M Prize to honor art achievers

Artists Zheng Xiaoying and Tian Haojiang won the M Prize on Nov 1 in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

The M prize was established by the Ningbo Huamao Education Foundation in 2021 to honor high achievers in art education.

The 94-year-old Zheng Xiaoying is China's first symphony conductor and the first Chinese person to conduct an orchestra in a foreign country. Despite having suffered from cancer, Zheng has been working for nearly 70 years. She helped established the Conducting Department at the Central Conservatory of Music and cultivated many great conductors.

"What I've done is all that a symphony conductor should do. The prize is for all those who are passionate about playing music for the public," Zheng said at the award ceremony.

Before he started learning music in 1977, Tian Haojiang had been a worker at a boiler factory. He has sung in over 1,400 performances of 50 operatic roles worldwide. Tian has also been promoting Chinese culture around the world. In January, he worked as artistic director of the concert Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems, which features performances of 15 ancient Chinese poems by young singers from around the world.

"I'm excited to win the prize. And I will try to do better in the future," Tian said.