郑小瑛教授是中国第一位歌剧、交响乐女指挥家，曾任中央歌剧院首席指挥、中央音乐学院指挥系主任、中国第一个志愿者乐团 “爱乐女”室内乐团的音乐指导和厦门爱乐乐团艺术总监。她毕业于中央音乐学院，留学苏联国立莫斯科音乐学院。

郑小瑛曾成功地在20多个国家指挥演出；她是第一位多次登上国外歌剧院指挥台的中国指挥，曾获法国文学艺术荣誉勋章和两枚俄中友谊荣誉勋章。她也是中国最有经验的指挥教授之一，她的多位学生已在国内外重要指挥岗位上执棒.她更是一位热情的音乐社会活动家，德国电视台将她编入《世界杰出妇女集》，日本NHK将她列入《亚洲杰出妇女集》。

1997-2013年她应厦门市领导之邀到厦门组建我国第一个不占国家编制的，“公助民办”性质的职业交响乐团，厦门爱乐乐团在崭新机制下成长迅速。她率领乐团“扎根厦门，面向全国，走向世界”，带着优秀中国交响乐作品先后在日、法、德、奥、意、 加、美、俄、新、马和港澳台，以及国内外80多个城市进行了极为成功的巡回演出。

她领导的乐团荣获了民政部授予的“全国先进社会组织”称号，她本人还荣获了中国歌剧事业特别贡献奖，中国文联，中国音协“金钟奖”的终身成就奖和“中华文化人物”等奖项，并入选人物纪录片《世纪交响一中国交响乐的奠基者》，被中央歌剧院授予“终身荣誉指挥”，被福建省歌舞剧院聘为终身荣誉顾问，还被世界合唱理事会聘为荣誉艺术主席团永久成员。

Maestro ZHENG Xiaoying, one of China’s most prominent conductors, is China’s first female opera-symphony conductor. She is Lifetime Honorary Conductor of China’s Central Opera House, former Principle Conductor of it, former Dean of the Conducting Department at China’s Central Conservatory of Music, former Music Director of the Ai Yue Nv Chamber Orchestra (located in Beijing), former Artistic Director of the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra (located in Fujian province).

Maestro ZHENG is recipient of numerous international and national prestigious awards and recognitions, including: French Literature and Arts Medal of Honor, Russia-China Friendship Medal of Honor (twice), Special Contribution to Opera in China Award, Golden Bell Award’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the title of China’s Cultural Figure.

As one of the founders of China’s opera and symphony in the twentieth century, Maestro ZHENG graduated from China’s Central Conservatory of Music, and persuaded further studies in opera and symphony conducting at National Moscow Conservatory of Music. Maestro ZHENG is the first Chinese conductor conducted in international opera houses, she has conducted concerts and operas in over twenty countries.

Maestro ZHENG is one of the most experienced conducting professors in China. In her career of over half of the century, she has taught numerous students, many of them are active on the important stages, both domestically and abroad. The Outstanding Contribution Award of the Central Conservatory of Music recognized her pedagogical impact and achievements.

In addition, Maestro ZHENG is the most famous music social activist in China. Since 1980s, she has been advocating passionately for the popularization of classical works of symphony and opera among the Chinese people, especially among the college students, by offering public lectures on campuses and at many public venues. Therefore, she was recognized many times with the awards of Elder Professors’ Contribution to China’s Rejuvenating and the National Worthiness Contribution Award.

In 1997, supported by the Xiamen municipal government and local enterprises, Maestro ZHENG was invited by Xiamen city leaders to found the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, which is the first non-state supported philharmonic orchestra in China.

She was the Artistic Director and Chief Conductorof the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra from 1997-2013. Maestro ZHENG led the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra to tour Japan, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Canada, the USA, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao, performing Chinese symphony “The Echoes of Hakka’s Earth Buildings” and promoting China’s cultural achievements in music. She also led the orchestra successfully toured over 80 cities in China. Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra was named the “National Advanced Social Organization” by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs to recognize its extraordinary contributions. Maestro Zheng Xiaoying was named a Moral Modelfor Professional Devotion of Fujian Province and an Outstanding Constructer in Commemorating 30 Years of Development of the Xiamen Special Economic Zone. She was honored with the Xiamen Literature and Arts Special Honorary Award and her biography, ZHENG Xiaoying: A Conductor, Music Educator, and Music Social Activist, was published as a part of the series on “Literary and Artistic Figures of Xiamen.”

At age 87, Maestro ZHENG Xiaoying is still active on the national and international concert stages and at various workshops and public lectures.