On a high note as Bob Bellows an American jazz singer living in China takes a local blind girl named NIKO Deng Peitong under his wing
By Xu Jingxi ( China Daily NEWS)Updated: 2013-12-24 09:22:02![On a high note]() |
Bellows sees Zhuhai,Guangdong province, as his secondhometown. Photos by Zou Zhongpin / China Daily |
American jazz singer Bob Bellows is delighted to spend the rest ofhis career in China, but his retirement won't be the end of his musical legacy. It will live on in his 13-year-old visually impaired piano student Deng Peitong.
The 87-year-old musician, who has made the country his secondhome for 13 years, has been training the Chinese girl since he mether eight years ago. He became her tutor after the girl's mothersaw his website and invited him to her performance.
"I was impressed that she played so well despite being blind,"Bellows says.
"I think she is a child prodigy."
Deng was born without eyesight but has learned piano since age 3. Even then, she possessedan uncanny ability to play a song after listening to it once or twice.
"I see light when I play piano," the girl says.
"Music is my sun."
The otherwise quiet and lethargic girl radiates resounding energy behind the keyboard.
The piece Deng played for Bellows upon their first meeting was French pianist RichardClayderman's Starry Sky.
Bellows not only teaches the girl but also performs with her.
"Niko (Deng's English name) belongs to the stage," Bellows says.
"She has got the talent. I want to help her. I believe everyone should be given a chance to showtheir abilities and artistry. I can be the one to give them the opportunity."
The duo presented a touching performance at the annual award ceremony of Tianjin Satellite Channel's China Right Here, a TVprogram about foreigners in China, in Beijing's Water Cube onNov 8. Bellows was this year honored among the Top 10 figureswho've "made China more beautiful".Bellows says that he isn't planning to teach more children likeDeng.
"I'm too old for that," he says.
He walks with a cane. His thigh hurts because of lumbar vertebraproblems.
"I hope my story with Niko will prompt more people to care aboutthose kids who are struggling for opportunities to showcase theirtalents."
As Bellows writes in his autobiography, All of Me, he hopes to go beyond merely performing tohelping others.
"My wish is that I have brought something to China with my music (and) to be able to give inreturn for the kindness we have received," Bellows explains.
He moved to China in 2000 at age 74 after his wife bought an apartment in Guangdongprovince's Zhuhai in 1998.
He has spent the years since embracing "one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. Mydream is always about music. I would like to live as an active performing artist on the stage aslong as possible."
He says China has presented him with premium performance opportunities, while rejuvenatinghis thinking as he witnesses the country's rapid development.
"China has done much for me to keep my mind active and my youthful ways in action. Thiscountry is booming. I can feel the energy as it grows," Bellows says in his book.
His
"We visit our families in the US once a year, but neither of us wantsto go back to the US yet," she says.
"We see something to be improved both in the US and in China,but we think that we can do more to help in China. Here we standout with his music and with my abilities to change people's ways ofthinking."
She has been helping overseas Chinese students blend intoforeign communities since 1984. She helped establish an English-teaching center in Zhuhai with a Chinese friend in 1998, which ledthe couple to settle in the city.
The Bellows don't have children in China - just a cat - but never feellonely because they have so many Chinese friends and "families".
"China has shown me so much love, respect, adulation plus has given me a chance to finalize mycareer in this great land," Bellows writes in his autobiography.
"Small children come by to greet me. My manager and bodyguard hover over me. I am a star inChina. If I do not have it all together now, when (will I)?"
He says, smiling: "Chinese audiences are wonderful. They will shout 'Wo ai ni (I love you)' to me."
He believes "a good performer is having a love affair with the audience while onstage". So hepractices flashing grins at the mirror.
"Jazz makes people happy. Yet it is still not popular in China," Bellows says.
"I want to promote jazz to Chinese people."
He has made TV appearances on China Central Television's Channel 3 and the Shanghai-based Dragon TV's 2012 Spring Festival gala. He also lectures Chinese college students.
Bellows' mellow voice and jovial stage presence have made him popular on his internationaltours through the United States, Russia, Europe, Mongolia, Japan and Africa. But it's in Chinathat he finds the most devoted fans.
"I've got more opportunities to perform on a big stage in China and thus received louder clapsand cheers," he says.
