The benefits of going beyond what one knows

"Tyler Thompson isn't much different from other 9-year-olds in his neighborhood. He likes basketball and comic books. But Tyler has a talent that sets him apart from his peers: he performs Chinese opera.



"Growing up in Oakland, a city more notable for its tough streets than its touches of culture, Tyler is bringing crowds to their feet around the San Francisco Bay Area with his uncanny ability to sing in Mandarin Chinese. It's a language he doesn't speak but sings like a native.

"'It's shocking for the Chinese. Here's an African-American kid learning an art form that even the Chinese, for the most part, rejected or misunderstood,' said David Lei, chairman of San Francisco's Chinese Performing Arts Foundation. He first saw Tyler perform last year at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum.

"'He had a good voice and was very accurate in his singing,' Lei said.

"Tyler quickly became one of Northern California's most popular Chinese music performers, wowing audiences at Oakland City Hall, the Herbst Theater in San Francisco and HP Pavilion in San Jose.

"The San Jose event was filmed by China Central Television, which will broadcast his performance during its annual Lunar New Year extravaganza, a program seen by hundreds of millions in China and elsewhere around the world.

"On Saturday, Tyler [was] a featured performer at the San Francisco Symphony's annual Chinese New Year concert, just four days before the Year of the Rooster [began] on Wednesday. He [was to] sing a Chinese folk song accompanied by a Chinese instrument ensemble.

"'Chinese singing has gotten me this far, so I'm going to stick with it,' Tyler said.

"Tyler learned how to sing Chinese songs as a student at Lincoln Elementary, a public school in Oakland's Chinatown, where 90 percent of students are Asian.

"It's one of the nation's few public schools with a Chinese music program, started 10 years ago by teacher Sherlyn Chew, who was born in Oakland and attended Lincoln as a child. She teaches students of all backgrounds to sing Chinese songs and play traditional Chinese instruments.

"Chew said she first recognized Tyler's talent and his 'angelic' voice when he was a spunky kindergartner.

"Tyler's mother, Vanessa Ladson, said he always loved music. Not long after he learned to speak, he'd sing with his father when they drove together in his truck. He grew up singing whatever music his mom played at home, from gospel to jazz and R&B.

"Ladson was driving Tyler home from school one day when she first heard him sing in a different language. She couldn't believe it, and asked him to sing the song three times.

"'I went home and said to his father, "Do you know Tyler is singing in Chinese?"' Ladson said.

"Tyler doesn't speak Mandarin, but Chew taught him and other students who didn't speak Chinese by spelling out the words and teaching them how to sing with the correct pronunciation and intonation.

"'Each syllable is clear. His tones are very good,' Chew said. 'He doesn't speak the language, but he knows the meaning of the song. He knows what he's trying to convey to the audience.'

"At Tyler's first performance, during Lincoln's annual spring concert, he sang a Mongolian folk song about a young man who misses his friend in winter. 'When the spring comes and the snow melts, I wonder if she will remember me?' Tyler sang in Chinese.

"'He sang so well that people were moved to tears. Then I said I'm going to teach him Beijing opera,' Chew said, referring to a steadily declining form of Chinese opera that blends highly-stylized dancing, acting, acrobatics and pitched singing that Westerners might find jarring. 'It's a lot more complicated, but I thought he was ready.'

"Tyler said learning to sing in Chinese has helped him solve one of life's biggest questions.

"'Before, I never knew what I was going to be when I grew up,' he said. 'But now I know what I'm going to be ... a Chinese music singer.''"