Biography
When she was little, Yuquan
was a lovely girl who was addicted to singing and dancing. She often
gathered all the children in the neighborhood, and set up her
bed as a stage to perform revolutionary operas. In addition to
the eight so-called "revolutionary operas,” basically no other
literature was allowed during the “Cultural Revolution” period.
Everyone said she was born
with a golden voice, intelligent and a quick learner, she
was able to sing and play an entire episode from beginning to
end. Not only did she sing “Peking Operas”, but also Shaanxi
opera (Qin Qiang).
After entering elementary
school, Yuquan became the major player in the school’s
"propaganda team" and often performed on stage or on the street.
The "Cultural Revolution"
ended when Yuquan was in high school. At that time new trends
had begun to move quietly into China. In the artistic area, one
of the first trends introduced were songs by “the Queen of
Heaven” – Teresa Teng from Taiwan. For people who had been
hearing only the revolutionary operas for 10 years, Teng’s voice
was like a spring breeze warming their hearts. Soon. Teng's
songs quickly became very popular across the entire nation. Of
course, with her love of music, Yuquan became obsessed as well.
Yuquan’s god-given voice
easily allowed her to adopt the sweet singing style of the real
Teng and many people were easily confused and convinced that she
was Teng. Because of this, she was honored with the knick name
of “Little Teresa Teng.”
Because the old Chinese
society was in a transition of old and new things, the
traditional ideology still had not been completely thawed, and
very soon Teng's songs were characterized as "conscious" and
"yellow songs" by the government and got banned throughout the
country. Yuquan was caught up in this turmoil and was criticized
by the school for singing Teng's songs. As a result, her
scholarship was taken away.
At that time, Yuquan was
studying in the No. 1 Middle School in Lanzhou – the top
high school in Gansu Province. The regulations stated that the
students who were ranked the first two in any major exams would
be awarded scholarships. Yuquan was ranked first 10 times and
second twice. Even though she was so highly ranked and was
qualified to get all the scholarships, she had her eligibility
taken away at that time because her singing of Teng's songs was
considered an ideological problem.
After graduating from the
high school in 1982, Yuquan entered the University of Science
and Technology of China (known as the Chinese MIT back to the
old days), and began to
major in Chemistry. At that time, she didn’t’ choose to pursue
the Arts since the Chinese academic culture embraced “Math,
Physics and Chemistry as everything you need.”
At USTC, in addition to
studying her own major courses, Yuquan was still very interested
in singing and dancing. Just like her days in elementary and
high school, her primary love was still singing and dancing, and
she continued to be widely recognized as a gentle and graceful
dancer and singer. Because of her love of music and dance,
Yuquan again became an active figure in the university’s Art
group. She often participated in competition, and was presented
with several awards in solo singing and dancing during the Anhui
College Student’s Art & Literature Competition.
In 1987, Yuquan’s five-year
student life came to an end. Her thesis, Preparation of
Ultra-fine Powder of Barium-Yttrium-Copper-Oxide Compound System
and Its Superconductivity" was published in the U.S. "Chinese
Physics” Magazine (Vol. 9, No. 2, 1989). Upon graduation, Yuquan
was assigned to a large petrochemical enterprise. With her
natural talent and personality, she soon became a lead activist
in the company’s Art group. She often performed during the team
tour and also sang solo and Teresa's songs at Zhongshan Concert
Hall in Beijing. At one of those performances, a famous song
writer believed that she had great potential, and talked to her
about a possible singing career. However, due to the rigid
personnel management system at that time, it was impossible for
Yuquan to leave her working place. With much sorrow and regret,
she had to put this opportunity aside, and her dream was never
realized.
In 1991, Yuquan came to the
United States to study, and soon established her home in
America. She began working for several companies as a database
administrator, and continued that work from 1999 to 2001 at
Harvard University. Beginning in 2001, she has created and
currently manages several Internet shopping web sites.
During all of these times, Yuquan has never given up her love and commitment to singing,
and singing has remained as an important part of her life. She
has continued to improve her own musical talent and her level of
singing competence.
In recent years, she has put
this love of singing into action and has joined the "Yellow
River Art Group" and the Cambridge Chinese School’s Karaoke
Club, frequently participating in a number of amateur
performances.
This past July 2006, Yuquan
traveled to China as part of the 63-member Boston Eastern
Heritage Chorus, a Boston-area amateur adult singing group,
where they won two prestigious awards at the 4th
World Choir Games – competing against more than 400 other
choruses from 80 nations.
Yuquan has a wide vocal range
and her voice is rich in expressive force. Yuquan has created
her own singing Web site (www.yuquanchen.com)
and when you visit that site, you can appreciate her talent and
know that her beautiful songs will bring you a whole new feeling
of peace and happiness.
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