Storyteller in song

Cloud River Mountain, a collaborative work by four Western composers, is based on Chinese myths and legends and features the expressive voice of Chinese folk singer Gong Linna. Chen Nan reports.

One day in 2011, while on a tour of China with four other international composers, the American composer Michael Gordon walked into a small music store filled with televisions, all playing different music videos. One in particular caught his attention. It was Gong Linna, a Chinese folk singer known for her expressive voice.

"I had never seen or heard anything like Gong Linna and I was deeply impressed by her performance artistry," recalls Gordon, who, through hand signals, asked the store owner to write down the name of the artist.