Young blind pianist attuned to achievement

China Daily

15th April 2021

Young blind pianist attuned to achievement

Chen Lin's goal in life is to be a pianist who performs around the world－a world she cannot see.

Chen has been blind since she was born in Shantou, Guangdong province, in 2010, due to a rare congenital condition.

Her mother, Lin Xinyun, said she remembered being shocked at the sight of her daughter's eyes covered at birth by a thin layer of skin.

The hospital examination confirmed Chen's condition－cryptophthalmos－and that she would never see.

But Chen refused let her disability hold her back, Lin said. "My husband and I have never thought of giving up on Chen," she said.

As a small child, Chen developed an unusually good sense of hearing and concentration, abilities that would serve her well when she started learning to play the piano.

Lin sent Chen to learn the electronic keyboard when she was very young. Her skills grew

remarkably. Soon, she became something of a prodigy, able to play difficult musical pieces.

When she was 8, she began studying under her current piano teacher, Lu Yunming, and was admitted as a non-diploma student to the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong.

She was the second blind student accepted by Lu.

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