Gong Linna (; born 1 August 1975) is a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

singer. Her style is one which combines the traditional "lightness" and "

ch'i In traditional Chinese culture and the East Asian cultural sphere, ''qi'', also ''ki'' or ''chi'' in Wade–Giles romanization ( ), is believed to be a vital force forming part of any living entity. Literally meaning "vapor", "air", or " ...

" of centuries-old melodies with new lyrics. She has performed many pieces composed or arranged by her husband, German composer

Robert Zollitsch Robert Zollitsch (born 9 August 1938) is a German prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Freiburg im Breisgau from 2003 to 2013 and was Chairman of the German Episcopal Conference from 2008 to 2014. Life and work Zollitsc ...

who is known in Chinese as Lao Luo (), and collaborated with Portuguese

fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado was ...

musician

António Chainho António Chainho (born Santiago do Cacém, 1938) is a Portuguese fado guitarist. He has worked with many of the great names in fado music, like Hermínia Silva, Carlos do Carmo and José Afonso, and world music, like Paco de Lucía. He has ...

. Since 2002 Gong and Zollitsch have been making field trips to provinces including

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

and

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

, seeking to understand and preserve local folk music.

Early life and education

Gong was born in

Guiyang Guiyang (; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), historically rendered as Kweiyang, is the capital of Guizhou province of the People's Republic of China. It is located in the center of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, ...

, on August 1, 1975. In 1992 she enrolled at the Secondary School Affiliated to China Conservatory of Music, where she studied national vocal music under Zou Wenqin. After high school, she was accepted to the

China Conservatory of Music The China Conservatory of Music () is a public music academy in Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The music conservatory was established in 1964, and currently co-funded by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Beijing Municipal People's Government. ...

Songs

Her song ''Tante'' () is a fast-paced wordless fusion song, using various standard voices from

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

along with imitations of traditional Chinese instruments. After Gong Linna performed this in

Hunan Television Hunan Television or Hunan TV () is a provincial satellite TV station officially launched on 29 September 1970 and is currently China's second-most-watched channel, second only to CCTV-1, owned by China Central Television, although Hunan STV occasio ...

's 2010 New Year concert, the song quickly spread in China as a

viral video A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Haupt ...

, gaining the nickname "Divine Comedy". The song was also a viral among southern India Tamil population as Ayyo in Tamil is the name of Lord of Death, Yama or primarily disappointment. According to ''

Shanghai Daily ''Shanghai Daily'' (Chinese: 上海日报, Pinyin: Shànghǎi Rìbào) is an English-language newspaper founded in 1999 and owned by the Shanghai United Media Group, a state media company under the Shanghai committee of the Chinese Communist Party. ...

'', the popularity of ''Tan Te'' turned her and her husband

into "household names" in China. In 2013 she participated in the

Jiangsu Television Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation (JSBC) () is China's third biggest television network after China Central Television (CCTV) and Hunan Broadcasting System (HBS). The television network is owned by the Jiangsu provincial government. The network is ...

singing masterclass series ''All-Star Wars'' (). Zollitsch also participated as her sponsor. Her first performance was a rock version of a classic pop ballad based on an ancient poem, "

Wishing We Last Forever Shuidiao Getou () is the name of a traditional Chinese melody to which a poem in the '' cí'' style can be sung. Different poets have written different lyrics to the melody which are usually prefixed by this melody's title, the Song dynasty poet S ...

", but this interpretation was considered insufficiently reverent and received the lowest score. However, her subsequent performances were very well received, including a

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

folk song "Rippling Brook" and an opera medley version of "Tante".

Personal life

In April 2002, Gong met German composer

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. They married in Guiyang, Guizhou in 2004. The couple has two sons.

References

External links

*
Gong Linna
at RockInChina.org

crienglish.com. 2007-10-03. Includes audio clips. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gong, Linna 1975 births Living people People from Guiyang Musicians from Guizhou Chinese sopranos 21st-century Chinese women singers