Living on Stage: Zhang Fang at Thirty Concerts

This is a Chinese language programme without subtitles.On the evening of December 14, the Qingdao Concert Hall witnessed a milestone in the young career of percussionist Zhang Fang: his 30th solo concert. For Zhang, winner of the 2020 BBC Young Musician competition, the event was not simply another performance, but a personal summation of five years of artistic growth, self-reflection and commitment to a still under-recognised musical discipline.Zhang’s journey as a solo performer began in 2021, shortly before he travelled to the UK for the BBC Young Musician finals. Because of the pandemic, he had already returned to China, and his first two concerts took place in Laixi, a county-level city near Qingdao. What began as a tentative step has since become a sustained artistic practice: from 2021 to 2025, Zhang has presented 30 solo concerts across China.Looking back, Zhang says the most striking change over these performances has been psychological rather than technical. In the beginning, he admits, he felt resistant to the idea of solo concerts, held back by self-doubt and fear of not measuring up. Over time, however, repeated appearances on stage reshaped his understanding of music and of himself. “The process itself,” he reflects, “has been the most important thing.”That early resistance can be traced back to his childhood training. Zhang first encountered percussion through drum kit playing, purely as a hobby. It was only after meeting his teacher, Chen, and later studying classical percussion systematically in Shanghai that he came face to face with the demands of professional musicianship. Those years were intense and austere: living in a small rented room with his father, practising relentlessly with few breaks, and rarely enjoying the freedoms of adolescence. For a time, percussion felt more like an obligation than a calling.Perspective came with time and experience, particularly after his return to China following his BBC Young Musician victory. Gradually, Zhang found himself genuinely drawn to percussion, to the point where long periods away from practice felt physically unsettling. On stage, he discovered a distinctive energy that performance alone could generate, reinforcing a sense of professional identity rooted in live music-making.Choosing to return to China after his international success was not without uncertainty. Zhang acknowledges that staying in the UK might have led to a different path, but he prefers not to dwell on hypotheticals. Instead, he immersed himself in China’s musical life, working with the Shanghai Percussion Association, where his roles now extend beyond performance to include teaching and administrative responsibilities. This shift, he says, has accelerated his personal and artistic maturity.The Qingdao concert itself was ambitious in scale and concept. Lasting nearly four hours, it featured 22 works, symbolically matching Zhang’s age of 22, organised into three sections to balance the often avant-garde character of contemporary percussion repertoire. The programme showcased a vast array of instruments, from marimba and vibraphone to Chinese traditional percussion and drums from Africa and Latin America. The physical demands were considerable, involving constant instrument changes and prolonged concentration, yet Zhang recalls finishing the concert feeling he could still continue playing.For Zhang Fang, the significance of this 30th concert lies not in numbers but in purpose. He hopes his performances will help audiences see percussion not as a background force, but as a medium rich in artistic and cultural expression. Looking ahead, he is drawn to expanding percussion’s boundaries through body percussion, theatrical formats and rhythm-based performance.His future path remains open, but one conviction is clear: as long as he can play, he wants to live on stage. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit klassikom.substack.com