Seven Castles

Han Hong

                                      

November 23, 2007

 

Han Hong is a versatile female musician who earned her place in the pop music scene through her distinct vocal and creative talents. She not only sings well. but is also a very successful songwriter. Born in 1971 in Xigaze, the second largest city in the Tibet after Lhasa, she was given the Tibetan name, Gesang Zhuoma. When she was very young, she used to watch her mother, a renowned Tibetan singer, sing and dance on stage, and dreamed that one day she too would perform before great audiences.

 

Many people did not expect her to become a famous pop star, because she did not have the stunning looks and slim figure usually associated with successful personalities in the pop industry. Despite discouraging comments, she did not give up her pursuit of a career in music.

 

She inherited her mother's talent as a singer. At the age of nine, she came to Beijing to receive professional vocal training in a children's chorus. In 1985, she won her first national prize in a singing competition. At the age of 16, she joined the People's Liberation Army (PLA) as a military singer. Later, she was trained at the Central Conservatory of Music and the Art Institute of the PLA. Her singing has distinctive Tibetan characteristics and she is able to shift freely from piercing high pitches to soft low pitches. She says if she had not become fascinated by pop music, she would have become a Tibetan folk singer.

 

On Christmas Eve 2003, she staged her first solo concert at the Capital Gymnasium in Beijing. More than twenty of her hits were presented in a luxurious treat for her fans. Her mum, who, in the 1950s, first sang the song "On the Gold Mountain", a popular folk song in China, was also invited on stage to sing the song together with her.

 

Her ambition goes far beyond just being a pop singer though. She also writes her own music. She started composing songs in 1993, without having had any professional training. Most of the songs on her own albums are her own. Maybe this helped her form her own distinctive style, which has become popular with so many listeners. She has written a number of popular songs for other singers as well.

 

Quite a number of her songs are related to her roots in Tibet. Her songs combine elements of classical Tibetan folk music with pop music. Her songs have thrown a light on the mysterious and rich culture of Tibet and aroused a lot of interest.

 

Yet, her songs, which deal with the theme of Tibet, make up just a small proportion of her work. As a pop singer in Beijing, she has had a lot of exposure to different styles of music, such as Jazz, R&B, Rock and Roll and Latin music, and her work reflects this.

 

As an energetic and, from her appearance, slightly wild singer, she shows another side of her personality through her music; gentle and restrained. She helped modernize and popularize Tibetan songs that are becoming increasingly popular in China.

 

Among all her hits, my top favorites are "Qinghai-Tibet Plateau" and "Heavenly Road".

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2007年11月23日 星期五 05:29】【注册】【打印】