Chinese opera and traditional singing with Suyuan Li (Ivy)
The Basics
Suyuan Li, who also goes by Ivy, is a professionally trained singer who enjoys performing both Chinese and Italian opera, as well as Chinese traditional singing. Opera, which is very popular in China as well as all around the world, is performed in many different languages, from Italian to English to Chinese. Ivy shared that one thing she enjoys about singing opera in different languages is that you can still experience the universal emotion created by the music, even if you don’t understand the language of the words!
Traditional Chinese music is based upon the pentatonic scale, as a means to promote beautiful, clear melodies, without an emphasis on rhythm or harmony. Many Chinese folk songs share these qualities.
For her performance, Ivy chose to sing “Song Bie” (“Farewell”), which has been a beloved song in China for many years and is a very special song to her, as she shares in her videos. The Chinese lyrics were written by Hong Yi in 1915, but the melody is actually from an older English song called “Dreaming of Home and Mother” by American composer John P. Ordway, and Hong Yi first heard it in Japanese!
In addition to her performance of “Song Bie,” in these videos Ivy shares about her experiences with singing and what it means to her, and teaches us some basic vocal warm-ups to try.
Extension Activities
Ellen Davis has shared a copy of the worksheets developed for a learning experience with Ivy at Stratford Elementary, with description as follows. This activity could be adapted by listening to Ivy’s performance of “Song Bie” and contrasting the mood/emotions with some other Chinese folk song performances or songs in any language of your choosing!
Learners can respond to the songs Ivy shares, identifying emotion the music conjures for them. Learners will be invited to write a short, “snap-shot” story or poem about an emotion, perhaps based on an experience they had when they felt that certain way. This will be the motivation for learners in groups of 3 or 4 to experiment and create a melody based on the pentatonic scale, using mallet instruments, and auxiliary percussion such as wood blocks, finger cymbals, hand drum, sticks, small bells, wind chimes, etc. Learners can be asked to share their melodies with the class.
Click here to download the worksheets.
About Ivy
Suyuan Li, who also goes by Ivy, is a professionally trained singer who enjoys performing both Chinese and Italian opera, as well as Chinese traditional singing. She has a Bachelor of Music Performance from Hainan University in Hainan, China, and a Master of Education from the University of Prince Edward Island. While living in Hainan, Ivy was a tutor of vocal music, solfeggio, and music theory courses to students from age five to eighteen years of age.
