Song Zuying 宋祖英 was born in Guzhang County on August 13, 1966. She is of Hmong ethnicity and an active member of the Communist Party of China, and she is a Fire Horse!! My favourite Lunar Year sign. She studied at the department of music and dancing in the Central Institute for Nationalities in Beijing, after which she studied at the China Music College. Her father died when she was 12, and she is the oldest daughter. In 1991, she joined the Chinese People's Liberation Army Naval Song and Dance Troupe as a national first-class singer. Since 2009, she is a non-combatant Rear Admiral in the Chinese Navy.
Having joined the Chinese Communist Party in
1999, she rose quickly to become a deputy representative at the 9th National
People's Congress from 1998 to 2003, and a member of the 10th, 11th, and 12th
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, from 2003 on. She is a standing member of the Communist Youth League of China, an executive member of
All-China Women's Federation, a member of China Federation of Literary and Art
Circles and the agent of China Musician Association, & an ambassador
to the Chinese Red Cross.
Song Zuying has published many personal albums and videos, and she has published Happy Life – Photo Album of Song Zuying, Real Passion in the Music World – Selection of Songs by Song Zuying and Voices of a Hundred Years – The Classics of the Songs in the Chinese Films over a Century. In recent years, Song Zuying has visited Europe, Australia, the U.S., Canada and Southeastern Asia for the art interaction with China Art Delegation. In the World Cup held in Korea in 2002, Song was invited to sing representing the Chinese in the large scale vocal concert. In December 2002, as the culture ambassador for the 30th anniversary for the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Australia, she held the vocal concert “Prosperity” in Sydney successfully. In November 2003, she held the personal vocal concert in the Golden Hall in Vienna successfully.
She has held solo concert performances at
international venues such as Sydney Opera House in 2002, Vienna Golden Hall in
2004, and John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in 2008 were held for
the political elites in those respective countries for diplomatic purposes. In
2006, her CD "The Diva Goes to the Movies: A Centennial Celebration of
Chinese Film Song" was nominated for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in the
category of Best Classical Crossover Album.
Song Zuying performed a duet with tenor Plácido Domingo at the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Beijing. She also performs regularly on the Chinese Spring Festival Gala; in 2009, in addition to her own song, she sang a duet with Jay Chou
On May 1, 2010, the day following the opening
ceremony of the Expo 2010, in Shanghai, Zuying joined tenor Andrea Bocelli,
singer Jay Chou, and concert pianist Lang Lang in a concert titled Charming
China at Shanghai Stadium, in front of an audience of 80,000 people,
accompanied by The China Philharmonic Orchestra. On June 5, 2012, Song once
again performed with Bocelli, Yu Long and Lang Lang in the East Meets West
concert at London's Royal Albert Hall. On February 9, 2013, Chinese New Year's
Eve, Song Zuying sang the traditional Chinese song Jasmine Flower (《茉莉花》) as a duet with Canadian pop star Celine Dion at the
CCTV New Year's Gala.
In short .... Song Zuying is a remarkable woman. But then ... she carries the Fire Horse energy, further fortified by Leo the Lion.