Some female singers are so globally famous that they only need to go by one name. Madonna, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Adele, Cher, and Shakira are just a few examples. Vancouver singer Tzienna, who also goes by one name, has similar ambitions of recording albums and playing to audiences in different countries. But rather than performing pop or R&B or dance music, Tzienna defines her style as “classical crossover”.
That’s because it encompasses everything from classical opera and musical theatre to jazz, folk, pop, and cinematic soundscapes. The fourth-year Vancouver Academy of Music student plans to bring her classical crossover approach together in an EP, which has the working title “I Dropped My Heart on the Train Tracks”.
“It’s my debut package that really showcases the start of who I am as a songwriter and singer,” Tzienna tells Pancouver over Zoom.
On Wednesday (November 6), Tzienna will perform at the Jade Music Fest, which aims to make Vancouver a North American hub for Chinese-language music production. The free concert at Performance Works will also include Toronto jazz artist Jacqueline Teh, Vancouver singer-songwriter Van Lefan, and Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Scott Hsu.
Tzienna, a Malaysian Chinese soprano, is thrilled that she will be able to perform her classical crossover music at the festival with Starling Tan on piano and Julian Lee De Vita on cello.
“I’m going to play mostly my original music and I’m also featuring one of my bandmate’s songs,” Tzienna says.
Tzienna reveals Jade Fest set list
Tzienna will sing her original song “leaf” about first love. She describes it as a nostalgic mixture of classical piano, lofi, and ballad. She also plans to sing “彼岸繁花 bi an fan hua”—a song in Mandarin by Vancouver producer Ewan Mac.
“It has a Chinese mythical drama flavour, a song about two anguished lovers who are caught in the cycle of the afterlife and reincarnation but never meet in the same world,” Tzienna explains.
In addition, she’ll perform her bossa nova–inspired love song, “Café Beau Soir”, which is about a woman gathering confidence to ask a man out. Tzienna also intends to sing her classical-folk song “Ticket to your warm bear embrace” as she plays the cello. Furthermore, she will sing Tan’s “Starstitchers”, as well as her own jazz ballad “Brimming”.
Tzienna grew up on Penang Island, which is about three times the area of Vancouver. It’s connected by bridges to the rest of the state of Penang on the Malaysian mainland. She started playing piano at the age of four. Around the age of seven, she won a primary school singing competition with a Chinese children’s tune about a chicken.
“That was the moment I realized, ‘Oh, I like singing. And I’m good at it!’ From there, I would go on to do choirs through primary school and high school.”
Tzienna listened to a wide range of music in multilingual Malaysia, including Chinese pop, Malaysian folk, and western songs on the radio. Malay, or Bahasa Melayu, is the national language. English is also widely spoken, as in many other former British colonies. Nearly one-quarter of the population has Chinese ancestry, which means several Chinese languages are also spoken. Tze’s mother’s family has been in Malaysia for several generations; her paternal grandfather immigrated to Malaysia from China during the Second World War.
At the age of 14, Tzienna took up the cello.
Passion for opera arose in Vancouver
Like other Malaysian adults of Chinese ancestry in Vancouver, Tzienna decided that she wanted to go abroad in search of opportunities. She moved to Canada when she was 18 years old to study creative writing.
“I wanted to be a fantasy writer because growing up, I really loved the English language.” Tzienna says.
But her life took a turn after she attended Vancouver Opera productions of Madama Butterfly and Evita. These were her first live exposures to western opera. And it sparked a desire to learn more about this dramatic storytelling art form.
“I found a teacher at UBC, Marisa Gaetanne, and started from there,” Tzienna reveals. “And then I went on to study with my current teachers, Frédérik Robert and Robyn Driedger-Klassen. Through a lot of training, they helped me discover what voice type I was.”
She loves how the small number of students at the Vancouver Academy of Music have become such a tight-knit community. Tzienna also thinks that the school has amazing teachers. On top of her studies, she works as a teaching artist at the Sarah McLachlan School of Music.
As an opera singer, Tzienna has to sing in different European languages, which she loves doing. She believes that her Malaysian background has helped ease the transition. For example, Tzienna says that the vowels in Malay are very consistent, which has parallels with Italian and Spanish.
Tzienna remains fascinated by folklore
As a songwriter, she also draws on aspects of her former life on Penang Island, which is very tropical, diverse, and colourful.
“I have always had a fascination with folklore, fantasy and myth, and growing up in a place that is very spiritual, with multiple religions and festivals and shrines on the streets, definitely brought me up to have that touch in my music,” Tzienna states. “As a creative writer turned musician, I strive to write music that emotionally connects and spiritually heals. It’s fitting that opera also explores literature and myth so often.”
Moreover, Tzienna maintains that growing up on the island has made her more open-minded. Plus, it had a strict education system with a lot of rules, which requires a lot of self-discipline on the part of students.
“It made me very hardworking.”
She recognizes that in North America, people often think of “Chinese” people as being from China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan. In Vancouver, Tzienna has met folks from China who are surprised that she speaks fluent Mandarin when she’s from Malaysia.
“A lot of people aren’t aware that there is a big community of Mandarin-speaking people in Malaysia and all of Southeast Asia,” she says. “There’s a lot of us because of all this colonial history.”
That’s not the only misconception about Malaysia. On occasion, she’s been asked whether Malaysians live in jungles, even though Penang Island’s population is larger than Vancouver’s.
“I find that one very weird,” Tzienna says with a laugh. “Yes, we’re tropical, but we are town folks.”
Watch Pancouver editor Charlie Smith’s interview with Tzienna.
Event details
The Jade Music Fest will present Tzienna at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday (November 6) at Performance Works on Granville Island. The Connection concert will also feature Taiwanese American musician Scott Hsu, Vancouver singer-songwriter Van Lefan, and Toronto jazz artist and songwriter Jacqueline Teh. Book free tickets through Showpass. The Jade Music Fest runs from November 6 to 9.
This article is part of “Beyond Chinese”, a joint initiative of Pancouver and the Asian-Canadian Special Events Association. Through interviews with artists and cultural workers, Beyond Chinese offers a nuanced view of people with Chinese ancestry. Pancouver and the Asian-Canadian Special Events Association gratefully acknowledge the support of Canadian Heritage.
