Ｓｏｎｇｓ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ Ｇｒａｓｓｌａｎｄｓ

ＬＩ　ＹＵＡＮ

When Soinam Wangmo appeared on stage at the 10th CCTV Young Singers Contest in 2002, she immediately grabbed the attention of the audience and judges with her brilliantly colored Tibetan robes and jewelry. But it was when she began to sing in that clear and passionate voice of hers, vocals straight from heaven, that they were hooked.

In the audience sat the well-known Tibetan diva Cedain Zhoima, 65, who had flown in specially from Lhasa to cheer the young singer from her hometown. “Soinam Wangmo has grown up in the herding zones of Tibet. She has only sung to the accompaniment of a flute, and has never performed with a band. I hope the musicians and conductor will understand this,” she fretted before Soinams performance.

But she need not have worried. It seemed like everyone understood and accepted this. Despite a few lapses in keeping step with the band and in the later quiz on musical theories, Soinamo was voted not just gold winner in the ethnic singing category for amateurs but also “best-loved singer,” marking the first time such honors went to a Tibetan contestant in thehistory of the event. The judges said her rendering of the song My Golden Hometown evoked the tranquility and grandeur of the Tibetan grasslands.

Praise for Soinam in the widely-watched CCTV contest drew the attention of several top troupes in China and she soon signed up with the Beijing-based Song and Dance Ensemble of the PLA General Political Department. It was a difficult choice – particularly for her mother. “Lhasa is far away, but she didnt oppose my heading to the capital, ” says the singer.

Keeping Native Culture Alive

Soinams home lies 4,400 meters above sea level in Nagqu, 600 kilometers from Lhasa. She is the tenth child in her family, and both her parents are local singers themselves.

“My childhood memories are filled with songs and dances we did with our neighbors, both men and women, in our yard. My mother has an untrainedbut fascinating voice and knows many folk songs. She is also a good dancer. I still remember her playing Guozhuang by the bonfire.”

When Soinam set foot in Beijing seven years ago, she was overwhelmed by the sight of skyscrapers, broad roads crammed with all kinds of vehicles and the crush of people. But she took up the challenge of living in this entirely new environment, for she felt “there are more opportunities for a singer here.”

As part of the Song and Dance Ensemble of the PLA General Political Department, Soinam received professional voice training for the first time. “Some friends worry that such formal training may dull my distinctive style but I know what makes me, and will never ‘trade a flower of mine for a leaf of others. The more I am exposed to other musical genres, the better I understand my own culture.”

Soinam is currently preparing for post-graduate studies at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, hoping the experience will help further refine hervocal techniques.

Despite such refinements, Soinam cherishes the indigenous quality of her singing. “A real diamond is expensive, but a synthetic stone is valueless. Indigenous singing is like a treasure of nature, and is the root of native culture, ” she says. “We have 56 ethnic groups in China, and the musicof each of them is a gem of Chinese culture.”

In 2005, Soinam performed at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the U.S., where her singing gave full play to the color and vibrancy of Tibetan music. After the show, she was received by then US President George W. Bush.

Although committed to Tibetan music, Soinam is not prejudiced against other genres. Recently, she played Cedain Zhoima in a revised version of Chinas first musical The East Is Red, which featured folk music and dance from different parts of China.

Soinam is widely deemed the most promising Tibetan singer of her generation. She says good music depends on good works, but these are hard to come by, particularly in the case of Tibetan songs.

“Road to the Heaven appeared a decade after The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (both Tibetan hits sung in the Chinese language). It is now seven or eight years since the debut of Road to the Heaven. Most Tibetan songs are composed by Tibetan people in the Tibetan language, which makes it difficult to promote them across the nation. Snow mountains cannotgrow grapes, and Beijing is not the land for snow lotus,” she says.

To overcome the shortage of ready-made works, Soinam is trying her hand at composition. She tries to put her flashes of inspiration into notes.

Home Is Where the Heart Is

After seven years in Beijing, Soinam looks the typical urban elite. She carries the latest mobile phone, chats on her laptop, buys high-endbrands, and scribbles her name in flowery Chinese characters for her fans. But she remains a daughter of the plateau.

“For one from the Tibet Plateau, it is hard to adjust to the climate in Beijing, she says. When she first moved to the capital, what intrigued her most was why people here were always busy. “I didnt know what they are busy with, but I didnt like it. I was late to the office everyday.” Her abhorrence for a hectic social life remains. She prefers to stay away from big crowds to any extent possible, but this is difficult in a city like Beijing.

Her contact with friends in Tibet has weakened in recent years. At first, it was usually Soinam who used to call them. “They say I have changed, but I dont feel that way.” Her Tibetan pals do not approve of her new life, and think her new fashions bizarre.

The herders daughter is a voracious reader. “I loved King Gesar when I was a little girl, and imagined myself in the story. Now my taste has shifted to philosophy.” Sometimes, she will ponder over a chapter for a long time until she feels she has grasped the essence of the writing. Reading, she says, gives her an understanding of a bigger world, and the sense that everyone can find common ground. Stories of events in other parts of the nation and the world, she feels, carry the same wealth of wisdom that she has received from her mother.

In Soinams apartment in Beijing, Tibet is everywhere – from the décor to the barley cake in the refrigerator. She says her thoughts are always with her tent home on the Nagqu pasture, where her mother continues to live.

“Considering her age and health, I cannot bring her to Beijing. She wouldnt adapt to the climate here. Besides, I couldnt spend much time with her, as I am always on performance tours.”

Despite the distance separating them, Soinam says her mother is proud that she is bringing the songs that her people have sung for generations at bonfires and on horseback, to magnificent theaters, where her girl is admired and applauded.