Zheng Xiaoying

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In this Chinese name, the family name is Zheng.
Zheng Xiaoying
Background information
Born1929 (age 94–95)
Yongding, Fujian, China
GenresClassical
Occupation(s)Conductor
Years active1956–2013

Zheng Xiaoying (Chinese: 郑小瑛; pinyin: Zhèng Xiǎoyīng; born 1929) is the first woman conductor in China. Zheng was the chief conductor of the China National Opera House (CNOH) and she formed and conducted the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra.[1] She has also been a dean in the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing (CCOM).

Biography

Zheng was born in Yongding, Fujian.[2] Zheng is of Hakka descent and felt that her family valued education.[3] Zheng first studied at Jingling Women's University in Nanjing in 1947.[4][dead link] Zheng took part in the Chinese Communist Revolution, where her job was to train a large song and dance troupe and conduct Chinese operas.[5] She was working in Henan province.[4]

Later, Zheng studied at the CCOM in 1952.[2] Her first conducting teacher was Nicolai Tumascheve, who taught chorus-conducting.[6] In 1955, she was sent on a course taught by Soviet conductors where she was the only woman in the class.[7] She taught at the CCOM between 1956 and 1960.[7] Zheng then studied opera conducting at the Moscow Conservatory between 1960 and 1963.[2] In 1962, she was the first Chinese conductor to conduct an opera in a foreign setting when she conducted "Tosca" at the Moscow National Theater.[8] After Moscow, she returned to CCOM and taught until the Cultural Revolution interrupted her work.[7] During the revolution, there "was no classical music in China".[5]

Zheng became the Principal Conductor at the CNOH in Beijing in 1977.[9] She was involved in the "influential performances" of The God of Flowers, La Traviata, Carmen, Le Nozze di Figaro and Madam Butterfly.[6] In the 1980s, she helped French conductor, Jean Perrison, make the first Chinese translation of Carmen when he visited Beijing.[5]

In 1993, she founded the first women' symphony orchestra in China, the Ai Yue Nu Philharmonic Orchestra, which has performed around the world.[10] The group plays both Western and Chinese music.[11] Zheng and the women's orchestra performed at the Fourth World Conference on Women.[8]

When Zheng retired from the China National Opera in 1997,[4] she moved to Xiamen.[12] In 1998, she started the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra (XPO), a non-State musical ensemble.[3] Zheng was a torchbearer in Xiamen for the 2008 Olympic Games.[4][13] In 2011, she was honored with the Golden Melody Prize from the Chinese Musicians' Association.[5] Zheng received the 2012 Chinese Cultural Figure title for her contribution to music education and conducting.[14] She retired from the XPO in 2013.[5] In 2014, she was honored by the CNOH with the title "Honorary Conductor for Life."[7]

Zheng is an educator who works to help the public understand and appreciate the orchestra.[7] She also teaches audiences about concert etiquette.[15]

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.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "China's First Female Conductor Zheng Xiaoying". Cri English. 22 April 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Cheng, Ye (December 2013). "Zheng Xiaoying: Cultural Symphony". Confucius Institute Magazine. 6 (29). Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Zheng Xiaoying: Gifted Woman Who Gives Music to the Public". China.org. 1 August 2002. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d "Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra founder - Zheng Xiaoying". What's On Xiamen. 20 July 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e Brown, Emily Freeman (2015). A Dictionary for the Modern Conductor. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 379–380. ISBN 9780810884014.
  6. ^ a b Ge, Congmin (2005). Davis, Edward L. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. Routledge. p. 1015. ISBN 9780415777162.
  7. ^ a b c d e Liu, Sylvia (10 April 2014). "CNOH Confers Zheng Xiaoying 'Honorary Conductor for Life'". Women of China. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Chinaview People". Xinhua Online. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  9. ^ "Zeng Xiaoying (1929-)". Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. Gale. 2006. ISBN 978-0787675851.
  10. ^ "Professor Zheng Xiaoying: China's First Woman Conductor". Unbreakable Spirits: Women Breaking Down Barriers in China. Asia Source. Archived from the original on 24 June 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  11. ^ Edwards, J. Michele (2003). "Women on the Podium". In Bowen, Jose Antonio (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Conducting. Cambridge University Press. pp. 233. ISBN 9780521527910. Zheng xiaoying conductor.
  12. ^ "Zheng Xiaoying, Conductor of Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra 'Unstoppable'". What's On Xiamen. 30 March 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  13. ^ "Zheng Xiaoying". Confucius Institute. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  14. ^ "Famed Female Conductor". Beijing Review. 55 (52): 7. 27 December 2012.
  15. ^ Zhou, Laura (19 May 2015). "Off Notes: Lessons in Etiquette for China's Classical Music Concergoers". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 14 January 2016.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zheng_Xiaoying&oldid=1039637460"