Piano competition plays CPC centennial tunes

A two-month piano competition, featuring local students playing "red" songs to celebrate the centennial of the Communist Party of China, has wrapped up.

The competition, part of the "Play Me, I'm Yours" public art project, was co-sponsored by the Jing'an Youth League Committee and the HKRI Taikoo Hui mall. Launched on May 1, local students between the ages of 6 and 14 played songs composed by Chinese musicians and tributes to the Party.

In the closing ceremony held ahead of the Party's 100th birthday, students played patriotic songs such as "The Sky Over Liberated Areas."

Performers included 19-year-old Wang Yuhui, who was diagnosed with autism at a young age. He performed "The Butterfly Lovers," composed by Shanghai native Chen Gang and based on China's version of "Romeo and Juliet." Although he was nervous, Wang completed the performance, garnering warm applause.

Wang's mother discovered his musical talent.

"Once he begins playing music, he is so focused," she said. "He's only been playing piano for five years, but he is on level 10," the highest level for amateur pianists in China.

This year, 18 hand-painted pianos were placed inside and outside the mall, available for anyone to play free of charge. The pianos' artwork, featuring sharp colors and cartoon figures, represents street art.

Since 2018, the mall has donated 50 pianos to schools, hospitals and art centers. Last year, it collaborated with the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation and the World of Art Brut Culture to invite artists and students to paint 17 pianos. Two were sent to Shanghai Children's Hospital and Jing'an Zhabei Central Hospital.

Besides, the Shanghai Recitation Association and Shanghai Women's Federation held a recitation, accompanied by symphony, at the Shangyin Opera House to tell about the Party's founding in Shanghai between 1920 and 1921.

The original performance "The Dawn" was presented by renowned artists, including Tong Zirong, Chen Yanhua, Liu Jiazhen, Yan Xiaopin, Liang Boluo and Zhang Huan, together with 100 members from the Shanghai Recitation Association.