Huang Feili, Chinese musician and conductor, Died at 99

  Music

Huang Feili was born on June 17, 1917, and died on February 20, 2017.

He was a Chinese conductor and musical educator.

Feili was the founder of the first conducting department in China.

He came from an intellectual family with faith in Christianity and attended Pui Ching primary school before moving to Shanghai when he was 10.

Feili first wanted to be a physician, so he applied for admission to Department of Biology, University of Shanghai as pre-medical education.

In 1941 he graduated, however, since invader’s fierce ruling, he fled to Fujian and acted as a violin teacher at National Fukien Conservatory of Music during 1943–45.

At the same time, he taught himself to play the piano and translated foreign textbooks.

His finally two years altered his life and led him to the music scene.

He was enrolled at Yale University for the further musical education in 1948.

He had studied under Paul Hindemith, he played the violin well enough to join the New Haven Symphony later.

He went back to China in 1951 and taught at Central Conservatory of Music, then he directed the new-established Conducting Department since 1956.

Feili not only became a respected teacher at the CCM but also one of the most prominent conductors in China.

During the mid-1980s, Feili was invited to head up a student ensemble that later became one of the finest professional orchestras in mainland China: the Beijing Symphony.[3][4]

After he had retired at age 70, he still kept enthusiasm for music and trained several orchestras with young ensemble.

His wife, Zhao Fangxing was his student, they met in Fujian and married in 1946.

She was also a musician, however, she passed away in 2012.

He died in Beijing, China.

Huang Feili passed away at 99 years old.