Birth name Fei-Ping Hsu Genres Classical music Died November 27, 2001 | Role Pianist Name Fei-Ping Hsu | |
Chopin funeral march fei ping hsu 1952 2001
Fei-Ping Hsu (b. 1952 - d. 2001) is a renowned Chinese American pianist who is known for his sensitive, brilliant, and poetic interpretations.
Mr. Hsu was born on the island of Gulangyu in southeast China. As the youngest son of a Christian pastor, he grew up singing hymns while his mother played on an upright piano. One day when his mother was ill, the five-year-old Fei-Ping went to the piano and played the hymns by ear. The family realized his tremendous talent and encouraged him to study music. When he was eight years old, he had a rare opportunity to meet Professor Ji-sen Fan, the head of the piano department of the Shanghai Conservatory, and was recognized as a child prodigy. By the time he was twelve-years-old, he already played the complete Chopin Etudes and had performed with the Shanghai Philharmonic. Feiping was invited to perform for the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, who was so impressed with his ability that she personally invited Feiping to study and perform in Europe under her sponsorship. Unfortunately, he was not allowed to accept this invitation because of the advent of the Cultural Revolution during the 1960s. However, he survived the labor camps and became well known in China and toured extensively throughout the Far East as a soloist with the Central Philharmonic which was the foremost leading orchestra.
He was a Gold Medal winner at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition, the first pianist in the competition’s history from the People’s Republic of China. He also garnered top prizes in other international competitions including the Gina Bachauer Memorial Piano Scholarship Competition, the University of Maryland International Competition, and the Paloma O’Shea International Competition (Spain). Mr. Hsu made his New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall in 1983 and performed throughout the United States, including notable appearances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He also frequently toured Europe, South America, and the Far East. Mr. Hsu was especially noted for his larger-than-life virtuosic style of Horowitzian pianism.
In 1979, Fei-Ping Hsu received permission to study in the United States. Among others he attended the Juilliard School of Music under the tutelage of Sascha Gorodnitzki. He had given numerous concerts in Germany, France, Andorra, Switzerland, and Italy. He has appeared as a soloist with major orchestra including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Charles Dutoit, the Moscow Philharmonic in Russia, the Finnish Tempere Symphony Orchestra in Europe, as well as numerous orchestra in the United States performing in various concert halls and music festivals. Mr. Hsu was also actively engaged in his native Asia, where his collaborations include appearances with the China National Symphony Orchestra in Beijing, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra in Japan. Since the early 1970s Mr. Hsu had recorded for major labels such as the Columbia Records, the RCA Victor Records, the Hugo Records, the ROI Productions, and the MA Recordings in Japan.
Highly regarded as one of the foremost pianists of the Western and the Romantic traditions, Hsu is also an early champion of the music of the modern composer Huang An-Lun.
His life was cut short in a road accident while on a concert tour in China on November 27, 2001 and is remembered by many to this day. He is survived by his wife and daughter.