Chinese-born Zheng Nan has been offered a tenure-track position by the Giacomo Puccini Conservatoire in Italy. [Photo provided to China Daily]

What makes Zheng, as a Chinese, stand out among native Italian singers in the birthplace of opera?

"I believe one of the reasons is my clear understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of teaching methods in the East and the West," she says in an interview on social media from Milan.

Brandolini, a student from Zheng's foundation course, says: "Zheng follows the traditional bel canto and can explain how to use parts of my body. I am able to acquire different techniques from studying with her."

With 11 years of study at Chinese music schools and seven years of advanced studies in Italy, Zheng has developed her own unique education philosophy - to offer students not only techniques but also the space for self-development.

Enrolling at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with the highest marks for an entrance exam there in 1999, Zheng says she learned a lot from the conservatory's musicians.

Xu Qing, whose performance company worked with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in staging The Marriage of Figaro in 2000, recalls: "Zheng, always at the top of her class, was naturally cast as the prima donna."

Ever since the first opera performance, Zheng has sought every opportunity to learn, perform and exchange ideas. This is also her advice for today's music students - "patience and accumulation are the fundamental things. Be brave, to communicate and to try".

With a scholarship, Zheng went to Italy and studied at the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro, obtaining a master's degree in opera singing.