山东筝家赵玉斋，一九二四年二月二日出生于山东省郓城县陈坡乡大王庙村一清贫农家，一九九八年二月十日病逝于沉阳。其父好戏曲、音乐，赵氏少时即得同村王登海启蒙，习奏四胡、板胡、坠琴及扬琴等，又从邻村樊锡雨、黎连俊习筝。一九四三年，拜王殿玉为师学筝及擂琴，一九四九年八月，他在“东鲁雅乐社”学徒期满后，独自南下，卖艺到贵阳、昆明。一九五一年，又经贵阳、遵义卖艺到重庆，参加了“重庆技艺团”，任擂琴、古筝演奏，兼任乐队队长。一九五三年，赵氏赴京参加全国第一届民间音乐舞蹈汇演，获优秀表演奖；同年秋，经筝家曹正先生之推举，在东北音专（即今渖阳音乐学院）任教至病逝。二十世纪五十年代，赵氏即开始创作新筝曲，有《庆丰年》、《新春》和《工人赞》、《和平舞》等，收入《筝曲选集》及《古筝曲集》内。其所编之《艺曆志记》一册，记录其艺海生涯，连同续编，不幸于“文革”期间被抄家而遗失。
ZHAO Yu-zhai
ZHAO Yu-zhai was born on February 2, 1924 in Yun Cheng, Shandong province and passed away of illness on February 10, 1998 in Shenyang. He started to learn the sihu, banhu, zhuihu and yangqin under WANG Deng-hai and the zheng under FAN Xi-yu and LI Lian-jun since his childhood. In 1943, he learned the zheng and leiqin under WANG Dian-yu and joined Wang’s Ensemble of Dong Lu. In 1951, he joined the AcrobaticTroupe of Zhongqing and became the leiqin and zheng performer. In 1953, he was invited to Beijing to participate in the 1st Traditional Music and Folk Dance Show. In autumn of 1953, he was recommended by CAO Zheng as a teacher in Shenyang Conservatory and worked there until his death. He composed many zheng new pieces, such as Celebration of Good Harvest, Early Spring, Praise Song of Workers and Peaceful Dance, etc.