From left: Ice, Snow, Fly. Photo: Wang Zi

Name: Du Bing'er (杜冰儿), Du Xue'er (杜雪儿), Du Fei'er (杜飞儿)

Age: 19

School: Central Conservatory of Music

Interests: Piano, singing, composition and harp

By Park Gayoung

Although they were just newborn infants, triplets Bing'er, Xue'er, and Fei'er (Ice, Snow, Fly) know how cold their birthday was. The triplet's mother named her babies after the cold day they were born on. The 19-year-old Beijingers who revealed their musical talent early now are freshmen at the Central Conservatory of Music (CCM) in Beijing.

Their goal is clear - to be singer-songwriters. As they have loved and enjoyed music their whole life, they hope that the profession will be their future career. Now they're trying to develop themselves and their unique  look as a triplet musical group - Bingxuefei.

Your name is Snow, Ice, Fly. Who gave you those names? Do you like them?

When my mother was pregnant with us, she was reading a book by a Taiwanese writer. In the book, the characters' names were all something-er. My mom really liked it a lot and decided to use it when we were born. And when we were born, both snow and ice were flying. People think it's our stage name because it's so unique. And it's cool people would remember our names. We like our names.

You are all students of the Central Conservatory of Music. What do you study?

Ice and I (Fly) study composition and Snow studies the harp as one of two freshmen. We started studying them when we were 10, third grade in school. We picked them ourselves. (Snow: I saw the harp at a concert and decided to learn it.)

You sang animation theme songs at Joe Hisaishi & Hayao Miyazaki Animation Works Concert several times. How often do you get to sing on a stage? Who sings the best?

We always like singing together and making harmonies. We sing our own songs. We enjoyed watching Japanese animations when we were young and would sing the theme songs together. We have been singing since we were very young for concerts like the Red Cross Benefit Concert for Sichuan earthquake victims. We usually get to sing several times a year on stage. Ice sings the best.

When was your earliest experience with music?

When we turned four years old my maternal grandmother gave us a piano as a birthday gift. Since then we would play the piano every day. We all loved playing piano and didn't even get bored with it either. But we didn't fight over the piano thanks to our grandmother. Our grandmother was like a teacher. She made a timetable for us. We had to wait until our turn comes.

Where do you think your musical talent came from?

I think both my mom and dad. Mom used to be a dancer and father used to a painter. They both had to give up their dream as artists. Now they both work in publishing.

What's your personality like? It seems you guys are all very shy. Do you quarrel often?

Fly: We are shy to strangers but I would say we are all outgoing once we get to know each other.

The second, Snow, is the leader. ("Just among us!" says Snow) And Ice is very warm-hearted. I'm quite stubborn. We don't quarrel much. If we do, it's more like teasing to make a joke.

Who is the most important figure in terms of your music life?

Fly: My mother. She always believes in us, supports us. She had a dream to become a dancer when she was young.

Snow: I would say, my grandmother. Since my mom and dad were busy with work, my grandmother raised us. She was the one who introduced us to piano, took us to lessons.

It's really sad she passed away at the same year we got into the junior high school of CCM - which she really hoped for.

Ice: Our composition teacher (for me and Snow). She taught us for several years. She had a firm belief in us.

What was your childhood like as triplets? Have you ever seen any other triplets?

Not really. Many twins though. We used to wear exactly the same clothes until we graduated from elementary school, sometimes in different colors though.

We thought since we look exactly the same, we had to wear the same clothes. But we felt like animals in a zoo at some point, so we stopped wearing the same clothes. Of course when we're on stage, we still wear the same clothes as a group.

Now you're college students, do you still spend a lot of time together?

We still share a room. We go to school together even though we don't have the same classes.

If one finishes early we would wait. We eat lunch together. But we have a lot of friends. A friend of one of us becomes our mutual friend. It's hard to imagine doing things separately. We're so used to do things together.

I heard it's very competitive to get in to CCM. How did you all three get into the school? Did the fact that you're Hui minority help?

Not at all. Us being minority had nothing to do with our admission to the school.

For Ice, her admission was exempted because she won the first price at the Palatino Vocal Composition Competition.

It was quite a surprise that among many participants including adults, a high school girl won the competition. We also practiced really hard as well.

What do you want to do in the future?

We want to develop as musicians and make a music group. We hope it will be soon.

Snow is learning guitar. Wind is learning MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). All three are practicing singing every day.

Bingxuefei: Bingxuefei123@yahoo.cn

gayoungpark@globaltimes.com.cn