He sings low but aims high

• Source: Global Times
• [09:34 August 23 2010]
• Comments

Back when he was studying at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, a period he regarded as a time of being purely devoted to music, he submerged himself in music scores and books of all genres from the library.

Some of these have not been returned yet. This would be against library regulations, but "no other student has applied to borrow the same books yet."

A top student, since he was awarded his first scholarship at the conservatory, Shen has also collected more than 5,000 recordings - if he hadn't bought these he could have bought a limousine, he smiled.

"If you want to make quick money, don't play music." To him, music is part of his life, and is something surpassing materialism - it's like a "spiritual drug."

He is generous by nature. He once spent some considerable time repairing music scores that had been damaged and torn at the conservatory.

He volunteered to help out at a campus party the day before he set off to compete in a major overseas event. He filled in for a roommate who worked at the library when the roommate had an urgent mat-ter to deal with.

This is partly due to his early education at his home in Tianjin. Born into a musical family in Tianjin, Shen was never pushed by his parents to pursue a music career.

"We knew he had talent. He started to hum songs accurately before he could utter a word. But we didn't want to force him to love music. Independent thinking and gratitude are more important for a human being and are the foundation of success," said his mother Bian Jingzhen, the associate professor of vocal music at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music.