Barbara Fei (; pinyin: Fèi Míngyí; 8 July 1931 – 3 January 2017), also known as Barbara Fei Ming-yi, was a Hong Kong

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

opera singer. She was founder of a choral group, Allegro Singers, which performed for over 50 years.

Biography

Fei was born in 1931 in

Tianjin, China Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

, at the outset of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

. At age four, she performed from memory "The Family Song", from a film directed by her father,

Fei Mu Fei Mu (October 10, 1906 – January 31, 1951), also romanised as Fey Mou, was a Chinese film director of the pre-Communist era. His '' Spring in a Small Town'' (1948) was declared the greatest Chinese film ever made by the Hong Kong Film Crit ...

, one of China's top film directors. Fei studied piano and

vocal music Vocal music is a type of singing performed by one or more singers, either with instrumental accompaniment, or without instrumental accompaniment (a cappella), in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. Music which employs singing but ...

at the Nanjing Conservatory in the late 1940s, before relocating to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

with her family in 1949. She made her debut at a 1951 concert, presented by the Sino-British Orchestra, inaugurating the new hall at Queen's College (Hong Kong). Hwang Yau-tai and Barbara Fei

In 1956, Fei joined the Sino-British Orchestra to perform in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, and, later that year, flew to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to study under European soprano

Lotte Schöne Lotte Schöne, ''née'' Charlotte Bodenstein (December 15, 1891 – December 22, 1977) was an Austrian lyric coloratura soprano. Born in Vienna, Schöne studied music in that city and made her debut in 1912 at the Vienna Volksoper as a bridesmai ...

for three years. She founded the Allegro Singers in 1964 and commissioned Chinese composers to arrange

folk songs Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...

for chorus, which she did for every annual concert up to 2016. Fei was awarded the Bronze and a Silver Bauhinia Medal in 2001 and 2012. She was a long-time member of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, serving also as head of music until late 2016. Despite plans for a January 2017 Taipei performance, Fei's final one was in November 2016, when she conducted the Allegro Singers at a concert series presented by the Chinese Women Composers' Association, of which she was honorary president.

Death

Fei died on 3 January 2017, aged 85, at the Hong Kong Sanitorium and Hospital. She was survived by two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fei, Barbara 1931 births 2017 deaths Singers from Tianjin 20th-century Hong Kong women singers Chinese sopranos 21st-century Hong Kong women singers