Fang Sheng
Dec 30, 2022
Violinist and composer A Kejian, former student of Ferdinand Adler, dies of COVID-19
December 30, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra reports on its Wechat channel, that one of its veteran musicians, violinist and composer, Mr. A Kejian （阿克俭） has passed away on the evening of December 29, 2022. He was 89 years old.
A Kejian (his family name is pronounced as “Ah”) was born in Chongqing in 1933. He was first recruited by the State Conservatory of Music Junior Program in 1945 and majored in violin. Later he studied in the Central Conservatory of Music Youth Program, College Program, as well as in the Shanghai Conservatory Orchestra Department. Among his teachers were Ferdinand Adler, former concertmaster of the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra, as well as renowned Chinese violin masters Tan Shuzhen and Ma Sicong, who were Deputy Director of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Director of the Central Conservatory of Music respectively.
A Kejian joined the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in 1959, first as violinist, later becoming full-time composer. His compositions and transcriptions include Violin Concerto “The Honghu Lake”, Melody of the Yi People (for flute and orchestra), Fairy’s Dance and Nocturne, etc.
(A Kejian is in the second row on the very right in this farewell photo taken in 1947.)