“What Bernstein did not mention was that Yeou-Cheng’s primary instrument was the violin. Like her brother, she was a prodigy. At 10, she had performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Denver Symphony.”
根据剑桥词典,prodigy的意思是“在年少时就已显现出优异能力的人”(someone with a very great ability that usually shows itself when that person is a young child),通常被翻译为“天才、神童”。该词最早出现于15世纪晚期,源于拉丁语词prodigium,意思是“预兆、先兆”。
但是,马友乘的音乐人生并没有因此变得完全黯淡无光。1984年起,她和丈夫、吉他手迈克尔·达达普(Michael Dadap)一起接管了父亲马孝骏创办的纽约青少年交响乐团(The Children’s Orchestra Society)。他们秉持着“将音乐的语言教给孩子们”(Teaching Children the Language of Music)的宗旨,从一学期25美元的学费做起,希望让不同肤色、不同背景、不同天赋的孩子都能享受到音乐的快乐。