Singer blends bel canto and Chinese folk music

Jiang Nan finds the blending of bel canto with Chinese folk singing forms an unique aria that appeals to a wide audience. Photo provided to China Daily

 

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She is slim, tall and fair-skinned with a pair of big, innocent eyes. Her dark hair is long and straight. Her pleasant smile and sweet voice give her the appearance of the perfect girl next door.

However, when she is on stage facing a big audience. She changes into a totally different person. She sings in an exceptionally pure soprano which is sonorous and strong - full of power and feeling.

She is Jiang Nan, a young lyric coloratura soprano singer with the China Opera and Dance Drama Company and gold award winner of the Arts International Music Competition, a globally famous music contest initiated by the Arts International Music and Dance Association (Canada) in 1998.

In many people's eyes, bel canto is an art form that only serves a small group of people. But in Jiang's mind, as long as the voices are beautiful, it should be promoted to the public.

She's a bel canto singer, but she loves Chinese folk music and Chinese traditional culture. She spends the majority of her leisure time practicing and researching folk singing methods.

Gradually, she found that the two singing methods are not opposed, but mutually complementary. She has continued to experiment with combining bel canto with folk singing and has found the two singing methods form a kind of unique aria that appeals to a wide audience.

Born in Fushun, Liaoning province, in 1981, Jiang demonstrated her talent from a young age.

"Both my parents' work has nothing to do with music. Luckily, my uncle is a professional singer in a local song and dance troupe and discovered I can sing, otherwise I would be a teacher now," Jiang says.

Jiang's uncle volunteered to be her private music teacher before she entered the Shenyang Conservatory of Music for professional singing training.

Singing needs talent, but success also requires hard work. As a soloist, you need to have your voice heard by everyone in the concert hall.

"Music has almost occupied her whole life, and the rest of her time is spent reading books," Sun Xuemei, Jiang's best friend, says.

But Jiang was not satisfied with her achievements, and insisted on returning to school for further study. She now studies at the Central Conservatory of Music with Dilber Yunus, an internationally known lyric soprano.

Dilber Yunus is very fond of her student and says: "Jiang Nan is a very gifted singer and her voice is pure, soft and melodious. She is a soprano of great compass and purity. It will be great if she can keep practicing to control her breath."

Jiang also frequently volunteers for charities. People often find her at various kinds of charity galas for disaster relief and shows for workers.

She is currently in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, where she will perform for oil workers.