The life of a young virtuoso violinist can be a hectic one. And, like everyone else, they need a little down time every now and then, according to rising star Li Chuan-yun.
Li, 23, who has just finished two informal recitals at the Hong Kong University, and who already has about two dozen major concerts lined up globally this year, says it is his mother, Yau Sing-yeh, who often convinces him to rest.
'Sometimes if I've been doing too many concerts she will make me slow down. At those times, I'll just watch some sports like tennis - I love tennis - to relax,' he says.
His schedule had become particularly hectic since he played on the soundtrack of Together, director Chen Kaige's 2002 film.
'I guess I was sort of practising violin while I was still in my mother's womb because she and my grandmother used to play classical music all the time,' Li says.
He received his first violin at age two and began formal training a year later. When he was six his family moved from Qingdao to Hong Kong. That same year, the young Li began dividing his time between home and a residential programme at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
