Robert Zollitsch (born 1966) is a composer and producer of new Chinese music. He is known as Lao Luo (, literally "Old Ro/

Gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

") in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and established himself as an expert of traditional Asian music and a very important composer of contemporary Chinese art music.

Early life and education

Zollitsch was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, Germany in 1966. Zollitsch grew up with the Folk music of his home region, learning early in his childhood a classical Bavarian folk music instrument, the Bavarian

zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat bo ...

. From 1986 to 1990 he studied music theory and graduated from the

Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German language, German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions ...

in Berlin. In 1993, he was awarded a scholarship to study Chinese traditional music and the Chinese zither

Guqin The ''guqin'' (; ) is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument. It has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favoured by scholars and literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement, as highlighted b ...

in Shanghai.

Musical career

Zollitsch is known as an expert in Chinese, Mongolian and

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

art music. He has been producing and working with Chinese musicians or singers as

Gong Linna Gong Linna (; born 1 August 1975) is a Chinese fusion singer. Her style is one which combines the traditional "lightness" and "ch'i" of centuries-old melodies with new lyrics. She has performed many pieces composed or arranged by her husband, Germ ...

Urna In Buddhist art and culture, the Urna (more correctly ūrṇā or ūrṇākośa (Pāli uṇṇa), and known as in Chinese) is a spiral or circular dot placed on the forehead of Buddhist images as an auspicious mark. It symbolizes a third eye, w ...

, Du Cong, Qiu Ji, Luo Yan, by composing pieces for traditional Chinese instruments that make extensive use of harmonies, fusing together elements of different cultures, which leads to music that seems to be of traditional Chinese art music style with a western influence, sometimes sounding like music of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

or like pop music. The result is a style that is uniquely "Robert Zollitsch". He has written and produced, under his own label, KuKu Music, over a dozen recordings of contemporary Chinese art music, all of which have caused a sensation in Europe, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. His Chinese audience describes his music as "very Chinese, but with an exceptionally novel touch".(no title)

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (; abbreviated HKCO) was founded in 1977. The orchestra has won the accolades as “a leader in Chinese ethnic music” and “a cultural ambassador of Hong Kong”. It is often invited to perform at famous venues ...

website Zollitsch studied the "timbre and performing techniques of the chime bells" firsthand, according to the ''

Taipei Times The ''Taipei Times'' is the only printed daily English-language newspaper in Taiwan, and the third established there. Online competitors include the state-owned ''Focus Taiwan'' and ''Taiwan News''; ''The China Post'' was formerly a competit ...

''. In February 2011, during the celebration of the

Chinese Lunar New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly referred to as the Spring Festival () as ...

, his new experimental work ''Tan Te'' (Perturbed) sung by Gong Linna was popular around China, especially among

netizens The term netizen is a portmanteau of the English words ''internet'' and ''citizen'', as in a "citizen of the net" or "net citizen". It describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general.

. 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 him and Gong into "household names" in China.

Personal life

In April 2002, Robert Zollitsch met his future wife, Chinese singer

, in

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 ...

. The two have composed and produced music in albums like ''Jing Ye Si'' (2006) and ''Ye Xue'' (a.k.a. ''Night Snows'', 2010). Since 2003 Robert Zollitsch has lived in Beijing. The ''Jing Ye Si'' album contains a piece of the same name that uses as lyrics one of the most famous poems by

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

poet

Li Bai Li Bai (, 701–762), also pronounced as Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet, acclaimed from his own time to the present as a brilliant and romantic figure who took traditional poetic forms to new heights. He and his friend Du F ...

, "

Quiet Night Thought Quiet Night Thought () is a famous poem written by the Tang Dynasty poet, Li Bai (also known as Li Bo or Li Po). Text The text below is a Qing-dynasty version, with Mandarin pronunciation. It is taught to children in both Taiwanese and Chinese s ...

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

References

External links

*
KuKu Music
* 1966 births German male composers German composers Living people Composers from Munich German expatriates in China Shanghai Conservatory of Music alumni {{Germany-composer-stub