Debra Li

AS if by coincidence, Shanghai violinist Huang Mengla got his name from the Chinese transliteration of “moonlight,” also the name of a Beethoven sonata.

A violin student since the age of 4, the 28-year-old did not choose to pursue a professional career right after winning the gold medal at the 2002 Paganini International Violin Competition in 2002, but instead returned to school. After graduating from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with a master’s degree in 2006, he left for London to study with Gyorgy Pauk at the Royal Academy of Music.

Despite a tiring 14-hour flight, the young man appeared fresh as he appeared before the local press yesterday. He is in town to unveil the new season at the Shenzhen Concert Hall with a solo concert Friday night.

Following a common practice in contemporary classical music, the first half of his show will feature a conservative choice — but one not so familiar to Chinese audiences — Beethoven’s “Sonata No. 4 in A Minor,” while the second half will have more popular pieces like “Carmen Fantasy” and “Gypsy Airs” by Sarasate.

“I feel it’s my mission to introduce great Western classics to the Chinese audience, and have deliberately avoided performing such familiar tunes like ‘Butterfly Lovers’ at home,” Huang said.

And in choosing Beethoven’s “Sonata No. 4” rather than “No. 5,” also known as “Spring,” Huang hopes to bring some “very good but less performed” music to his countrymen.

Students of Western music need to go abroad, he believes, to understand and feel the traditions.

“Chinese students can learn superb skills at home, but they need more profound understandings of music as an expression of humanity, which cannot be taught but be cultivated by living near that tradition,” he said.

Huang said the first time he felt an inner connection with music was during his first trip abroad in 1998. “When I looked in the blue sky in Paris, and saw the changing clouds, I was suddenly struck by something inside. From that moment on, I have feelings for the music flowing from my violin.”

The young man said he chose to further his studies, as there was no end to improvement in the career of a violinist, which could last for more than half a century.