Debra Li

debra_lidan@163.com

FOR Victoria Qiuzhang, singing is as natural as breathing. At 13, the Shenzhen girl has repeatedly performed at galas on local and national TV channels and won several singing contests, including a silver award at the Hong Kong International Music Festival and a gold medal at the finals of the Chinese Children Small Golden Bell Music Contest.

Qiuzhang will headline a fundraising concert at Shenzhen Concert Hall scheduled for March next year, the proceeds of which will go to a charity fund aiming to help out families whose children struggle with serious conditions in ICU wards.

With a maturity beyond her years, Qiuzhang said she is happy to be part of the cause.

“Giving out money is the most direct and effective way to help the needy,” she said in an interview with the Shenzhen Daily last week.

“I hope my voice will spread the message, so that more people will join in supporting the cause and help the ICU kids. Their families are burdened by huge medical expenses. They also face the intense emotional trial of having to watch their children suffer and race against death.”

Besides raising donations, Qiuzhang said she also hopes people will volunteer their time to visit the families and see if they can do things for them. “They also need care and company, which may help cheer them up and carry them on.”

Qiuzhang will sing 10 or so songs at the “Maiden Voyage” concert. Presently studying at a private college in Europe, she takes vocal courses and practices every day for the show. “I also train in the gym and sing during training sessions to prepare for the challenge of a live concert,” she said. “I do stuff like singing in the middle of a plank and singing on the treadmill.”

As people will come to the concert and donate their hard-earned money to the cause, Qiuzhang said she wants to give them a good night. A versatile girl, Qiuzhang also wrote the theme song “Maiden Voyage” for the concert as well as designing its logo.

“My design features a pair of wings, a halo and a red ribbon, hoping the efforts of kind-hearted strangers will guard the ICU kids like angels,” she said. “It’s not complex, but I believe there is strength in simplicity and people will remember it.”

The poster for the concert is based on an oil painting by the girl. The original painting depicts the dreamlike image of a ballerina dancing on the keys of a piano in the moonlight. “Singing on the stage of Shenzhen Concert Hall is a dream come true for me,” she said. “It’s even better because I can help people while realizing my dream.”

Inheriting an explosive and wide-ranged voice from her maternal grandma, Qiuzhang recalled hearing her grandma singing Henan opera as a toddler. “She would also take me to live Henan opera performances, which was very fascinating.” The old lady had a huge influence on the little girl, who started to love music and pick up a few instruments. She plays the piano, flute, trumpet and guitar, but later came to the realization that she loves singing most.

“My grandma was a very optimistic and tough woman,” the girl said. “She sang to the last moments of her life, and she sang to combat the harrowing pains of pancreatic cancer. She’s a great inspiration to me.”

Like many children growing up in Shenzhen, Qiuzhang has spent a lot of extracurricular time learning various forms of art since she was young. She also won a few junior painting contests as a child. During a song and dance performance at the opening ceremony of her solo painting exhibition at the age of 9, Qiuzhang was spotted for her singing talent by the music teacher directing the event. “The kid should take vocal lessons,” the teacher told Qiuzhang’s mom.

That led to the girl’s formal vocal training. “I love singing because it makes me happy,” she said. She would sing in the car and enjoy the sound of her voice bouncing back and forth on the numerous trips from home to school. Serving as the front of a school band back in Shenzhen, Qiuzhang and her bandmates performed regularly on campus and helped raise money for a library for children in mountainous regions in Guizhou Province.

Hoping she would to one day become a singer-songwriter with a distinctive personal style, the girl also studies musical composition.

“To my understanding, singing is about emotions, and a good song, sad or joyful, will have to resonate with the listener,” she said. “I am a very straightforward person, and I write songs about what I experience and feel in my life. Therefore, songwriting and singing is also a good means to decompress and a self-healing process.”

Though already boasting a considerably big fan base after her vocal teachers uploaded one of her music videos to Youku, a Chinese streaming site, Qiuzhang said she’s not considering entering popular TV singing contests yet. “I am still young, and I want to learn more things and enjoy the privacy of being a regular student right now,” she said.

Back in Europe after her brief vacation at home, Qiuzhang is working on a short video that she plans to show at her school’s weekly meeting. “It’s a video about the ICU kids in Shenzhen,” she said. “I hope my schoolmates will pitch in their efforts too.”

And she is looking forward to the March concert, a new milestone in the “ICU Kids” project which will bring hope and love to children in ICU wards in Shenzhen.

About the ‘ICU Kids’ project

(ICU的孩子公益计划)

THE PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) at Shenzhen Children’s Hospital takes in between 950 and 1050 children each year. Of these young patients struggling to survive, about 40 percent are from impoverished families. The daily medical expense for a PICU patient ranges between 8,000 and 15,000 yuan (US$1,156-2,167), which becomes a heavy burden on their families.

Shenzhen-based high-tech firm Huijian Group started a public benefit project Sept. 21 to help pay medical expenses for PICU patients from needy families. The company pledged to donate 1 million yuan for the project and have transferred the first installment of 200,000 yuan to the fund.

The company has also planned a fundraising concert to call for more people to join their cause.

Those interested can donate to the following bank account:

Account holder: 深圳市关爱行动公益基金会(Shenzhen Project Care Foundation)

Bank: 招商银行深圳分行上步支行 (Shangbu Subsidiary, Shenzhen Branch, China Merchants Bank)

Account No.: 755917340410202

(Please send the money with a note stating that the donation goes to the project “ICU Kids.”)