Lilly Xie: Honored as "Young Steinway Artist"

On the occasion of the 170th anniversary of the world-famous, top piano brand Steinway & Sons, Lilly Xie, a Grade 12 student at Elgin Park Secondary   in Surrey, Canada, has been honored with the title of "Young Steinway Artist" for the year 2023, thanks to her outstanding artistic performances and musical mastery of both Chinese and Western styles. At only 16 years of age, Lilly Xie is not only the first female high school student in British Columbia (BC) to be honored, but also the youngest female Steinway Artist in BC to date, as well as Canada's only female "Young Steinway Artist" this year. She joins the ranks of more than 2,000 Steinway artists including Rubinstein, Rachmaninoff, Lang Lang, Yujia Wang and more in the past century and a half since 1872, becoming one of the newest members of the Steinway Artists family. With respect for professionalism and youth, Steinway has once again brought a new interpretation of the century-old Steinway brand spirit to music education circles around the world, North America, Canada and China – Using multiculturalism and diversity to cultivate young musical talent, it promotes piano performance art education and brings healthy development to the music industry. 

When it comes to live recitals, Steinway pianos are preferred by 98% of the world's pianists, and performers around the world hold joining the "Steinway & Sons Artists" family a lifelong dream — during the 151 years since 1872, more than 2,000 modern and contemporary pianists have been honored as "Steinway Artists", including "immortal talents" such as: Lang Lang, Martha Argerich, Diana Krall, Billy Joel, Cole Porter, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Arthur Rubinstein. The title "Steinway Artist" is not only a great professional honor, but also a sign of recognition and praise for outstanding contributions in the field of piano performance. Global mainstream society, especially within the music industry, recognizes the title of "Steinway Artist" as the most influential qualification for an artist, its industry authority being equivalent to the "Oscar" in the film industry, or the "Nobel Prize" within the scientific or literary worlds. This title has created an elite circle which has stood atop the international music industry for 150 years!  

Lily Xie, the latest Young Steinway Artist to be honored by Steinway & Sons, was born in Beijing and now "resides" in Vancouver. She boasts an extraordinary family background. She comes from a long line of Chinese scholars, whose family lineage originates from the later Jin Dynasty, passed down to the Xuantong era of the late Qing Dynasty, and has experienced the vicissitudes of over 1,000 years. The evolution of this cultural and artistic family has followed the pulse of China's literary and artistic development throughout various periods of time, and in the present day, it seems as though a condensed version of 100 years of China's art history, spanning from the early 20th to 21st centuries, has been passed down like a torch of wisdom between four generations. Three of these generations include many famous directors and educators in Chinese drama, film, television, theater and film education, with their ancestors being considered artistic masters — One of the founders of the left-wing theater movement in China, one of the founders of the Beijing Film Academy, one of the first translators to translate Stanislavski's "An Actor Prepares" (required readings for Chinese theater, film and television art schools and core of Stanislavsky's acting system, which is one of the most influential and integral in China's theater, film and television industry), and one of the earliest drama directors to introduce European classical plays such as "The Thunderstorm", "A Doll's House" and "Romeo and Juliet" to China! Their artistic understanding and academic status are almost unparalleled! As heir and the next generation to this family of scholars, Lily Xie has been exposed to and influenced by her family's teachings since she was a child. Straightforward and easy-going, she has had an illustrated version of the Analects of Confucius on her nightstand since she was young and believes that "the Analects of Confucius can bring insight into all areas of life". She has unique insights and eloquence beyond her peers; she likes reading and playing guzheng, and at her core, she maintains the "Chinese learning as substance, Western learning for application" spirit to unite her cross-cultural education. Her speech retains the characteristic tone and rhythm of authentic Beijing Chinese. She once served as the host of a children's reading program on Seattle Chinese Radio in the USA, claiming that she was merely sharing masterpieces of Western literature with Chinese teenagers in the U.S. and Western regions with proper and precise pronunciation. Having played guzheng since the age of 7, she says that playing guzheng is just a personal pleasure, and she has never taken a guzheng exam during her nine years of experience. However, she is already of the standard of a professional performer and has received praise by European and American masters for her performance at the Music Fest Perugia in Italy! She also performed as a figure skater when she was 8 to 9 years old — though originally no more than a self-professed fan of the great American figure skating champion Michelle Wingshan Kwan — she "inadvertently" claimed three gold medals in the ISIAsia National Series, before regrettably retiring from the professional figure skating club after breaking her ankle — Though the sports world may have lost a champion, no one expected that a new star would rise in the music industry!

