Sa Dingding

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This is a Chinese name; the family name is Sa.
Sa Dingding
An action shot of Sa Dingding playing during a concert.

Sa Dingding in concert
Chinese name 薩頂頂 (traditional)
Chinese name 萨顶顶 (simplified)
Pinyin Sà Dǐngdǐng (Mandarin)
Birth name Zhou Peng (周鹏)
Origin Shandong
Born (1983-12-27) 27 December 1983
Inner Mongolia
Occupation Singer, composer, songwriter, record producer, choreographer
Genre(s) Electronica, pop, folk
Instrument(s) Guzheng, Morin khuur
Label(s) Wrasse, Universal
Years active 2006–present
Official Website SaDingding.co.UK

Sa Dingding (simplified Chinese: 萨顶顶; traditional Chinese: 薩頂頂; pinyin: Sà Dǐngdǐng, born Zhou Peng (周鹏), (1983-12-27)27 December 1983) is a Chinese folk singer and songwriter. She is of mixed Han and Mongol ancestry, and sings in languages including Mandarin, Sanskrit, Tibetan, as well an imaginary self-created language to evoke the emotions in her songs.[1] She also plays traditional instruments such as the guzheng and matouqin (horse-head fiddle).

Biography

Born to a family of wage-earning class in Inner Mongolia, China [2] inheriting Han Chinese ancestry from her father and Mongolian ancestry from her mother, Sa Dingding was influenced by the music of the ethnic minorities while living with her grandmother in Inner Mongolia until age six.[2] She also became interested in Buddhism and taught herself Tibetan and Sanskrit. Later on, she moved to Beijing to study music at the PLA Academy of Arts.

At age 18, she released her first album entitled Dong Ba La under her birth name Zhou Peng, awarding her with the title of China’s Best Dance Music Singer.

In 2006, "Holy Incense" was used as the theme song for the movie Prince of the Himalayas, directed by Sherwood Hu.

In mid-2007, she released Alive, now available physically and as a download in many countries. The Hong Kong release of the album features a DVD containing music videos, a remix of "Alive", making of footage and a Chinese version of "Mama Tian Na", not featured on the album.

In 2008 she won the BBC Radio 3 World Music Award for the Asia-Pacific region, earning herself the chance to perform at the Royal Albert Hall to a Western audience. In the same year, she also released a two track single called "Qin Shang".[3]

Dingding composed a song with Eric Mouquet of Deep Forest called "Won't Be Long" to raise funds for disaster relief after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The song was made available on Mouquet's Deep-Projects website. Mouquet and Dingding have collaborated on a forthcoming album Deep China.

Most recently, Dingding has appeared at Womad and the Harrogate Festival in the UK. On October 6, her official English website was updated with information about a European tour, going from November 7 to 17, making stops in Germany, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Las Palmas, Australia and New Zealand.[4]

For Chinese composer He Xuntian's 2008 album, Tathāgata, Dingding contributed the vocals for the second track, entitled "Dátǎjiādá" (达塔伽达).

Her latest album, released in January 2010 is Harmony (天地合), with nine songs in Chinese. The album also contains three remixes of the title track, one by Paul Oakenfold.

There has also been news of Dingding singing the theme song for the film Gasp (气喘吁吁), called "Gēchàng De Lìliàng" (歌唱的力量), in working with Howie B.[5]

Discography

Albums
  • (2001) Dong Ba La (咚巴啦)
  • (2007.08.28) Alive (万物生) - Universal Music, Wrasse Records
  • (2010.01.26) Harmony (天地合)
  • (2012.07.03) The Coming Ones (恍如来者)
Singles
Soundtracks

References

  1. ↑ BBC - Awards for World Music 2008 - Asia/Pacific, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Four television.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Independent - My Secret Life
  3. ↑ BBC - Awards for World Music 2008 - Winners, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Four television.
  4. ↑ Sa Dingding Official English Site
  5. ↑ 萨顶顶与U2制作人合唱《气喘吁吁》主题曲

External links

Interviews

News articles

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