Perseverance put toward piano

Xiangyu Zhao, a freshman music major, pianist and aspiring composer, performed a piano recital Thursday in Milne Auditorium to an audience of students, friends and faculty. The performance marked not only his debut as a student at UNC, but also in the United States.

Zhao’s program consisted of pieces spanning all major eras in music, from Johann Sebastian Bach in the Baroque period, to Ludwig Van Beethoven in the classical/romantic period to a modern arrangement by his countryman Chu Wanghua,  “Xinjiang Capriccio in F-sharp minor.”

“I could almost feel the music moving through me,” said Sydney Trottier, an undeclared sophomore. “The performance was thrilling to watch.”

Enrolled in the Study Abroad Program, Xiangyu hails from Tianjin, a city of nearly 4 million people in northeast China. He came to the United States in 2008, but said he has not found trouble adjusting. Also, he said he hasn’t forgotten his Chinese roots and speaks with pride about his heritage, as he described the piano compositions of his country.

“Xinjiang Capriccio is about a quiet valley environment, about what Xinjiang looks like,” Zhao explains. “You can hear it, and you will feel that. It’s about the horse, about the desert, about the grass.”

Xinjiang, which literally means “New Frontier,” is a large autonomous region located in the northwest branch of China.

Although Zhao’s path toward being a brilliant and skilled pianist was not easy, determination has always been his guiding factor, even from a young age.

“Sometimes, I would cry,” Zhao said. “My mother and father said, ‘You don’t have to if you don’t want to — you can give up.’ But I didn’t want to give up; I wanted to play really hard.”

Zhao said he learned to play piano at age 6, attended a music-oriented school growing up and is now a promising student of Lei Weng at the University of Northern Colorado.

“Xiangyu possesses a solid technical foundation and a very natural musicality,” Weng said in an e-mail interview. “His musical sensitivity is also undeniable. He works diligently.”

Next year, Zhao said he looks forward to performing a recital that features his own arrangements, but is concentrating on perfecting his current repertoire for scholastic competitions.

He also has big plans for the future, and wants to earn his master’s degree. He said his goal is to become a professor afterward.

Weng said Zhao is clearly well on his way.

“Xiangyu certainly has great talents at a young age,” he said. “If he can continue his sturdy momentum, I think he will have a very promising future.”