The Gold in Sax ---- Story of Wang Qi

When people catch the first sight of Wan Qi, they always pay attention to his slender figure and clear-cut face – a pair of sunglasses always sits on his prominent bridge of nose, along with the slight curly hair hanging down to the shoulder. As the saxophone goes, the riveting rhythm tenderly reveals a dashing man. People attracted by his intoxicating performance would hardly penetrate those shady glasses, where he couldn’t see the lights forever, where no one could imagine how much he had paid for this glistening moment on stage.

In 1984 Wang Qi was born in a joyful family in Dalian, Liaoning Province. His parents are individual transporters who had great expectations on their clever son. Happiness surrounded this jolly family, and everything seemed calm before the misfortune suddenly fell.

This family would never forget the nightmare that happened in 1995’s Spring Festival. The 13-year-old Wang Qi was just as exciting and exhilarating as other kids when a group of boy proposed to set off firecrackers in a new way. His friend put a firecracker in a glass bottle and quickly ignited it, out of curiosity, Wang Qi went up to observe it closer … With a deafening boom exploded in the air, Wang Qi was found covered in blood at the spot.

Just as the broken glass piece picked up from Wang Qi’s eye, his mom almost crumbled when she was force to accept the bloody truth that twisted their fate in just a split second. Wang Qi’s parents sold off the valuables to visit all the renowned doctors in China, but only found that the conclusion was all set – the light would be faded forever in Wang Qi’s eyes.

It was heart-wrenching for a teenage boy who ought to be carefree in such early age but precipitously fell into abysmal darkness. To relieve Wang Qi from dullness, his uncles respectively postponed the wedding and abandoned the chance to university. His relatives took turns to take care of Wang Qi, accompanying him to go through this suffering phase.

Dark clouds gathered on this once blessed family. As Wang Qi grew older, he gradually understood the bitterness and selfless devotion behind father’s sigh and mother’s cry. He started to consider doing something that could release the burden off his parents’ shoulder.

At the age of 15 Wang Qi entered the blind school in Dalian, in which the band there spent 700 Yuan to buy a new saxophone. Though still couldn’t compare with the professionals, it was a precious instrument for the students that day.

The music teacher agreed to let Wang Qi try the saxophone under his request, but with no skillful teacher to train him he just could discover it on his own. As long as Wang Qi had leisure time, he collected various tapes and practice on his own. Some friends told him that people would perform Sax in the nightclub, so he groped to find the way and patiently waited until the players had the rest time to give him some pieces of advice.

Rapid progress had been made under Wang Qi’s strong interest and indomitable willpower. Players in the nightclub appreciated this perseverant boy and offered him much guidance so that he could soon step on the stage and do the real performance. He cared about the joy brought by the instrument more than money, and the performance itself was the joy – the joy that enabled him to fully sense the music world.

Therefore, he kept studying at the blind school at day and performed in the nightclub at night until graduation, which was the time he had to return that saxophone. Seeing all the days he had gone through, his mom gave him the fullest support: “I’ll buy you a new saxophone, son. No matter how much you can learn, it makes sense as long as it diverts you from boredom. If one day we are forever gone from the world, this can be something reminds you of us.”

On hearing this, Wang Qi suffered hard in the heart. He knew how much a Sax could cost and what his parents had already paid for his treatment. Thinking of this, he made a resolute determination that changed his life – to act worthy of his parents, Wang Qi swore to be stood out in Sax.

After graduation Wang Qi found a job in massage hospital at one hand, on the hand, he eagerly learned the Sax and wouldn’t let any chance slip from fingers. He visited all the well-known saxophone players in Dalian to seek for improvement in elevating performing skills. One day, Dalian’s saxophone circle had welcomed a renowned jazz performer from the US, and Wang Qi certainly wouldn’t let this precious chance go. The American performer paid highly attention to this visually-impaired enthusiast as well, giving him an opportunity to study with him. Later on Wang Qi invited teacher to home for over three months, which almost spent all he had earned.

Yet as the saying goes, “Everything comes to him who waits.” In this story, Wang Qi was the one who paid and honed, waiting for his turn as he had sworn. And the fate gave what he deserved, in Dalian, Wang Qi began to gain growing reputation in sax playing and even frequently won the prizes in series of professional competitions as the only visually-defected contestant/

In The 2^nd China International Saxophone Competition, 2007, after awarded Wang Qi the first prize, the organizing committee made an exception for him – giving him a Special Award to his extraordinary performance. But that’s not the end of Wang Qi’s golden glory, in the 7^th Dandelion Youth Artist Competition, he won the Golden Award by ranking at the top. In the national final competition of Asian Star, he received the only Golden Award in Sax playing. In the gold-catching process, he gradually realized his promise – the promise he had made to his parents – to be an exceptional saxophone performer.

In December 2007, Wang Qi joined the China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe. “My first performance for CDPPAT is the overseas tour to Singapore. Though I can not see the audience, the enthusiastic response and welcoming ambience from the crowd makes me feel the self-value, which is distinct from playing Sax in nightclubs.” He said the words emotionally. In the big family of CDPPAT, Wang Qi received much warmth and kindness that he never imagined before.