Art is a universal language that transcends national boundaries and cultural barriers, connecting our diverse world. Art can be individual and unique, and yet art speaks to us all in a common language, serving as a bridge for mutual learning across different countries and civilizations. I am a mezzo-soprano opera singer from the United Kingdom and my connection with China began with a set of performances eight years ago.
In 2016 I was invited to join iSING! Suzhou International Young Artists Festival in East China's Jiangsu Province. The iSING! Festival is the first program of its kind dedicated to the promotion of Putonghua, or Mandarin Chinese, as a "lyric language": in other words, a language of opera. The festival was founded by world-famous Bass and star of the Metropolitan Opera, Tian Haojiang.
The festival offers world-class vocal training to young talent from China and other countries, and has provided an opportunity for singers from all over the world to showcase their skills and musicality by singing in Chinese. The year 2016 marked my first trip to China and I discovered my love for the Chinese language at this festival. While it would be another several years before I began teaching myself Chinese characters, from 2016 I started my Chinese language journey by learning to sing Chinese songs.
Having invested in three years of full-time Chinese language study at Tsinghua University in Beijing from 2020-2023, I am now happily studying for a doctoral degree at the Scho.