At 92, Zheng Xiaoying is China's first female orchestral conductor following the founding of People's Republic of China in 1949.[Photo provided to China Daily]
Accomplished conductor Zheng Xiaoying brings a composition about the history and lives of the Hakka people to the nation's capital, Chen Nan reports.
Despite a lifetime of achievement, most notably, perhaps, being the country's first female orchestral conductor following the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Zheng Xiaoying, at the age of 92, still feels that she has some unfinished business.
She simply has a desire to introduce The Echoes of Hakka's Earth Buildings, an original Chinese music piece composed by Liu Yuan about the Hakka people's history and lives, to as many people as possible.
On Friday, she will lead musicians of the symphony orchestra of the Xiamen Municipal Opera and Dance Drama Troupe to perform the 40-minute composition at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
During the upcoming concert, conductor Xia Xiaotang will also lead the children's chorus of Xiamen Art School in performing the Chinese musical piece, Anqi Capriccio, composed by Xie Peng.
The concert is part of the venue's seventh China Orchestra Festival, which, from April 8 to May 7, presents 21 concerts featuring 22 symphony orchestras from 14 provinces across the country.
"It's been about 10 years since we last performed The Echoes of Hakka's Earth Buildings in Beijing and I am excited to bring it back," says Zheng. "One of the best ways to keep a piece of music alive, and successful, is to perform it as many times as possible and to introduce it to new audiences."
The ancestors of the Hakka people, a part of the Han ethnic group, moved from the northern and central parts of China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to avoid war and natural disasters. Nowadays, they live in regions such as Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces. Over the course of their history, the Hakka people have created a unique culture based around a unique language, traditional music and the skill of erecting dwellings known as tulou, or earth buildings.
The Fujian tulou, multifamily, communal living structures, built in a circular or square shape and designed for defense purposes, have been hailed by UNESCO as "the most representative and best preserved examples of such buildings in the mountainous regions of southeastern China". They were inscribed onto the organization's World Heritage List in 2008.
Zheng herself is from a Hakka family. In November 2000, The Echoes of Hakka's Earth Buildings was premiered in Fujian's Longyan city by Zheng and the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, which she founded in 1998.
"It was a gathering of Hakka people from around the world and we wanted to commission a symphonic composition reviewing the history of the Hakka people. When we played the piece, the audience was captivated and responded warmly," recalls Zheng, adding that since 2000, she has performed the piece more than 70 times and in countries including the United States, Australia and New Zealand. In 2005, the piece also won the Golden Bell Award, which is issued by the Chinese Musicians' Association.
Earlier this year, Zheng performed with the symphony orchestra of the Xiamen Municipal Opera and Dance Drama Troupe at three concerts in Shanghai. Zheng says that the Friday concert will mark the first performance by the orchestra in the nation's capital.
"As a Chinese conductor, I always want to introduce musical works composed by Chinese composers to international audiences. The Echoes of Hakka's Earth Buildings is one of those pieces that is enjoyed by audiences around the world, which makes me proud," she adds.
The symphony orchestra of the Xiamen Municipal Opera and Dance Drama Troupe will play an original piece,
The Echoes of Hakka's Earth Buildings, under the baton of Zheng Xiaoying in Beijing on Friday.[Photo provided to China Daily]
The composer, Liu, also from a Hakka family, named the first chapter of the composition Work Song, which portrays a scene of hardworking Hakka people with percussion and wind instruments. Boat on the Sea, the second chapter, featuring folk singer Zhang Dongmei, tells of the migration of the Hakka people. The third chapter, Night Words from the Earth Buildings, expresses the homesickness of the Hakka people after they resettle and build their new homes. Separating Heaven from Earth with a Huge Axe, the fourth chapter, is a celebration of Hakka culture and the final chapter, which is titled Song of Hakka, has a choir singing folks songs to the accompaniment of the orchestra.
"We did lots of research about the Hakka people. What impressed me most is that they preserve their culture and traditions very well," say Zheng. "For example, when we visited some Fujian tulou, the buildings are like pearls scattered across the mountainous areas. Found in various sizes, the buildings are well-preserved by the Hakka people through the generations."
Born and raised in Shanghai, Zheng began learning piano at 6, and enrolled to study composition at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in 1952. In 1960, she pursued further studies in opera, symphony and conducting at the National Moscow Conservatory of Music.
On Oct 1, 1961, she conducted her first orchestral concert in Moscow, which she dedicated to the 12th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The following year, she conducted Giacomo Puccini's opera, Tosca, in the Russian capital, becoming the first Chinese conductor to have performed in an international opera house.
During her decadeslong career, Zheng has not just been a co-founder of several Chinese symphony orchestras-including the Women's Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, which, in 1989, was the first women's symphony orchestra in China-but is also a renowned music educator. Before retirement, she worked as the dean of the conducting department at the Central Conservatory of Music and was the principal conductor of the China National Opera House.
Since the 1980s, she has been devoted to popularizing classical music among Chinese audiences, especially college students, by offering public lectures on campuses and numerous public venues.
She notes that, around the world, female conductors are being recognized more than ever. On March 8, Zheng, along with 29 Chinese female conductors, including 88-year-old Yang Xiujuan, 76-year-old Wu Lingfen, 48-year-old Zhang Xian and 30-year-old Lai Jiajing, celebrated International Women's Day together by sharing their career stories on Chinese social media platforms.
"The chemistry between an orchestra and its conductor is very subtle. It's a very interesting subject, and you're never done learning," Zheng says. "I am grateful that I am still conducting at the age of 92. I am also happy to not just see, but to work with, the new generation of female conductors."
