Zhou Xiaoyan

Zhou Xiaoyan
Zhou Xiaoyan performing in 1947 in Shanghai
Background information
Chinese name	周小燕 (traditional)
Chinese name	周小燕 (simplified)
Pinyin	Zhōu Xiǎoyàn (Mandarin)
Born	(1917-08-17)August 17, 1917 Wuhan, Hubei, China
Died	March 4, 2016(2016-03-04) (aged 98) Shanghai, China
Occupation	Vocal pedagogue, Classical soprano
Years active	1937–2016
Spouse(s)	Zhang Junxiang (m. 1952; d. 1996)
Education	Shanghai Conservatory of Music
Alma mater	École Normale de Musique de Paris Conservatoire russe de Paris Serge Rachmaninoff

Zhou Xiaoyan (Chinese: 周小燕; Wade–Giles: Chou Hsiao-yen; August 17, 1917 – March 4, 2016) was a Chinese vocal pedagogue and classical soprano. Dubbed by The New York Times as "China's First Lady of Opera", she was considered to be the first important instructor of Western opera in China.

As a vocalist, she performed in theaters and concert halls across Europe in 1946–1947; earning the nickname the "Chinese Nightingale". Under the directive of Premier Zhou Enlai, she began a career teaching voice at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 1949. She remained an instructor at the Shanghai Conservatory for more than 65 years. Many of her students went on to highly successful international opera careers.

Born in Wuhan, Zhou's father, Zhou Cangbai, was a wealthy banker. She was educated at a Roman Catholic school in Shanghai which exposed her to studies in Western music. She was also influenced in her youth by the White Russian and Jewish musicians who were prevalent in 1930s Shanghai.

In 1936, at the age of 18, Zhou began her professional musical training at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. While a student at the conservatory she was a member in a performance art troupe. She rose to fame in her native country shortly after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. Wishing to raise the morale of the Chinese people facing the invasion by Japan, she sang the patriotic song The Great Wall Ballad at concerts in Wuhan and Singapore which were highly regarded and inspired financial aid and the conscription of soldiers for the war effort.

In 1938 Zhou left China for studies in France after her voice teacher in Singapore told her that her voice was "too throaty". She pursued studies at the École Normale de Musique de Paris and later at the Conservatoire russe de Paris Serge Rachmaninoff. While at the latter institution her voice blossomed into a "bell-like lyric coloratura", and she befriended composer Nikolai Tcherepnin.