The astounding thing is — Lily only became involved in European classical music and formally studying piano with a teacher after she immigrated to Canada with her family at the age of 12. Though she was late entering this period of her life, it was as if it were a divine calling for her – having never taken a formal piano exam, she won the Gold Medals of Canada Steinway Challenge Cup and Steinway Piano Competition several years in succession. She has wholly devoted herself to piano, guzheng, hosting, as well as community and hospital charity performances, which have granted her great experience and helped her to develop her skills both physically and mentally. She practices the concept of "working on the community to serve society and further the world". In 2018, she received the first "Canadian Young Artist Standards Of Excellence Award". Over the past five years, she has received the meticulous instruction of famous musical educators, including her primary musical instructor Zhang Zhennong (Art Zhang), and especially the Steinway Artist and renowned concert performer, the Israeli piano master Ilana Vered. The devoted nurturing of her masters' informed education has been tailored to her aptitude. With her hard work and by virtue of her innate talent, accurate sense of music, outstanding delicate expressive power and ability to fuse influences from the East and the West, she has been able to commit her youth to her pursuit of excellence, finally becoming a "Young Steinway Artist" after one extraordinary and unique moment of glory after another.

In August 2022, Lily Xie gave her first solo concert, "Encountering the Beauty of Earth", in Okanagan Lake, a popular North-American tourist destination. Adopting a unique approach, she chose to perform on a natural stage surrounded by mountains and water. The rolling Okanagan Valley would be her stage backdrop, and the meandering Similkameen River would be her stage curtain. With the Sun and the Moon hanging in the air, her stage lights. This would make for a vastly different effect from that of a regular theater performance – Under the fresh breeze and the echoing noises of nature, the sound of the piano merges man and nature into one, and it was truly an exquisite expression of artistic performance. Seated on her stage, Lily and her piano took the audience on a journey across thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, playing freely and without inhibitions. She gave perfect presentations of Chopin, Beethoven and other masters of the classics. She then combined the King of the Western instruments — the Steinway Piano and the King of Eastern instruments — the guzheng in an ensemble performance that escalated the concert to an even greater peak — Her piano and guzheng concerto of "The Butterfly Lovers", the heart-wrenching eastern telling of the story of Romeo and Juliet deeply moved her audience! Perfectly blending into the backdrop of the luscious jade mountains and waters around her, this young girl's outdoor classical concert proved her to be "as excellent in culture as she is refined in talent and education". She received great recognition from industry experts and the media for the harmonious and balanced beauty of her performance. Phoenix North America Chinese Channel also arranged an interview with Lily Xie thanks to this occasion, going on to carry out a series of special reports. In contrast to regular stage performances of the average youth pianist, her courage to explore and innovate, performing classical music in a natural environment has allowed Lily Xie to become free from the single stereotype of human and social environments of musical expression. She has become a practitioner that pursues musical expression that returns to the origin of life between humans and nature.

In October 2022, at the Vancouver Playhouse, Lily Xie performed her solo chamber concert: "EAST MEETING WEST". She not only gave a wonderful recital of classical music works of Chopin and Schumann, but also completely broke the traditional classical concert model by boldly innovating and combining AI technology with the century-old top piano brand. She used the Steinway SPIRIO|r player piano to record the piano part, accompanying her own recital with live guzheng, successfully interpreting the "Grudge of Capital City" as a Piano and Guzheng Concerto solo. This was a world first, as never before had someone completed a concerto performance that features both the Steinway piano and the guzheng solo as a formal music recital. This was a fusion of East and West, of modern technology and tradition and an overhaul of everything that people know about classical music traditions; Lily Xie followed her beliefs of "a great man is not suited for merely one job" and took the road less travelled. She did not follow in the footsteps of others or follow orders to take the traditional piano examinations, but through two years of "An Actor Prepares", she finally reached the pinnacle of piano and guzheng excellence and gave a natural, professional ensemble; The very moment that this concert that epitomizes the term "perfection" was released, it attracted attention from people of all walks of life. On the day of the concert, the attendance shattered all expectations and audience seats were even temporarily added to the second floor auditorium, exceeding the record of attendance for a youth classical music concert in the Vancouver Playhouse for the 2 years following the outbreak of the pandemic! This innovation in performance shook the entire North American music performance industry and music education sector. From this moment, Steinway SPIRIO|r player piano solo concerts accompanied by various instruments including the violin and flute, as well as the use of player pianos for human-computer interactive education became commonplace. Not only did this display the versatility of classical musicians, but it also highlighted the new vitality granted to the century-old Steinway and Sons brand by AI technology. This has sparked an innovative chapter of diversification and automatization of music education and classical music recitals! Lily Xie was the pioneer in this era-defining process of AI innovation!

