Dr. Mei Zhong received her Doctor of Musical Arts (in Vocal Performance and Literature) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her Master of Fine Arts (in Vocal Performance and Practices) from the University of California at Los Angeles. She earned a Bachelor of Arts (in Piano Performance) from Hunan Teachers University and a diploma of voice for advanced study from Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Zhong previously taught at Idaho State University and Hunan Teachers University. Since 1999, she has served as an Honorary Professor and a Guest Professor at several universities in China.

As opera singer and concert soloist, Zhong has performed extensively in both China and the United States. During her seven years as a career performer at Henyang Baihua Theater (an Opera and Dance Theater) in China, she frequently performed in different cities as well as on local television and radio stations. She has performed several lead roles in opera productions, including her favorite roles as Butterfly in Madama Butterfly, Sister Angelica in Suor Angelica and Micaela in Carmen. In addition to performing as a soloist in the UCLA Choral and Symphony Orchestra production of Dvorak’s Te Deum, conducted by Donald Neuen, Zhong has performed in a television production for KSCI in Los Angeles and was one of the subjects of a documentary by the Chinese Central Documentary Film Company, Beijing. Zhong studied with John Wustman for four years and was a soloist in his highly acclaimed series, The Complete Songs of Schubert. Her numerous performances, solo recitals and concerts have taken her to Alabama, California, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.

Being an active teacher, singer and scholar, Zhong has given master classes and lecture recitals at various institutions and conferences internationally. She has presented at the International Congress of Voice Teachers held in Canada (2005); the international conferences of College Music Society held in Spain (2005), Costa Rica (2003) and Ireland (2001); the national conference of College Music Society held in San Francisco (2004); the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities in Honolulu (2003); the Seventh Annual Festival of Women Composers International in Pittsburgh (2004); and the national conventions of National Association of Teachers of Singing held in New Orleans (2004),  San Diego (2002) and Philadelphia (2000).  She will perform several new works at the Society of Composers, Inc. 2005 National Conference Information at the university of North Carolina.

Several of her articles have been published, including her research paper, "Problems of Tempo in Puccini's Arias," which appeared in Volume 40 of The College Music Symposium. Her eleven short dictionary articles for Vocal Music were included in the Teaching Encyclopedia for Chinese Middle and High Schools, a national publication in China. Zhong is the author of the book Tempo in the Soprano Arias of Puccini’s La Bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly (ISBN: 0-7734-7190-1). Her Anthology of Chinese Songs-Volume I: Newly Arranged Chinese Folk Songs  (ISBN:1-878617-64-8)  as well as her singing recording were just published. Zhong is recently writing her new book Vocal Pedagogy, under a publishing contract. 

Dr. Zhong has been the recipient of several awards and honors. She received first prize in the National Vocal Competition for The Alice Abel National Vocal and Instrumental Awards in 2000, after winning the Idaho District Vocal Competition in 2000 and 1999. As one of twelve teachers selected from United States, Zhong was awarded the fellowship for studying in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Intern Program held in Ithaca, NY, in 2000. Zhong received the Phi Beta Kappa Scholarship; Mimi Alert Feldman Scholarship (two years); Atwater Kent Award (two years); Edna and Yu Shanhan Scholarships (three years); Tzi-Chi Scholarship, and Campus Dissertation Grant of the University of Illinois. Continually, Zhong was awarded an Idaho State University Faculty Research Grant and received the Artist Honor from Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. She was twice nominated for the Distinguished Researcher of the Year Award at Idaho State University, where, in 2002, she was honored with the Master Teacher award as one of five outstanding faculty members selected from across the Idaho State University campus. Recently, her proposals to the Research Committee and the Diversity Associates Program of Ball State University and Indiana Arts Commission received funding.

Tempo in the Soprano Arias of Puccini’s La Bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly

(ISBN: 0-7734-7190-1) is available at www.mellenpress.com and www.amazon.com.

“The work is enormous in scope … nothing less than the first-ever attempt to reinterpret Puccini’s operas from the perspective of source and performance-practice research….

Mei Zhong makes her start at the heart of Puccini’s operas, the arias for the soprano heroines of his most famous masterpieces. The results of research and insightful interpretation open a surprisingly new vista on what we all thought were thoroughly familiar works. This is not just for singers. Everyone who loves these operas will find Mei Zhong’s discussion fascinating and revealing.”

    -- John Walter Hill

“The major contribution of this work lies in the tight analysis it gives of certain Puccini arias and the differing interpretation of various singers, especially, but not exclusively, with regard to tempo. I particularly enjoyed the suggestions the author herself made concerning performance. This takes considerable bravery, which, however, seems justified by her impressive scholarship. Performers might do well to take these recommendations to heart. In pointing the way for such an in-depth examination of various arias, Ms. Zhong has performed a valuable service. An age of operatic deconstructionism needs frequent reminders that not everything is, or should be, up for grabs. Of particular value for the historian, musicologist, and opera lover are the comments made on how opera interpretation has changed over the years, with the greatest liberties taken, interestingly enough, in the years closest to the composer’s life.”

                                                                                    --W. Laird Kleine-Ahlbrandt

“Over the past several decades, musicians have placed new emphasis upon historically accurate interpretations, not only of early music, but also of works that have remained in the repertory. Zhong’s careful research provides an excellent resource for the reexamination of the performance practices for these Puccini arias.”

            -- Debra Greschner, Journal of Singing

Anthology of Chinese Songs, Volume. I: Newly Arranged Chinese Folk Songs

(ISBN:1-878617-64-8) and its companion recording are available via www.leyerlepublications.com or from quality music or book stores in the United States.

“With this publication of newly arranged Chinese folk songs, Dr. Mei Zhong makes an important contribution to the repertoire that is available to the twenty-first century singer.  During the final decade of the past century, the vocal repertoire of Eastern Europe became more common in recital performances.  However, there are still musical frontiers to be explored, one of which is the music of the Orient.  Dr. Zhong makes the singing of songs from the culture of the East a possibility for the western singer.  She deals with the difficulties faced in singing this music by those who do not speak oriental languages. She includes word-for-word translations, commentaries, and International Phonetic Alphabet transcriptions for each song.  In addition, she includes a CD of her own performance of the songs as well as her own pronunciation of the text.  She has made the repertoire, which has remained hidden for centuries, available to the western world in a very practical manner.  I believe that this publication will open the door to a new culture for singers. As we hear the songs in this volume in recitals, the thirst for more such repertoire will most likely follow.”

                                                                                    --Roy Delp