For 16-year-old Ma Yifei, the violin performance of the Beijing 2022 Olympic theme song, Snowflake, was her best present for Paralympians (残奥运动员) all over the world. Even though snowflakes are related to winter, she let others feel warmth, hope and light through her performance. "I'm also disabled and I want to do something for them with my music," said Ma.
Ma went blind at the age of two because of an illness. She became interested in music when she was young. She started to learn to play the piano at five and the violin at nine, experiencing the "colorful" music through sound and emotion.
Ma's mother Ha Chunyan, a former music teacher in a primary school, helped her memorize the music score (乐谱) before she played the piano. Ma could not see the keys and always played the wrong notes. It took her thousands of tries to play a piece correctly.
Learning the violin was more challenging. Ma needed to feel the teacher's hands, arms and back to learn the movements, and listen to the strings (弦) over and over again to feel the muscles (肌肉) herself.
"After three years of learning, she still could not make any sound except terrible noises," said Ha, who advised her daughter to give up the violin. But Ma said, "As I've been practicing so long, it's hard to give up. I believe I will play better if I persist in practicing."
In 2018, Ma got a chance to follow Sheng Yuan and Cao Yuhan, famous musicians from the Central Conservatory of Music, to study music in Beijing. She left her home in Ningxia to follow her musical dream, though she knew there would be more challenges ahead.
Ma expressed her excitement about performing at the big event. "All my hard work has paid off. I'm proud of standing on the stage today."
