The past 'Genius conductor' not be able to cross on the baton

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Despite being born with Down’s syndrome, hiss innate aptitude for musical direction made him a star around the world. Once a household name, Chinese conductor Hu Yizhou is a rare sight in music circles these days.

2017: Hu Yizhou performs in Taipei. /VCG Photo

Hu Yizhou was born in 1978 in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province. He was diagnosed with Down's Syndrome, a congenital handicap that has severely limited his intellectual growth.

However, his journey to stardom started solely after he was jokingly requested to select up the baton after he was noticed mimicking the conductor’s actions throughout a rehearsal for an efficiency of Bizet’s opera Carmen in orchestra his father worked.

Between 1999 and 2006, Hu carried out overseas and the provincial capital in China, the report mentioned. He soon joined a tour by a troupe of disabled performers, throughout which he met famous people. Even his story was made into a documentary by a Chinese language director.

His story has been an inspiration for thousands of people, particularly at a time when disabled individuals in China struggled to get recognition.

Hu Yizhou stays in his own room in the disabled art orchestra. /Beijing News Photo

After rocketing to fame twenty years in the past, the 40-year-old now performs fewer than 10 occasions a year, according to a Beijing News report.

His reputation and business value have plummeted. The disabled people's art orchestra has not paid him for half a year.

Sadly, as a result of various bodily illnesses, together with arthritis and gout, Hu will not have carried out an orchestra for a while. Whereas he nonetheless likes to take to the stage when he can, his rhythm is slower and his actions much less exact.

A diabetes sufferer, his father has been bothered by who would take care his son after his death. “Once I’m gone, what’s going to occur to him?” he said.

His father also mentioned that each time his son feels listless, he would pack his baggage, maybe in an effort to relive his glory days on the highway.

1055km