An oratorio for mixed voices entitled "Revelation", a work of Chinese prominent modern composer, An-lun Huang, will be presented in the Concert Hall of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on May 2, 2017. It will be dedicated to the 10th founding anniversary of the Hong Kong Church Music Association.
An-lun Huang was born into a musical family in 1949 and began to learn piano at age 5. He completed his first piano music collection two years later. Then, he was admitted into the primary school associated with the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in 1961 and entered the secondary school affiliated with the university later.
After graduating from the school in 1968, he was sent to farm in Beijing due to the Cultural Revolution and worked in the Beijing Opera Troupe. That period had a decisive impact on his composing style, especially when he studied folk music and opera composition from Chen Zi, a renowned composer in China.
He became a member of the Chinese Musicians Association and a composer-in-residence in the Central Opera House in Beijing in 1976. Huang went to study abroad at the University of Toronto, the University of Pittsburgh, and Yale University. He was honored with the title of "academician" of Trinity College of Music in London and obtained his master degree from Yale University in 1986.
As a Christian, Huang wants to blend his faith into modern metaphor with the Chinese cultural roots and also to demonstrate the conscience of arts and justice of a composer. His works cover almost all the fields of music, including opera, ballet, movie, chorus, vocal music, chamber music, instrumental solo, Broadway musical and symphony. He has been recognized as one of the most prolific Chinese composer to date.
Fan Xuede, a Christian writer, shares on his WeChat account that Huang believes that his mission given by God is to "construct the temple of God" in the music world.
Translated by Karen Luo