In June 2023, Lily Xie won the Gold Medal at the 7th Canada Steinway Piano Competition at the Chan Centre of UBC in Vancouver, Canada. She was the only Canadian finalist to win the Gold Medal for her performances of Western Classical Music and Chinese Classical Pieces (*Seaweed Dance, a solo performance by Steinway Artists such as Yin Chengzong, Lang Lang and more — Editor's note). She was also the only finalist to win the unanimous approval of the world-renowned piano maestro Gary Graffman and his team of judges and professors! — Breaking conventions and following Western classical music techniques, while boldly displaying the traditional cultural heritage of Eastern classical music, showing that classical music (repertoire and style) finds a home not only in Western Europe, but also in China to the East and in the form of multicultural diversity around the world. Her performance reflects the essence of classical music as well as the orderly inheritance of its teachings. As a young musician, her grand view of structure and distinctive, personal artistic style have brought about a breakthrough in the diversification of classical music recitals. She has become the leader of the mainstream classical music competition that combines East and West, integrating the ancient and the modern.

In August 2023, at the Music Fest Perugia in Italy, the largest classical music festival in Europe, Lily Xie not only performed Mozart's Piano Concerto with the European Symphony Orchestra for the first time, but also, with her unique and defiant spirit, played the Guzheng piece: "The Spring on Snow Mountain". This was the first time in the 17 years since the Music Fest Perugia was founded that Eastern classical instruments and classic folk music would be presented in this world-famous European classical music scene. Lily Xie, a rising star in the music scene, followed the presentations of mainstream European classical music, featuring performances such as piano, violin, and opera. Playing guzheng, that has been passed down for more than 2,500 years, in the hometown of the piano, with a long history of 313 years, is a manifestation of the diversity brought about by the continuous historical evolution of humanity and music. It is also an oriental tribute to the Music Fest Perugia in Italy, opening up a new window for cross-cultural communication between Eastern and Western music. The superb and hearty performance won the cheers and long-lasting applause of the European and American Masters of Music, as well as teachers and students specializing in classical music from universities and colleges coming from around the world. The performance was a great success, and this closing ceremony brought the recital to a sublime climax! After the performance, Zuha, a young Israeli pianist, visited Lily Xie backstage to personally stress their congratulations: "For the first time, I was able to experience the charming resonance of your rich culture, delivered by instruments and melodies from the far East. This was unforgettable. I hope I will have the opportunity to listen to guzheng music at the music festival next year..." The piano virtuoso Ilana Vered not only praised Lily Xie's personal understanding during her performance of the Mozart Piano Concerto, but also recognized the professionalism of her guzheng performance and her ability to cross the boundaries between Eastern and Western classical music, which is an area that many young classical music scholars have yet to extend to. As the Music Director of the Music Fest Perugia, Ilana prepared a unique arrangement for Lily Xie to be the only performer at the closing ceremony of the festival, presenting the charm of the Chinese Guzheng to the master musicians from Europe, America, Japan and South Korea, as well as to the students and teachers of classical music from all over the world! As the young musician with the highest number of professional performances at the 17th Music Fest Perugia, Lily Xie's unique artistic style of combining Chinese and Western studies has earned her recognition as a crossover classical musician on the international music stage. It is precisely because she has demonstrated her mastery of Western classical music skills while promoting the essence of Chinese cultural traditions that she has become a pioneer in the fusion of Chinese and Western classical music at mainstream summer festivals in Europe!

On October 27th, 2023, Lily Xie received a congratulatory letter from Steinway & Sons in New York City — Gavin English, President of Steinway & Sons, congratulated Lily Xie: "In recognition of your excellent musical achievements and outstanding contributions, you have officially been introduced into the Global Young Steinway Artists Directory at…”
(https://www.steinway.com/artists/lily-xiangbaihe-xie)
It is also understood that the official presentation of the title will take place in the near future.

(Fashion.sina.com.cn)