| ISPA Distinguished Artist Award Recipient - Yan Huichang |
ISPA Award Recipient Yan Huichang2022 Distinguished Artist Award Recipient Yan Huichang is the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. Yan was graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 1983 under the tutorship of renowned conductor Xia Feiyun, and famous composers Hu Dengtiao and He Zhanhao. Since 1997, Yan was appointed as the Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the China National Orchestra prior to joining the HKCO. He was appointed to the role of Music Director and Principal Guest Conductor of the National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan from 2013 to 2017. Yan has led the HKCO to set many milestones in Chinese music. He launched the HKCO into omni-directional growth, started the system of commissioning new works, actively entered into mutually beneficial partnerships with crossover disciplines, and spearheaded instrumental reform. Under his baton, the HKCO performed at famous venues around the world and at international festivals, including the Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2009 and the Klara Festival in Belgium in the same year. He grew the HKCO into a performing body of world-class Chinese music that not only staged new works but actively developed talents and reached out to the community as well. In 2008, the HKCO was the first Chinese ensemble to perform at the new National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Yan’s visionary achievements including implementation of the Professional Orchestra Internship Scheme jointly with the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), establishment of the world’s first Chinese orchestral academy, the HKCO Orchestral Academy, and organising instrumental festivals which have achieved several Guinness World Records thanks to the keen participation of the people of Hong Kong. He created the Master of Music in Conducting for Chinese Orchestras programme at the HKAPA. Also, he took the lead to organise international symposia and forums on Chinese music and hosted the ‘International Conducting Competition for Chinese Music’ in 2011, a competition the world’s first such competition that focused on Chinese music conducting which was commended by the Chinese Musicians’ Association, as “a milestone in the history of development of Chinese music”. Yan has received many accolades from the governments of different lands in honor of his contribution to the development of culture, such as conferred the title of National Class One Conductor at the First Professional Accreditation of China in 1987, the Cultural Medallion (Music) by the National Arts Council of Singapore in 2001, Bronze Bauhinia Star (BBS) and Silver Bauhinia Star (SBS) by the Hong Kong SAR Government in 2004 and 2019 respectively, the Overseas Award for Music at the 51st Literary and Art Works Awards in Taiwan, and Best Conductor Award at the Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music 2018 in Taiwan. He has also won conducting awards in the audio-video recordings of the HKCO, the China National Symphony Orchestra and the Chorus of China National Opera House, the Chinese Orchestra and Chorus of the Xi’an Conservatory of Music, and the National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan. Having actively engaged in musical composition and won numerous awards, Yan’s representative works include the symphonic poem The Sound of Water, which won a Class One Prize in the Composition Contest of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and a Class Two Prize in the Third National Music Composition Competition. His pipa solo work, Nostalgia, won a Class One Award at the First National Pipa Contest of Contributing Works. Yan composed and produced audio recordings of Clouds and The Moon, as well as computer music albums A Music Journey on the Yellow River and Song of the General in 1992 to 1993. Currently Yan is the Director of Chinese National Orchestra Research Center of the He Luting Advanced Research Institute for Chinese Music of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Professor of its Conducting Department, Honorary Fellow of the HKAPA and Visiting Scholar in its School of Music, a Distinguished Professor and Supervisor on the Master’s and Doctoral degree programmes at the Department of Chinese Music, the Laozi Academy of the Xi’an International University and Sehan University of South Korea, and Visiting Professor or Adjunct Professor in many conservatories. Yan is also the Council Member of Chinese Musicians’ Association and National Commission of China Federation of Literary and Arts Circles, Honorary Music Director of the Shaanxi Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra. |
