 The singer we'll introduce to you today was born in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, but has been living in Shanghai for 13 years, as a student and then a teacher in the Shanghai Music Conservatory. Not long ago, she released her first album, redolent with the musical flavor of Xinjiang. Well, let's follow Manli to have a talk with the singer and enjoy her music.
Reporter:
"I was born and grew up in Kashgar, Xinjiang. I like my hometown very much. But I think it is the music of Xinjiang that influenced me the most. I had been intoxicated by the sound of hand drums and the rewap, the long-necked lute of Uygur ethnicity, ever since my early childhood."
Meng Jinhui said that she didn't have much knowledge about music when she was young, but that the pure and passionate ethnic song and dance in Xinjiang have endowed her with the talent to perform these tunes, with their unique flavors. The song we're hearing now is named Kashgar Spring, dedicated to her hometown.
Cherishing a dream in her heart to become a singer, Meng Jinhui became, however, a medical worker after her graduation from middle school. It was not until 1988 that she began formal vocal training, taught by a professor in the Xinjiang Arts Institute. Two years later, Meng Jinhui made up her mind to quit the medical career and enter herself for an examination in the Shanghai Music Conservatory. Luckily, she was accepted by the Conservatory, and became one of the most hardworking students. Every time she came back to Xinjiang, she would go to see musicians of various ethnicities, studying from them on singing techniques and skills. She herself believes that only when she gets a real understanding about the history and culture of Xinjiang will she be able to convey her genuine love of her hometown to her listeners.
Next, I'll play you a song entitled Qiuci (¹ê×È), which is the name of an ancient kingdom within the domain of Xinjiang. The kingdom is famous for the art of its Buddhist grottoes - which have been admired by Buddhist believers for generations.
After Meng Jinhui graduated from the Shanghai Music Conservatory in 1995, she stayed in the school and became a teacher. After a decade of teaching and vocal practice, she has realized more about the profundity and variety of ethnic music in Xinjiang. She wants to spread this music to a wider audience through her singing.
"We must hand down this profound heritage of ethnic music as best we can. People's aesthetic taste is changing with the development of the times. So we have to think about how to better develop and publicize these cultural phenomena, allowing more people to love them and sing them."
Every track in Meng Jinhui's album is marked with a Xinjiang-flavored musical element. Each conveys the singer's deep love and emotion toward this ancient and mysterious land.
I'll leave you today with another track taken from this album, Ballads of Childhood, which records the sweet memory of the singer, set in the land in which she was born and grew up.
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