Zheng Xiaoying

In this Chinese name, the family name is Zheng.

Zheng Xiaoying
Background information
Born	1929 (age 94–95) Yongding, Fujian, China
Genres	Classical
Occupation(s)	Conductor
Years active	1956–2013

Zheng Xiaoying (September, 28th 1929 - ), her family was from Yongding, Fujian province, China mainland. Zheng Xiaoying is a famous Chinese conductor, music educator, and social activist. She is also the first woman conductor in the music history of China. Professor Zheng had been the chairman of the Conducting Department of Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) . She’d been the chief conductor of the China National Opera (CNOH) . She was invited to be the founder, music director, and the chief conductor of Xiamen Philharmonic in 1998.

Zheng Xiaoying is a world-renowned female conductor. Since 1980, she has held numerous concerts and opera performances in China and around the world, visited more than 20 countries and regions, and won wide acclaim wherever she went. She is deeply aware of the lack of music knowledge and musical literacy of ordinary people, and created a unique "Zheng Xiaoying mode" of playing while explaining, that is, before the performance, she explains the music performed in a simple way to help the audience better understand the music. It has made a significant contribution to the popularization of classical music in China. [2] Zheng Xiaoying is also an outstanding music educator. Many of her students have won awards in many conducting competitions held all over the world. Many of them have held conductor positions in important orchestras and theaters at home and abroad. She attaches great importance to the popularization of classical music among contemporary college students. During her tenure as the music director of Xiamen Philharmonic, she often went to Xiamen University, Jimei University and other universities to hold concerts, lectures and other activities to communicate with students and was very popular among students.

Biography

Zheng Xiaoying was born in a family of intellectuals in Shanghai and started to learn piano at the age of 6. After the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japan, she fled to Sichuan with her parents, where she entered the Primary School for Children of the Political Department of the Air Navigation Commission, and later entered the Huaying Girls' Middle School. In 1947, she was admitted to the Biology Department of Jinling Women's University, but soon left the university and went to the liberated area alone. After Zheng Xiaoying came to the liberated area, he joined the Art Troupe of Central Plains University. In the process of performing for the people, she realized that music must be combined with the needs of the people and serve the people. Because she had studied piano as a young girl and had a musical foundation, she was able to enter the Central Conservatory of Music for further studies in 1952. After entering the Central Conservatory of Music, she first studied in the Department of Composition, and later participated in a short-term training course for choral conductors organized by a Soviet expert Nicolai Tumascheve. In 1960, she was sent to the Moscow Conservatory of Music for further studies. During her studies in the Soviet Union, she performed well, and in 1962 directed the performance of Puccini's opera "Tosca". Become the first Chinese conductor to conduct opera in a foreign environment. In 1963, Zheng Xiaoying returned to China. During the Cultural Revolution, she was sent to the 38th Army to receive "re-education". After the reform and opening up, she served as the chief conductor of the Central Opera Troupe. In 1989, she and some female musicians formed the Philharmonic Female Chamber Orchestra. In 1994, he went to the United States to give lectures.

After Zheng retired from the National Opera of China in 1997, she moved to Xiamen. In 1998, she founded the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra (XPO), a non-national music group. XPO developed steadily under her leadership and gained worldwide recognition. Zheng was the torchbearer of the 2008 Olympic Games in Xiamen. In 2011, she won the Golden Melody Award from the Chinese Musicians Association. Ms. Zheng was awarded the title of Chinese Cultural Figure in 2012 for her contribution to music education and conducting. She retired from XPO in 2013. In 2014, she was awarded the title of "Honorary Conductor for Life" by CNOH.

Zheng is an educator who works to help the public understand and appreciate the orchestra. She also teaches audiences about concert etiquette.

She is the mother of Zheng Su, who is one of the few ethnomusicologists from China teaching in America, and she is a grandmother to Aimee Zheng.

External links

• Zheng conducting Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra (video)