图片：CNA/Wallace Woon）

“我认为这场音乐会也代表着我们所有人携手前进，用音乐分享爱与和谐，”牛牛说道。

“我和陈子禄大师、大都会节日管弦乐团，以及观众和维瓦基金会一起，共同创造了一种非常和谐的氛围，我认为这种力量非常重要。我希望将这种力量传递给所有患癌儿童。即使他们从音乐中获得力量和安慰的可能性微乎其微——我也想尝试。”

牛牛在决定音乐会曲目时表示，他特别想演奏一些中国作曲家的作品。因此，他将演奏何占豪和陈刚的《梁祝》小提琴协奏曲，以及尹承宗等人的《黄河钢琴协奏曲》第四乐章。

“我七八岁就开始在欧洲演出。我一直都尽量在返场时演奏一两首中国曲子，直到现在也是如此，”牛牛解释说。“人们非常喜欢，因为我认为文化自豪感是让音乐家在国际舞台上立足的最重要因素之一。”

《梁祝》小提琴协奏曲将是他首次在亚洲演出，他表示，能演奏“这部最著名的中国小提琴协奏曲”让他感到“荣幸”。“作为一名中国人，我对这部作品有着非常深厚的感情。多年留学海外的经历让我与故土的联系更加紧密，我希望能在当晚的演出中传递出所有这些情感。”

他补充道：“我认为能够在其他七个钢琴协奏曲乐章的中间演奏小提琴对我来说是一个巨大的挑战，但同时也实现了我的梦想，去做一些以前很少甚至从未有人做过的事情。”

此外，“我正在努力实现我的一个远大目标，那就是在同一场音乐会上演奏这两首中国协奏曲——《梁祝》和完整的《黄河协奏曲》。我们计划明年在中国巡演时实现这个目标。”

这场音乐会的主题非常贴切，因为东西方文化的交融也塑造了他这位音乐家的风格。

“说实话，我觉得自己非常幸运，能够同时在中国和美国接受教育，”他说。“我认为中国为我打下了非常坚实的基础，使我拥有扎实的技巧和技能，能够表达我想要在音乐中呈现的东西，也让我积累了非常丰富的曲目。在美国，我认为更多的是提升想象力、个性和原创性，从而达到更高的艺术境界。我真的认为两者缺一不可。”

在他的个人生活中，东西方文化也相互交融。“我努力保持自律的生活方式——我每天都在同一时间练习，就像上班一样——同时，我也一直保持着非常随性的心态，”他分享道。

话虽如此，对他来说，弹钢琴绝不仅仅是一份工作。“如今，我越来越珍惜每一次演出机会，尤其是在新冠疫情之后，”他说。此外，“我真的很喜欢音乐，因为它实际上是我与人交流的一种语言。”

他闲暇时甚至喜欢弹奏流行歌曲，比如林俊杰的《那些日子》和《练习恋爱》。他透露说：“我真的很喜欢听非常悲伤、浪漫的歌曲。”

他也喜欢跳嘻哈和韩流舞蹈，尤其是在演唱会之前。“这能让我放松，”他说。

他打趣道：“虽然我很多朋友喜欢放流行歌曲来追女生，但我并不总是用音乐来搭讪——有时候我会说我是个IT男。” 这是因为“我希望她们喜欢的是我这个人，而不是因为我会放林俊杰或者周杰伦的歌。我觉得拥有真诚的性格非常重要。”

他分享道，他经常被问到的一个问题是如何克服演唱会前的紧张情绪。“我总是说，你必须接受它。”

每次演出前，“我都会尽量让自己有点紧张，因为我已经表演了23年，经历过很多不同的阶段。” 小时候，“我完全不紧张。当我在查尔斯王子（现在的查尔斯国王）面前表演时，我没有任何感觉。我只是做我自己的事，因为我喜欢在人前表达自己。我真的很想证明我能做到这样那样。随着年龄的增长，我变得越来越在意自己——12岁到20岁是一个非常奇怪的时期。现在，我知道自己在做什么。我会努力保持专注，同时也保持一点紧张感。”

Viva Concerti：Where The Twain Shall Meet 将于 10 月 27 日晚上 7 点 30 分在滨海艺术中心音乐厅举行。如需购票，请访问 https://www.sistic.com.sg/events/donaviva1026 。

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