China’s first female conductor, Zheng Xiaoying, is 97 years old, but she continues to give outstanding performances to audiences. In August, the nonagenarian conducted the Chinese-language version of the opera Carmen in Xiamen, in southeastern China’s Fujian province, where she lives. Tickets for the performance were like gold dust, and audiences marvelled, as always, at her elegant, expressive conducting. Zheng has led a remarkable life. Born in Shanghai in 1929, she began studying piano at age...