Tian Mingen田鳴恩

Tian Mingen田鳴恩 was a singer born in China in 1918. During World War II, when Japan invaded China and Wuhan fell, a group of patriotic young people established the "Wuhan Chorus" in Wuhan. Nearly 30 men and women from the entire troupe came to various countries in Southeast Asia to perform charity performances to raise funds for the fight against Japan and national salvation. Tian Mingen was the deputy conductor and was only 19 years old when he went to Southeast Asia to perform with the Wuhan Choir. He was a student of the Shanghai Music College who had only one year left to graduate. In 1938, the Wuhan Choir toured Singapore and Malaya. In the late 1940s, Tian Ming'en came to Hong Kong from China and was hired to teach at the Christian Chinese Sacred Music Academy founded by Shao Guangtang. After the end of World War II, Tian Ming'en returned to China to continue his studies. During this period, he was successively employed as the director of the music department of Wuchang Art College and Guangxi Music College. In 1948, 30-year-old Tian Mingen was appointed as the head of the music department of Guangxi Conservatory of Music and held a solo concert in Guangxi. Many people in the town of Guangxi didn't know what a recital was, so they all went to watch it. Chen Yushen was one of them. Chen Yushen said that after the recital, she was deeply attracted by Tian Mingen's beautiful singing voice and fell in love with singing. Chen Yushen, who came from a distinguished family, was only fourteen or fifteen years old at the time and was not old enough to study at the Conservatory of Music. With a stubborn personality, she insisted on going to the college to study music no matter what. Finally, through a special family relationship, she was able to be admitted to the music college and received three years of singing training from Tian Ming'en. Starting from the 1950s, Hong Kong Yonghua Company hired Tian Ming'en to plan music-related work. Famous movie stars Li Lihua, Ye Feng, Lin Dai, Yan Jun and others all learned singing from Tian Ming'en. During this period, Tian Ming'en translated many Italian folk songs, and the album received great response after its release. Later, Tian Ming'en was invited to teach at Chung Cheng Middle School in Singapore and moved to Singapore. Chen Yushen went to Singapore the following year, and the two got married in Singapore. This love story was once a legend. Tian Mingen and Chen Yushen are very affectionate, and they both love music. In the early 1960s, after settling their two children at the home of their parents-in-law in Hong Kong, the two went to Italy, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Austria and other places for further studies, and obtained a doctorate in vocal music. Tian Mingen's music reading ability is very strong and he can read more than ten lines at a glance. In order for Chen Yushen to attend classes full-time without any worries, Tian Mingen attended classes during the day and worked at night. While studying abroad, Tian Mingen, who was good at cooking, often invited friends to his home for dinner, and was deeply loved by his friends. In Chen Yushen's mind, Tian Mingen has extremely high musical accomplishment and his teaching is serious and rigorous. Tian Ming'en is a language genius. Not only can he speak Shanghainese, Cantonese and Fujian beautifully, but he can also speak fluent English, Italian and German. Tian Ming'en unfortunately suffered a stroke in his later years and must Requires wheelchair mobility. During this period, he was still very concerned about students' learning. When Chen Yushen gives music lessons to students, Tian Ming'en, who is in a wheelchair, always listens at the dining table outside the music room. If anyone pronounces something incorrectly or sings it wrong, Tian Ming'en will definitely slap the table with his hands. At this time, Chen Yushen will ask the students to go outside and ask Tian Ming'en to point out the wrong parts of the students' singing until they get it right. Tian Ming'en's condition gradually worsened over the years, and he passed away in 1994 at the age of 76.