Vectors of Liu Shikun’s Creative Activity in the Context of China Piano Art of the Second Half of the XX — Beginning of the XXI Century

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Problem statement and its relevance. One of the pioneers of Chinese contemporary piano art, whose creative activity certainly contributed to its formation, further rapid rise and recognition of creative achievements on the world art horizon, is a prominent pianist — Liu Shikun, who today has received complete recognition as a brilliant performer, composer and teacher thus marked the beginning of the so­called piano boom in China, and with it — the gradual formation and confident rise of the Chinese piano school. If various aspects of contemporary Chinese performing arts have repeatedly been subjected to musicological discourse in the scientific community, the direct and comprehensive coverage of Liu Shikun’s leading role in the process of forming the foundations of Chinese piano performing arts, as well as careful analysis and representation of his creative achievements and pedagogical fields are still relevant for basic musicological research.
 The purpose of this article is to highlight and analyze the main vectors of creative activity of the famous Chinese musician Liu Shikun in the context of the development of piano art in China in the second half of the XX — early XXI centuries.
 The methodology of the work focuses on the principles of historicism and source studies, which provides coverage of Liu Shikun’s musical work in a single context with cultural, historical and artistic phenomena and their interaction. In addition, methods of retrospective, structural­system analysis, interpretation of facts, argumentation and generalization are involved.
 The results obtained during the achievement of the goal of this work focus on the representation and characterization of Liu Shikun’s creative achievements in the field of concert performance, teaching and composition and the artist’s contribution to the development of Chinese piano culture.
 The topicality of the article lies in the first attempt in Ukrainian musicology to comprehensively cover the main directions of creative activity of the famous Chinese pianist Liu Shikun in the projection of his influence on the formation of the current state of Chinese piano art.
 The practical significance of the facts and analysis of the main vectors of Liu Shikun’s creative activity carried out in this work is the possibility of using this material in courses on the history and theory of modern piano art, in particular in sections on the Chinese piano school, as well as for further more thorough research of Liu Shikun’s musical creativity, systematization of scientific information on his contribution to the development of musical art of this country.
 Conclusions. Summarizing the above given material, it should be noted that the fruitful and multifaceted work of this artist directly influenced the development and professionalization of piano performance in China at that time. This influence was due to the comprehensive recognition of the artist’s creative achievements by the world music community, in particular through numerous concert performances in leading countries (especially in partnership with leading orchestras and outstanding musicians); creation of original samples of concert repertoire on the basis and with specificity of the Chinese traditional melody; organization of a dense network of author’s music schools (art centers) and formation of the foundations of the Chinese national piano pedagogy.