di feng flutist

Music has long been described as an international language, yet only a few artists manage to make that language feel intimate, almost sacred.

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Among them is Di Feng, a flutist who does not merely perform; he converses. His playing is not an exhibition of skill but a meditation, an act of translation between the ineffable and the audible. Each breath that leaves his lungs enters the flute as a sacred dialogue, a graceful exchange between composer, interpreter, and audience. In his hands, the instrument becomes a vessel of empathy, a translator of the human spirit, where he transforms breath into meaning, and tone into revelation.

To hear Feng perform is to enter a quiet, illuminated space where emotion and intellect coexist in perfect balance. His sound does not seek to impress but to express, a tone shaped by both vulnerability and vision. In his recent performance, Wisdom of the Living World, a collaboration with pianist Stefannia Passamonte, the flute became a storyteller in conversation with the piano. Each phrase unfolded like a page from a sacred text, each note carrying the weight of reflection. Listening to them felt like reading a novel written in the air, vivid, intimate, unhurried, profoundly human.

A graduate of the École Normale de Musique de Paris, Feng holds both the Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste de Musique de Chambre and the Diplôme Supérieur d’Exécution de Flûte. His artistic lineage traces back to mentors Pierre-Yves Artaud, Devy Erlih, and Mihi Kim, figures who helped refine the crystalline tone and lyrical precision that now define his artistry. Before that, at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music’s Affiliated Middle School, he studied with Prof. Meixiang Piao, a foundation that shaped his deep sensitivity to musical storytelling.

Across two decades, Feng has performed in Europe and Asia as a soloist, orchestral leader, and educator. As Principal Flute of the Shanghai Opera House Symphony Orchestra, he performed in some of the world’s most distinguished venues, later guiding young musicians as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Tianhua College Symphony Orchestra. His artistry has been featured in Our Culture Magazine, AM New York, and celebrated internationally at festivals from Singapore to Venice, where he received the Barrett International Laudato Creato Award for musical excellence.

In a world often dominated by noise, Di Feng’s music reminds us of the eloquence of presence. His flute does not speak to dazzle; it speaks to awaken, to make the listener experience music in its fullest depth.

Kervy Delcy is a Haitian-American composer, conductor, educator, and professional music critic whose work connects artistic practice with critical reflection.