Early Life and Education
Xian Xinghai, with family heritage from Panyu, Guangdong Province (Canton), was born in Macau in 1905. He moved frequently in his early life with his mother as his father had died before Xian was born. Xian Xinghai moved with his mother to Singapore when he was six years old, he was enrolled in Yangzheng Primary School for his primary education. It was while at Yangzheng Primary School that he took his first step into his musical career. His teacher, Ou Jianfu, first noticed Xian Xinghai's musical talent, and he was enrolled into the school's military band. Xian Xinghai received training in both musical instruments as well as music. He was later brought to Guangzhou for further education by his then school principal, Mr Lin Yao Xiang, along with 19 other students. Xian Xinghai started learning the clarinet in 1918 at the YMCA charity school attached to the Lingnan University in Guangzhou (Canton). In 1926 he joined the National Music Institute at Peking University to study music and in 1928 he entered Shanghai National Music Conservatory to study violin and piano. The same year he published his well-known essay The Universal Music. In 1929 he went to Paris (where he met Ma Sicong who introduced him to many artists there) under government sponsorship and in 1934 he was the first Chinese student admitted to the Paris Conservatory to study senior composition with both Vincent D'Indy and Paul Dukas. During this period he composed Wind, Song of a Wanderer, Violin Sonata in D Minor, and other works.
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