Personal Statement

It seems that my affection for singing and eagerness for the stage is what I was born
with. I have always enjoyed singing in front of people and shared good music with
others since I was a little girl. As my musical talent was recognized by my middle
school teachers, I became a member of the school chorus, where my interest in vocal
music was totally ignited and grew stronger and stronger. After making up my mind
to learn vocal music as my major and make it my future career, I entered the
specialized music class at high school and joined the Guan Mei International School
Chorus to train my singing skills systematically. I was introduced to a variety of
musical forms and developed a particular interest in opera under the influence of
Edita Gruberova, my favorite soprano. Her performance impresses me immensely,
with her unique voice, stable breath, and most importantly, distinctive interpretation
of the character. Since then, it has been my dream to become a professional soprano
like her, devoting myself to my beloved opera performance.

With my transparent passion, diligence and perseverance, I stood out from the fierce
competition of college entrance examination and became a vocal music major student
at South China Normal University. At university, I greedily absorbed musical theories
and seized every opportunity to develop my vocal music skills. It was not easy to
master the skills of vocal music, as I had to focus on the details of a song and its
emotions. Besides, when practicing a song, I paid great attention to adjusting my
breath. However, I enjoyed such a learning process and learned how to overcome
obstacles in music study. To accumulate performance experience, I actively
participated in various concerts in and out of the university, such as the Practice
Concerts on campus and Sun Yisheng’s Concert at Xinghai Conservatory of Music.
All these performance experiences taught me to be confident and calm on stage. It
also gave me a great sense of achievement when I overcame the language barrier by
consulting the professors who used to study in Italy and sang Italian songs
successfully in the concerts.

My outstanding performance in the first two undergraduate years earned me

admission to the BMus Music programme at Cardiff University in 2020. At Cardiff, I
have been fully exposed to the broadness of the world of music. My vocal techniques
and understanding of music are brought to a new level under the strict instruction of
my vocal tutor, Prof. Pierre-Maurice Barlier, who helps me find my problems
accurately and overcome difficulties effectively. Besides, my English ability, both
English speaking and thesis writing, has been largely improved through the course
learning at Cardiff. Therefore, I am confident that I am able to handle the challenges
in an intensive postgraduate programme at a UK university.

I have clearly understood that my future development is closely linked to music. The
more I learn in vocal music, the more strongly I feel that what I have learned could
not support me to realize my career goal of becoming a successful opera singer. In my
postgraduate study, I hope to benefit from the dynamic curriculum, inspiring
academic atmosphere, and well-functioning facilities. I aspire to enhance my musical
expertise, hone my vocal skills and enrich my understanding and interpretation of
opera works and characters. Also, in the highly developed music industry in the UK, I
believe I will have access to abundant performance opportunities and broaden my
horizons. Upon graduation, I hope to work in a top opera house as a professional
performer. It is also my aspiration to perform in different places around the world and
let more people enjoy opera with my performance.