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- March 18, 2004
From growing rice to writing symphonies
After surviving China's dark days, he found Canada
Composer lauded for contributions to music here
by Nicholas Keung
Immigration/Diversity Reporter
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A chance encounter then friendship with a Canadian journalist brought composer
Huang An-lun from China to Canada, rewriting a career path that had been
abruptly halted by the Cultural Revolution.
Born in Guangzhou to a Yale University-educated composer father and a pianist
mother, Huang started his music training at age 3 and continued his education
at Beijing's Central Philharmonic of Music until 1966 when the Red Guards came
to his house.
His father, a noted intellectual, was thrown in jail, while his mother and
siblings went into hiding to evade government persecutions. All the family's
music notes, books and albums — all considered Western evils — were destroyed;
Huang, then 16, ended up working in the rice fields at a labour camp in
northern China.
"Everything stopped in my life," said Huang, now 55. "It was a very tragic
experience."
It wasn't until 1976, after the death of Communist leader Mao Zedong, that
music re-entered the life of Huang, who was soon appointed resident composer
and assistant conductor at the Central Opera House of China in Beijing.
A Canadian journalist, impressed by Huang's ballet composition for "The Little
Match Girl," offered to help the budding composer come to Canada to further
his musical studies.
The University of Toronto accepted Huang as a "special student" in its
graduate program, but would not give Huang a master's degree because he did
not have an undergraduate education. In 1983, he applied for the graduate
program at Yale.
During a competition for a scholarship at Yale, a panel member asked Huang why
he wanted to go back to school, considering his credentials and numerous
compositions.
"I said, `Knowledge is ocean deep and if there's little new knowledge that I
could learn and pick up, it becomes mine,'" recalled Huang, who paid his way
by playing piano in restaurants and for dance groups. At one point, he even
did some babysitting to make ends meet.
After completing the program in 1986, Huang returned to Toronto with his wife
when she got a job as a pianist at the National Ballet of Canada. They had
planned to return to China but changed their minds after the Tiananmen
massacre in 1989. "I just didn't want to go through that again," said Huang
who now works as a composer but also teaches piano.
To date, Huang has created more than 20 symphonic works, 12 operatic
productions, three ballets and much choral, chamber and film music. His
ballet, "Dream of Dunhuang," is regarded as a masterpiece of Chinese
composition in the 20th century.
"Canadians are very generous and peaceful. I think I'm very lucky that I can
live in Canada," said Huang, who was named a New Pioneers award winner for his
contributions to music.
"As a composer, I hope I can contribute my talents in music to enrich the
lives of our multicultural Canadians."
