Sheng Mingliang
盛明亮

Sheng Mingliang (盛明亮, September 22, 1932 - January 2, 2023). Sheng Mingliang was born in Nanjing, China. He lost his mother at age five. In 1937, the Japanese invasion forced the Sheng family to flee to Chongqing. In 1943, their father died, leaving the Sheng brothers orphans.

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In 1945, the State Conservatory of Music Junior Program recruited Sheng Mingliang and his younger brother Sheng Mingyao among its first cohort of students. The program’s goal was to develop professional musicians for the future establishment of China’s own national symphony. In 1946, the Junior Program moved to Changzhou and recruited several foreign instructors from the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra, including violinist Ferdinand Adler. Sheng Mingliang studied with Adler until the latter left China in 1947.

 

In 1950, the Junior Program was merged into the Central Conservatory of Music Youth Program and was relocated to Tianjin. In 1951, Sheng Mingliang and Sheng Mingyao were selected by the China Youth Artists Group to attend the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students in Berlin and tour Eastern Europe. Their success resulted in the Chinese government reorganizing them as the Central Song and Dance Group.

 

In 1956, the group’s orchestra was reorganized into the Central Philharmonic Society, becoming China’s de facto national symphony. Sheng Mingliang and Sheng Mingyao became founding members. They worked until they retired in the 1990s and the orchestra was renamed the China National Symphony.