The Secret Piano by Zhu Xiao-Mei
Zhu Xiao-Mei was three years old when she saw her first piano, a cherished instrument introduced into her family's Beijing home by her mother. Soon after, the child began to play, developing quickly into a prodigy who immersed herself in the work of such classical masters as Bach and Brahms. Her astonishing proficiency earned her a spot at the Beijing Conservatory at the tender age of eleven, where she began laying the foundation for a promising career as a concert pianist. But in 1966, with the onset of the Cultural Revolution, life as she knew it ended abruptly. The Communist Party's campaign against culture forced the closure of art schools and resulted in the deportation of countless Chinese, including Xiao-Mei and her entire family. She spent five years in a work camp in Inner Mongolia, suffering under abysmal living conditions and a brutal brainwashing campaign. Yet through it all, Xiao-Mei kept her dream alive, drawing on the power of music to sustain her courage.
Zhu Xiao-Mei was born in Shanghai, China. She began playing the piano when she was a young child, and by the age of eight was performing for Peking radio and television stations. She entered the Beijing Conservatory when she was eleven years old, but her education was interrupted by the Cultural Revolution. After five years in a labor camp in Inner Mongolia, she returned to Beijing, before moving to the United States and finally Paris, where she has lived and worked since 1984. She teaches at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique and has performed for audiences on six continents. She is one of the world’s most celebrated interpreters of Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781611090772 |
| ISBN 10 | 1611090776 |
| Title | The Secret Piano |
| Author | Zhu Xiao-Mei |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Amazon Publishing |
| Year published | 2012-03-06 |
| Number of pages | 330 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |