Two singers received the gold award of $10,000 at the NTD 9th International Chinese Vocal Competition, in which singers from eight countries performed over three days at the Merkin Hall of Kaufman Music Center in New York City. The final round took place on Sept. 21.
Mezzo-soprano Chunqing Zhang and soprano Yue Li, both based in Germany, received gold awards.
Mezzo-soprano Fengzhen Liu, from the United States, received the silver award.
Three singers were awarded the bronze award: baritone Shaofeng Zheng, based in the United States; tenor Jun Wen Wong, based in Malaysia; and tenor Vincent Ji, based in the United States.
Awards of Excellence were given to soprano Chau Nguyen, from Vietnam, soprano Jieun Lee, from Korea, soprano Chia-Yi Huang, from the United States, and soprano Yuchuan Zhang, from Canada.
The competition is unique in that singers are to sing in the bel canto style only and are required to perform at least one song in the Chinese language.
The competition is also part of a series of cultural events hosted by NTD to promote truth, beauty, and goodness and advance its mission of reviving traditional culture. “NTD” stands for New Tang Dynasty, a reference to the cultural golden age of China.
Lucy Zhou, head of the competition organizing committee, congratulated all the singers who traveled far and wide to join NTD in New York City.
“All of these singers are truly impressive, to have stood on this stage and joined in our mission to revive traditional culture, contributing to this historic mission,” Zhou said.
“Many shared how moving it was for them to perform bel canto in Chinese and what it meant to them to be part of the movement of reviving the authentic, traditional Chinese culture.”
Gold winner Yue Li said she was grateful for the platform NTD provided for traditional Chinese culture. She performed “Lyrics to the Melody of a Pacified Storm,” a Song Dynasty verse by the famous poet Su Shi.
“This is a very precious platform, and probably the only one in the world promoting Chinese bel canto singing, and it’s in the United States,” she said. “It’s always been a dream of mine to sing Chinese songs on a global stage.”
Gold winner Chunqing Zhang similarly said the NTD competition gave her a unique platform.
“I perform in major theaters across Europe, but I’ve never got to perform this song,” she said.
The finals were streamed live, shared with NTD’s social media audience of 50 million globally.
Zhang performed “A wonderful night in spring,” an ancient Chinese song originally written for the pipa, also known as the Chinese lute. Zhang was heartened by the audience’s response to her interpretation of the familiar melody.
Zhang said she was grateful for the opportunity to share the beautiful melody and the beauty of traditional Chinese culture.
“And I was so happy with the audience’s reaction. People really got what I was trying to convey,” she said. “All Chinese people know this story and melody, and I wished to bring this to people all over the world.”
