Last summer was memorable in the world of the arts. On July 21, both Barbie and Oppenheimer premiered to gargantuan fanfare. Post-premiere box-office dollars for each film have since been astronomical, spawning the cultural phenomenon known as ‘Barbenheimer,’ espousing the idea that moviegoers see the two as a double bill.
Grade 12 SMUS student Houtian Zhong and his friends opted for the Oppenheimer debut, but as a single feature; Barbie would have to wait as Zhong was flying to Shanghai the following day for a month-long vacation.
More artistic excitement would soon swirl in his grandparents’ apartment, where Zhong was staying. On August 14, he received an email from the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Association (CFMTA) congratulating the teen on his first-place win of the 2023 Helen Dahlstrom Award for best national composition in the CFMTA’s Student Composer Competition.
Around this time last year, we told you how then-15-year-old Zhong placed second in his age group for the same competition for his original composition Winter Fantasy.
Now, in his graduating year at SMUS, Zhong’s the one to beat. But he says he wasn’t expecting it.
“I was aiming for first place in my age group only, but then they gave me first place in the whole competition!” he said, adding he also received prize money in the amount of $250.
Then, another gift arrived. This is in the form of a red packet presented to Zhong by his grandmother.
“It’s an envelope with money inside,” said Zhong.
“The Chinese word for it is Hong Bao. In China, you usually get them on Chinese New Year.”
Zhong’s winning composition is entitled Poem of Transcendence.
The nearly 10-minute piece is like a story, with all the arcs and suspense.
“The first part is pretty reflective and solemn,” Zhong notes.
“Then there’s this moment of joy in the middle portion of the piece—and then, suddenly, hope disappears for a part, but then transcendence is achieved later.”
Unlike Winter Fantasy, Transcendence embodies a different listening aesthetic: “It has more abstract parts; it’s more philosophical,” says Zhong.
Grand Technique
It took the 16-year-old four months to craft Transcendance from his black, Boston grand piano at his home in Victoria, his laptop beside him, along with his cat ‘Oddy’ (named for his “odd, folded ears” ), likely purring to the ethereal melodies somewhere close by.
Just a piano and technology is all it takes, says Zhong, who uses software called MuseScore, to notate his compositions.
“So instead of writing the notes on manuscript paper, I just put it in the software. There’s also a playback function so if I had a string orchestra piece, I could listen to it and have an idea of what it sounds like even before anyone practised it,” he explains.
Basically, he can listen to his piece in whatever instrumental form he wants. Sometimes, he’ll play his piano in tandem.
Zhong describes his musical composition style as “liberal-classical-yet-modern” with influences reigning from Rachmaninoff to Gustav Mahler to Coldplay and Chinese Pop—or 'C-Pop’ as it’s known.
His favourite film scores are by Hans Zimmer, and he especially loves those from blockbusters Interstellar, Inception, and Dark Knight.
He notes his composition genres lean between “pop-like and classical,” and he sources and curates his playlists from YouTube.
“For me it’s not about the genre, because any genre could be good. The piece that won the award is more classical, more like 19th century romanticism music,” he says.
What Zhong does not care for, he asserts, is “listening to music that’s not passionate in its own way.”
That ‘passionate’ element is the key to all of his compositions and Poem of Transcendence is passion to the core.
It’s all about opening the heart, having hope, while knowing hope can fade, and, yet, somehow managing to hold on to hope. Zhong says 12th century Persian lyric poet Hafiz captures Transcendence perfectly with his famous quote, “An awake heart is like a sky that pours light.”
Pattern Recognition
Music aside, Zhong says a hobby he enjoys is playing chess, albeit not competitively. “I’m not very good; I just play online,” he says.
And, while he professes to not having yet seen The Queen’s Gambit, the self-taught chess amateur admires the pattern-recognition factor in the game, and likens it to composing music.
“Chess really connects with music because music is also pattern recognition,” Zhong explains. “In music, it’s knowing how to craft a piece so that it fits what you’re aiming for…In chess, if you have a chess position you need to learn how to find the best move.”
Theory of a musical mastermind
Zhong was born in Shanghai and came to Victoria with his parents when he was five. The following year he was playing piano, and, by 10, he was practising music theory—one of the earliest ages to do so, according to his Grade 5 music teacher, Forte Zhang, whose home Zhong would visit once a week for piano lessons, and once every two weeks for music theory.
Zhang noticed something special in her young protégé when he started composing on his own for the boy’s Torquay Elementary School string orchestra.
Soon after completing his music-theory diploma at 13, he entered St. Michaels University School for Grade 8.
By 14, Zhong completed his Royal Conservatory of Music, receiving the prestigious Associate Diploma (ARCT)—one of two highest academic standings awarded by the RCM Certificate Program.
His first composition at SMUS was for the string orchestra. For the musically uninitiated, strings comprise violins, violas, cellos, and basses.
Not only was Zhong playing in SMUS’ orchestra, but he was playing his own music alongside his stringing peers. He would simply compose pieces and email them to his music teachers, like Miss Guillén Fàbregas, who would instruct the class to practise his creations.
“It felt nice just having my music being played by my friends and [watching] them enjoy performing. Overall, they gave me lots of positive feedback,” Zhong recalls.
The soon-to-be graduate continued in that musical vein through Grades 9 and 10, praising the opportunities afforded him by his teachers. “SMUS gave me a good opportunity to provide pieces for the school strings to perform. I think that really inspired me to compose more,” he says.
But Zhong’s strings didn’t stop with SMUS. Up until last year, he also participated in ensembles with the Victoria Symphony (VS) in its program for local composers called vsNEW. He and three other young composers would create pieces for different ensembles; unsurprisingly, strings were included.
“We would work with the musicians and they would give us feedback, and then they would perform our compositions,” he says.
For this Grade 12 year, Zhong decided to forego the VS; he’s got plenty on his plate.
His advice to his fellow 2024 graduates?
“Follow your passions and be who you want to be.”
His pointers for young, wannabe composers is to “continue learning and experimenting, and just be yourself. And continue to be inspired by music…and be open.”
While he says he’s trying to take his own advice, Zhong’s bingo card for fun is chock full with pressures of study and 2024 graduation.
“There’s a lot of hopelessness when you can’t solve a physics problem,” he says, conceding that “even if I had the time, I probably wouldn't have the energy to write a lot of music this year.”
Let alone catching Barbie—which he says he still wants to see.
Perhaps he needs to be gentler on himself. Then again, this young man has goals. Big ones like being accepted into a U.S.-based post-secondary institution to study math, science, and humanities.
“I feel like the U.S. has more academic opportunities for me to continue my musical journey as well,” he says, while cautiously noting if music turns out to be a beloved hobby down the road, he hopes to at least be working as an astrophysicist or the like.
A toss-up between, say, MIT or Juilliard?
A hard no, affirms Zhong. He has his sights on a more “generalized” school where he can study all the things he loves—with passion guiding his every move.
