Lei Jia (, born 19 October 1979) 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 ...

folk soprano and a Chinese national class one performer.

Biography

Lei was born in Yiyang, Hunan province in 1979. She graduated from the drama department of Hunan Vocational College of Art in 1997 specializing in

Huaguxi The flower-drum opera or Huaguxi () is a form of Chinese opera originating in Hunan province. Some other provinces, such as Hubei, Anhui, Henan, Shanxi, also have Huaguxi. It is known in China for its earthy quality, and is often referred to as t ...

. In 2002, she graduated from 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 ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in vocal performance. She then joined the Song and Dance Troupe of the General Political Department (GPD) of the

Chinese People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

(PLA) as a soprano soloist. Lei Jia also completed her postgraduate program in art management from the

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

in 2006, and vocal performance postgraduate program of the People's Liberation Army Art Institute in 2009. Lei Jia has won many awards in national vocal competitions including first place in the 2003 “Jin Zhong Jiang”, a prestigious award for the musical professionals in China. In 2004, she won first place professional folk soloist in the 11th National Youth TV singing competition. She was awarded one of the top 10 new singers in 2005 by CCTV. In 2008, Lei Jia was awarded best female folk singer in the 9th CCTV-MTV music fest. Lei Jia has visited over twenty countries to participate in various cultural exchange activities and help introducing Chinese folk music to the world. In the prelude leading to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Lei Jia participated in "The Songs of the 56 Chinese Nationalities Music Torch Relay". This was a unique project that included a compilation of fifty-six folk songs from the fifty-six ethnic groups of China. Lei Jia was given the role of lead singer in this event. At the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Beijing, Lei Jia performed a Chinese folk song, "''The Moon is Bright Tonight''", along with six other female vocalists. In late 2008, Lei Jia was invited as a special guest to perform in the recital concert of Wang Hongwei, a well-known Chinese folk tenor, at the famous Golden Hall of the

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Grea ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. On 1 October 2009 at

Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square () is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen ("''Gate of Heavenly Peace''") located to its north, which separates it from the Forbidden City. The square contains th ...

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 ...

, Lei Jia and

Dai Yuqiang Dai Yuqiang (; March 12, 1963) is a Chinese operatic tenor. He was the first and only Chinese student of Luciano Pavarotti. With Wei Song and Warren Mok Warren Mok () is a Hong Kong-based Macau operatic tenor who has performed many leading role ...

sang during the grand parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

Personal life

Lei is married to Chen Zhengbai (陈正拜) who is an engineer and business entrepreneur.

Discography

* The Songs of the 56 Chinese Nationalities, * Dandelion Sky, * Reed Catkins, * Lei Jia – from the series of Contemporary Chinese Youth Singers,

References

External links

Lei Jia’s Official Website

Lei Jia’s Fan Discussion Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lei, Jia 1979 births Living people Chinese folk singers People from Yiyang Singers from Hunan Chinese sopranos 21st-century Chinese women singers All-China Women's Federation people