XiYao Chen

‘Life is like a circle’, says Yao who successfully completed his studies at Wintec this year with a Master of Art (Music) with Distinction.

Yao plays the Gu-Zheng, an ancient Chinese stringed instrument. While there has been an influx of modern music into China, he believes it’s time to bring traditional music back to the people.  His Wintec studies represent part of that journey for him.

Born in China, Yao represents the third generation in his family to be a Gu-Zheng performer. His mother, a professor, taught him to play when he was ten years old. By 16, he was one of the top two performers in the country.

Already a highly accomplished musician, Yao says his research project included investigating the cultural heritage of Chinese traditional music because nowadays, Chinese music is disappearing, the great masters have passed away.

Yao started study at Wintec in 2005, successfully completing the Bachelor of Business Studies (Marketing) in 2009. His dream however has always been to become an accomplished musician and Gu-zheng artist and a cultural Ambassador for Chinese music. Last year, he enrolled in the Master of Arts at Wintec.

With the encouragement of his Wintec supervisor, David Sidwell, Yao sought critique from the China Conservatory of Music in Bejing. ‘They helped me a lot. To play Chinese music, it is important to understand Chinese philosophy as well as the different techniques used for different genres.” Contemporary Gu-Zheng performance emphasises technical proficiency, whereas traditional Gu-zheng music draws inspiration from nature.

The culmination of his year-long Masters study is the recording of eleven traditional and contemporary Gu-Zheng music pieces. Assessed by the Executive Examiner of Gu-Zheng under the China Arts Council, he received glowing feedback emphasising the strong potential value his research will have on Gu-Zheng performers and education.

In his dissertation, Yao set out to explain the importance of the traditional genre for today’s Gu-Zheng performers, and why this genre is slowly disappearing in modern China. He identified a number of areas, which he says have a huge impact on the loss of traditional genres of music. These include: modern teaching methods, the impact of new political rules, Western influence on Chinese education and the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

English is Yao’s second language, so researching and submitting a dissertation at level 9 was very daunting and he feels he wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support from his theory supervisor. “This degree has definitely allowed me to grow as an artist but also to understand the New Zealand and Western education system.” He found the fortnightly meetings with his practical supervisor very helpful to make sure, his project was on track and to guide him in the right direction.

Yao aims to excel as a musician and teacher in the future. “I have to pass on my knowledge, teach students on how to play traditional music – fostering others in the way Wintec has fostered me’ he explains with humbling sincerity.