The composer Lv Jiajia, who calls herself Zulan, was born in Inner Mongolia in 1980 and began her classical music training in her earliest childhood. After graduating with a composition degree from the Central Conservatory in Beijing and further studies with one of China’s most well-known contemporary composers, Tang Jianping, Zulan continued her education at the École normale de la musique in Paris. Musically, the composer is in constant touch with her roots, working with musical elements from her Mongolian homeland in the fields of film music (The Chef and the Swordsman) and world music (Sign Language). Especially in her chamber music works (e.g. Death and the Maiden) the avant-garde composer uses stylistic means, instruments and elements from her native Mongolia, creating an authentic and idiosyncratic sound world – often together with her ensemble “Mongolism”. Her work for the National Youth Orchestra is her second piece for large-scale orchestra. Zulan currently lives and works in Beijing.