Ruhan Jia

Ruhan (also known as Jia Ruhan) has accomplished more in her mid-twenties than many artists do during their entire careers. The classically trained soprano talent recorded at Grammy award album “Calling All Dawns,” was the first student entered Shanghai Conservatory of Music Master program in Musical Theatre, dazzled her peers, teachers, and audiences while performing with a European rock theatre company, and recently began working on a multiple-albums project that, when completed, will ... [ more ] Ruhan (also known as Jia Ruhan) has accomplished more in her mid-twenties than many artists do during their entire careers. The classically trained soprano talent recorded at Grammy award album “Calling All Dawns,” was the first student entered Shanghai Conservatory of Music Master program in Musical Theatre, dazzled her peers, teachers, and audiences while performing with a European rock theatre company, and recently began working on a multiple-albums project that, when completed, will have produced 10 albums. Ruhan collaborated with Chinese-American producer Christopher Tin and other celebs in the music industry, with the goal of creating a new genre – a mix of very old pure classical philosophies, classical music culture and modern music. If her future is anywhere near as bright as her past, and all signs point to that being the case, music lovers around the globe will have something to celebrate and soon.

Ruhan’s musical training began early – learning the piano at the age of four, and at age six, started studying classical, jazz and Chinese folk dance.
When Ruhan was nine, she began her training in Chinese Opera. The following year, she added bel-canto to her instruction. Ruhan studied vocal singing at the Chinese Conservatory of Music, and majored in bel-canto at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She now holds a “Bachelor of Arts” degree in bel-canto from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Ruhan has frequently performed at the Shanghai Center of Drama in many popular and successful theatrical plays, musicals and recitals. She has also performed in Hong-Kong, as well as in most major Chinese cities, and can be seen as “Nana” in the Shanghai Movie Factory tele-film “Sentinel Under the Neon Light.”

In February 2007, Ruhan was chosen by the French musical theater group, “Le Theatre du Chatelet” in Paris, to play and sing a variety of characters in the French-Chinese co-production of “Monkey: Journey to the West,” a Chinese rock-opera composed by Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz). Jamie Hewlett designed the set and costumes. The opera was staged by director Chen Shi-Zheng.

Ruhan recorded several songs with Damon Albarn in London for the album “Monkey: Journey to the West” in February 2008. While in Shanghai the following month, she recorded the theme song for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which was composed by Tan Dun.

Ruhan went on to record the music and video clip, “BBC Olympic Theme Song for Beijing 2008,” which was composed by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, for the BBC in London. She can be seen and heard in the video film, “Monkey Bee,” which was filmed in London and released in late 2008. This short clip was produced by Jamie Hewlett.

In May 2009, Ruhan won First Prize at the 18th Discovery International Festival. And she won the Second Prize for bel-canto at the Llangollen International Music Festival, which was held in Welsh, United Kingdom in July of the same year.

The young talented US producer, Christopher Tin, discovered Ruhan’s talent through the Internet. In July 2009, Christopher invited Ruhan to participate in the recording of his album, “Calling All Dawns.” The orchestral parts, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, were recorded at Abbey Road studios, and were conducted by Maestro Lucas Richman. Three-time Grammy-winning engineer, John Kurlander (Lord of The Rings Trilogy, former Chief Engineer at Abbey Road) served as recording and mixing engineer. The album received two awards at the 2011 Grammy Awards Ceremony for: 1) “Best Classical Crossover Album,” and 2) “Best Instrumental Arrangement.”

The “Earth’s Music” project is part of China’s 12th Five Year National Economic Development Plan, which includes developing and promoting Chinese music and creative industries. The “Earth’s Music” project is part of a larger agenda whose mission is to create a series of musical productions based on Chinese music and culture elements that use modern Western music composition and advanced international production techniques. The goal is to release these productions in the worldwide market.

In July 2011, Ruhan traveled to Stockholm to record the album, “Time to Grow,” which will be the first album for the “Earth’s Music” series. “Time to Grow” is a joint effort between numerous experts and talent from Sweden, China, Taiwan, Australia, US, UK and the Faroe Islands. The production team from The Kennel in Sweden designed and developed the Western compositional components of this production. The writers for this album include the famous Swedish pianist, Robert Wells. The production mixing is led by well-known mixing engineer, Bernard Lohr (Mamma Mia, Aqua, Celine Dion, Bill Crawford, Ace of Base, Britney Spear, Westlife, Backstreet Boys, Il Divo).

“Time to Grow” contains 12 tracks: ten in Chinese and two in English. The album’s music genre is classical crossover/pop/world, allowing Ruhan to brilliantly demonstrate her wide vocal range, skills and her Chinese folk music interpretation, which are emotion evoking, immensely respected, and widely recognized on multiple continents.

Ruhan currently lives and studies in New York. [ less ]

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