2008 Woodie Awards
Dr. Chen Yi: From oppression to expression
Professor honored for artistic accomplishments
Jonathan Pearson
Issue date: 10/3/05 Section: Culture
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The illustrious academy includes artists, scholars and scientists, as well as civic and corporate philanthropic leaders. This newly-elected class of members was honored for their intellectual achievement, leadership and creativity in their respective fields. Chen was selected earlier this year along with such notables as the late U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, NBC journalist and anchorman Tom Brokaw, and playwright Tony Kushner.
Chen is honored by the recognition but realizes she must continue striving for excellence.
"It requires much work and is a big responsibility," said Chen. "I now have to work harder in my own field so that I may use my music as a tool to share ideas throughout the world. Now I am able to improve the understanding between people of different cultural backgrounds so there might be a better future of society and peace around the world."
Most of Chen's feelings about music stem from her childhood in China during the "Cultural Revolution."
Growing up in the city of Guangzhou during the 1960s, Chen and her family witnessed the harsh realities of a Communist government. Their home was routinely searched, they were forced into engaging in public self-criticism and had to live their lives under much stress from political pressures due to their status as an "intellectual" family. Chen's parents were medical doctors and her sister was a child prodigy at the piano, performing on the local radio.
As a teenager, Chen was sent off to the countryside to perform forced labor work in order to be "reeducated." She brought her violin along and played the revolutionary songs, which were the only thing anyone was allowed to play. As she played, she would improvise the songs and created new works of her own.
Near the end of the "Cultural Revolution" in 1978, the future professor was among the first group of composition students accepted into the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, when she was 25. She was only allowed to pick one major and could have easily chosen violin but chose composition because it had been her dream.
