This undated photo shows Xiong Linghao playing in the final of the 13th Shanghai International Youth Piano Competition in Shanghai. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Xiong Linghao, a visually impaired young woman who started learning the piano at age 6, said her idol is Ludwig van Beethoven, who began to suffer from hearing problems in his 20s and later went completely deaf.
Their physical challenges led both of them to establish a connection with the world through music, said the 18-year-old from Mianyang, Sichuan province, who was born premature and lost her eyesight in early infancy due to a medical accident.
"The piano is my best friend," said Xiong, who was in Shanghai last week to participate in the national final of the 13th Shanghai International Youth Piano Competition, where she played a Beethoven sonata. "The piano has accompanied me throughout my ups and downs in its own way. It brings so much pleasure into my life and empowers me with perseverance."
Like Beethoven, I wanted to express hope, emotions and passion for life through the piano in adverse conditions.
Xiong Linghao, a visually impaired Chinese pianist
Xiong was honored with the Special Jury Prize and was invited to the stage to give a performance during Saturday's closing ceremony of the competition held by the China Association of Social Economic and Cultural Exchange.
"I never pursued prizes or fame while learning music. Instead, I was totally compelled by my natural love for the piano," explained Xiong, a high school student at the Chengdu Special Education School. "Like Beethoven, I wanted to express hope, emotions and passion for life through the piano in adverse conditions."
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A video clip of Xiong playing during the competition, published on Friday on China Daily's Sina Weibo account, was viewed more than 7 million times, and many internet users said they were touched by Xiong's bravery and optimism.
"When fate kisses her with sorrows, she repays it with songs of praise," one comment on the post read.
"This is the song to salute life. She lights up the darkness in front of her with music," read another.
Xiong's mother discovered her daughter had a talent for music early in her childhood. At age 3, she could play children's songs on a small electric piano at home.
Learning to play the piano, which usually has 88 keys, is not easy for people who are visually challenged. At first, her teacher helped her place her hands and fingers properly.
Unlike most learners who play by reading music, she relied 100 percent on hearing a new piece.
"I listened to the melody repeatedly and then put what I heard to my fingers. I first practiced with my two hands separately before I could play with both hands together," said Xiong, who spends at least two hours a day practicing and passed the top test for amateur piano players at age 12.
Xiong said she is practicing Beethoven's sonatas and Frederick Chopin's etudes these days and is focusing on developing tremolo skills as well as the quick crossing of the hands.
"Repeated practice is key because I need muscle memory to find the right keys," she explained. "I pay attention to each minor step in each phrase and need to be fairly precise with the angle of how I control my hands, wrists and fingers."
Judges said she exhibited better skills than the average player in her age group.
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"Moreover, through her piano playing viewers could feel the irrepressible vitality of life and a truly strong and firm will," said Ding Quan, a judge in the competition and founder of the Shanghai Canyin piano education institutions.
Xiong is aspiring to be admitted to a university in Beijing and major in music performance or music production.
She has composed several songs, including one called the Little Dog in Dream, where she imagined her life with the company of a guide dog. Lyrics like "blue skies and rainbow slides" were used by the girl, who said she could "see" the world through music.
According to her mother, Lin Chunrong, Xiong is hardworking and self-disciplined and takes care of herself with almost everything.
Lin said the family has planned to apply for a guide dog for her after she starts her career.
If she had vision for three days, Xiong said, she would see how she looks, cook a big meal for her parents and take a walk in the places she has been to hundreds of times.
"I also would like to see with my eyes what the piano that has accompanied me for more than a decade looks like," she said.
