宋國生，一九三八年十一月八日出生於河北省樂亭縣李家寺村一農民家庭。宋氏自幼受家鄉樂亭皮影、大鼓、評戲、吹歌等民間音樂薰陶，一九五六年，中學畢業後，即考入河北天津師範學院音樂系，師從吉桂珍、丁鐺學習二胡演奏。一九六一年，宋氏從師院易名之天津音樂學院畢業並留校任教，又從劉明源、藍玉崧進修。一九六三年五月，參加第四屆「上海之春」首屆全國二胡比賽獲三等獎和新作品《河南小曲》優秀演奏獎。一九七六年起，歷任天津音樂學院器樂系、民樂系副主任、主任、教授、碩士生導師，從教數十年，首先開設了「民族器樂表演藝術」理論課程，創作二胡練習曲百餘首，創用雙跳、雙抖及輪弓等新技法。二胡教學自成體系。集神、氣體態與藝術表現為一體的教學法。培養了包括宋飛等在內的不少優秀的青年二胡演奏家。獲中國樂器比賽「園丁獎」、天津市「教學楷模」稱號和文化部「區永熙優秀音樂教育獎」。
SONG Guo-sheng
SONG Guo-sheng was born on November 8, 1938 in Leting, Hebei province. Since his childhood, he was influenced by his hometown native folk music and arts. In 1956, he was admitted to the music department of the Tianjin Teachers’ Training College of Hebei Province (later renamed Tianjin Conservatory) learning the erhu under JI Gui-zhen and DING Dang. In 1961, he graduated from the conservatory and further studied under LIU Ming-yuan and LAN Yu-song. In 1963, he was selected to participate in the 4th Shanghai Spring Festival’s national erhu competition. He won the third prize and the outstanding new work performance prize. Since 1976, he has been head of the department of instrumental music and Chinese music of the Tianjin Conservatory and in addition to the posts of professor and postgraduate instructor for more than thirty years. He has created many new techniques on the erhu and has trained up many award-winning performers including SONG Fei. He has gotten the fame of “The Gardener to Reward”.