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Keep singing! Entrepreneur pursues his childhood passion
By Li Huacheng and Xu Wei |
January 31, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MANY high-flying entrepreneurs are happy to sing their own praises, but one successful businessman in Juyuan Community of Jiading District is happy just to sing.
Yao Hua, director of a culture communication company, loves music probably as much, if not more, as making money. In his local community, he is a grassroots singing celebrity.
"I don't know if anyone remembers the 1995 Youth Singing Competition of Five Provinces, a pageant aired on Shanghai television," he says. "It was my performance debut. I was trembling like a leaf as I sang."
Yao was only 18 years old at that time. His shaky start may have disappointed him, but it didn't deter him from his pursuing his musical passion.
Born into an ordinary farm family in Mamen Village of Waigang Town, Yao was shy and introverted during his childhood. He seldom played with other children, spending most of his time glued to the radio loudspeaker in a cousin's room. When the village radio station broadcast music programs every noon, Yao sat there under the loudspeaker, mesmerized.
"I loved listening to music," Yao recalls. "I also learned lyrics and could sing along with hits of the time like 'Night at the Harbor' and 'My Chinese Heart'."
Life is full of twists and turns. When Yao graduated from middle school, he faced a tough choice: pursue musical studies or go out and get a job. His mother was urging the later because the family was pretty poor. So Yao buried his music dreams and went to work.
Several years later, his eye caught an advertisement for art school enrollment in a local newspaper. His musical passion burned anew. Through part-time study and a lot of diligence, he enrolled and managed to complete a music curriculum.
Encouraged that he was finally on the right path, he established a band with a couple of friends and performed in local bars. Yao was the lead singer. He earned just enough money to make ends meet.
"It was really hard in those days," Yao says. "We tried different musical styles and changed our repertoire often. But through it all, I had but one thought: Keep singing."
The band broke up after one of its members quit, and Yao was forced to find some other way to make a living. He took all his savings and started a wedding-planning company. The company got off to a bad start because of management problems. Yao again felt doubts for his future.
One day, he received an unexpected chance to go back to the stage after a staff member at his company entered his name in a Juyuan Community singing contest. As the music started, the mellow voice of the shy, former pub singer sprang back to life with vigor and enthusiasm. His rendition of Sun Nan's "Rescue" won him first prize. Once again, he vowed to himself: Keep singing.
In Juyuan he became a superstar. He received many invitations to perform in and around his town, and word of his talent slowly spread to other towns, other provinces and eventually to a Beijing TV station.
His success in front of a microphone also helped boost the success of his business, which he changed from a wedding service to a communication company.
Yao, now in his 30s, is acknowledged as a successful entrepreneur, but he still performs regularly around the Juyuan community. He also works with young people who share the musical aspirations he had as a youth.
"I don't consider myself a grassroots star," Yao says. "I am just an ordinary person who cannot stop singing. Along the way in my life, many people have extended me a helping hand. I want to do the same for young people who dare to dream like I did."
Yao said he was planning for a series of performances to give young singers the opportunity to perform on stage.
Yao Hua, director of a culture communication company, loves music probably as much, if not more, as making money. In his local community, he is a grassroots singing celebrity.
"I don't know if anyone remembers the 1995 Youth Singing Competition of Five Provinces, a pageant aired on Shanghai television," he says. "It was my performance debut. I was trembling like a leaf as I sang."
Yao was only 18 years old at that time. His shaky start may have disappointed him, but it didn't deter him from his pursuing his musical passion.
Born into an ordinary farm family in Mamen Village of Waigang Town, Yao was shy and introverted during his childhood. He seldom played with other children, spending most of his time glued to the radio loudspeaker in a cousin's room. When the village radio station broadcast music programs every noon, Yao sat there under the loudspeaker, mesmerized.
"I loved listening to music," Yao recalls. "I also learned lyrics and could sing along with hits of the time like 'Night at the Harbor' and 'My Chinese Heart'."
Life is full of twists and turns. When Yao graduated from middle school, he faced a tough choice: pursue musical studies or go out and get a job. His mother was urging the later because the family was pretty poor. So Yao buried his music dreams and went to work.
Several years later, his eye caught an advertisement for art school enrollment in a local newspaper. His musical passion burned anew. Through part-time study and a lot of diligence, he enrolled and managed to complete a music curriculum.
Encouraged that he was finally on the right path, he established a band with a couple of friends and performed in local bars. Yao was the lead singer. He earned just enough money to make ends meet.
"It was really hard in those days," Yao says. "We tried different musical styles and changed our repertoire often. But through it all, I had but one thought: Keep singing."
The band broke up after one of its members quit, and Yao was forced to find some other way to make a living. He took all his savings and started a wedding-planning company. The company got off to a bad start because of management problems. Yao again felt doubts for his future.
One day, he received an unexpected chance to go back to the stage after a staff member at his company entered his name in a Juyuan Community singing contest. As the music started, the mellow voice of the shy, former pub singer sprang back to life with vigor and enthusiasm. His rendition of Sun Nan's "Rescue" won him first prize. Once again, he vowed to himself: Keep singing.
In Juyuan he became a superstar. He received many invitations to perform in and around his town, and word of his talent slowly spread to other towns, other provinces and eventually to a Beijing TV station.
His success in front of a microphone also helped boost the success of his business, which he changed from a wedding service to a communication company.
Yao, now in his 30s, is acknowledged as a successful entrepreneur, but he still performs regularly around the Juyuan community. He also works with young people who share the musical aspirations he had as a youth.
"I don't consider myself a grassroots star," Yao says. "I am just an ordinary person who cannot stop singing. Along the way in my life, many people have extended me a helping hand. I want to do the same for young people who dare to dream like I did."
Yao said he was planning for a series of performances to give young singers the opportunity to perform on stage.
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