Gong Linna (; born 1 August 1975) is a

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

fusion singer. Her style is one which combines the traditional "lightness" and "

ch'i In the Sinosphere, qi ( ) is traditionally believed to be a vital force part of all living entities. Literally meaning 'vapor', 'air', or 'breath', the word ''qi'' is polysemous, often translated as 'vital energy', 'vital force', 'material ...

" of centuries-old melodies with new lyrics. She is also known for her collaboration with her ex-husband, German composer

Robert Zollitsch Robert Zollitsch (born 9 August 1938) is a German prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Freiburg im Breisgau from 2003 to 2013 and was Chairman of the German Episcopal Conference from 2008 to 2014. In April 2023, the rep ...

, as well as Portuguese

fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado ...

musician

António Chainho António Chainho (born 1938) is a Portuguese fado guitarist. He has worked with many of the great names in fado music, like Hermínia Silva, Carlos do Carmo and José Afonso, and world music, like Paco de Lucía. He has also recorded and to ...

Early life

Gong was born in

Guiyang Guiyang; Mandarin pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively as Kweiyang is the capital of Guizhou, Guizhou province in China. It is centrally located within the province, on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, eastern part of the Yun ...

Guizhou ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province , map_caption = Map s ...

, on August 1, 1975. In 1992 she enrolled at the Secondary School Affiliated to China Conservatory of Music, where she studied national vocal music under Zou Wenqin. After high school, she was accepted to the

China Conservatory of Music The China Conservatory of Music (CCMusic; ) is a municipal music academy in Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The school is affiliated with the City of Beijing, and co-funded by the Beijing Municipal People's Government and the Ministry of Culture an ...

Career

Gong rose to prominence after performing her song ''Tante'' () in

Hunan Television Hunan Television or Hunan TV () is a state-owned provincial satellite TV station launched on September 29, 1970. It is currently China's second-most-watched television channel, second to China Central Television's CCTV-1, although Hunan TV has oc ...

's 2010 New Year concert. The fast-paced wordless fusion song, using various standard voices from

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

along with imitations of traditional Chinese instruments, quickly spread in China as a

viral video Viral videos are video, videos that become popular through viral phenomenon, a viral process of Internet sharing, primarily through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhon ...

, gaining the nickname "Divine Comedy". The song was also a viral among southern India Tamil population as Ayyo in Tamil is the name of Lord of Death, Yama or primarily disappointment. In 2013 she participated in the

Jiangsu Television Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation (JSBC) () is China's third biggest television network after China Central Television (CCTV) and Hunan Broadcasting System (HBS). The television network is owned by the Jiangsu provincial government. The network is ...

singing masterclass series ''All-Star Wars'' (). Her husband

also participated as her sponsor. Her first performance was a rock version of a classic pop ballad based on an ancient poem, "

Wishing We Last Forever Shuidiao Getou () is the name of a traditional Chinese melody to which a poem in the ''Ci (poetry), cí'' style can be sung. Different poets have written different lyrics to the melody which are usually prefixed by this melody's title, the Song d ...

", but this interpretation was considered insufficiently reverent and received the lowest score. However, her subsequent performances were very well received, including a

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

folk song "Rippling Brook" and an opera medley version of "Tante".

Personal life

In April 2002, Gong met German composer

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. They married in Guiyang, Guizhou in 2004. The couple has two sons. They announced their divorce in 2024. Since 2002 Gong and Zollitsch have been making field trips to provinces including

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

and

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

, seeking to understand and preserve local folk music.

References

External links

*
Gong Linna
at RockInChina.org

crienglish.com. 2007-10-03. Includes audio clips. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gong, Linna 1975 births Living people People from Guiyang Musicians from Guizhou Chinese sopranos 21st-century Chinese women singers