Wang Xilin

Later in 1963 there were political changes in China under Chairman Mao Zedong which led to a crackdown on Western music, especially that of the 20th century.

Wang gave a two-hour public speech in 1964 criticising such policies, which led to him being stripped of his position with the Central Radio Symphony Orchestra.

From 1964 to 1978, Wang was forced to work as a laborer in Datong, spent 6 months in a mental asylum, and was imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution.

In the late 1970s he started conducting again, working with the Southeast Shanxi Song and Dance Ensemble in Changzhi.

After 1980 Wang was able to study scores of modern Western composers and discovered the music of Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alfred Schnittke, and Witold Lutosławski.

His works have been performed in Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, Macau, Switzerland, and the United States.