In a unique fusion of music, history, and technology, Dr. Alyce Su, a seasoned investment executive and Chief Investment Officer of a global family office, has released a conceptual music catalog that reinterprets the legacy of General Zhang Youxia, a prominent Chinese military figure. The catalog, available under the artist name AlyceSu on Apple Music, comprises 86 songs across 11 albums, including titles such as Zhurihe, Epic Fury, Newport, Zettabyte, MilkenAI, and Love, East Wind. Su's work aims to connect military inheritance, family legacy, technological advancement, and the transition from the 20th to the 21st century.
The project's central theme, 'The World Represented by General Zhang Youxia,' serves as a lens through which Su explores the complex interplay of military power, strategic technology, and cultural memory. General Zhang, who served as Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission and held key positions in the PLA's equipment development, represents a historical coordinate that anchors Su's musical narrative. The album Zhurihe, named after Asia's largest mechanized proving ground, traces Zhang's military career, while Love, East Wind delves into China's Dong Feng missile lineage, invoking systems like the DF-17 and DF-41. Notably, the song 'Among the Stars' draws from SpaceX's investor prospectus, creating an unexpected bridge between China's military-space tradition and contemporary commercial space ambitions.
Su's inspiration stems from a deeply personal family history. Her great-grandfather, Su Lianqing, was part of the Guangxi military tradition associated with Cai E, contributing to the development of China's modern military education. The Zhang family, including Zhang Haoru and Zhang Zongxun, followed a parallel but distinct military path. The Su and Zhang families, along with the Bai family—which includes Bai Chongxi and writer Pai Hsien-yung—represent divergent trajectories through China's turbulent 20th century. This multigenerational archive allows Su to examine the profound complexities of war, migration, and political division from an intimate perspective.
For Su, the project is not a conventional tribute but a re-encoding of heritage through modern mediums. As a fourth-generation descendant, she approaches her ancestors' military and institutional legacies through the lens of science, finance, and art. 'The first generation helped build institutions, the second experienced war, the third inherited its consequences, and the fourth re-encodes the legacy through music,' Su explains. This perspective transforms the catalog into a meditation on how history can be reinterpreted through the technological and cultural language of the future.
The catalog's structural themes align with Su's professional expertise in investment and technology. Tracks like Zettabyte and MilkenAI extend the narrative toward computing, artificial intelligence, and capital, while Provenance addresses inheritance. By weaving these elements together, Su creates a unified body of work that spans from battlefields to data centers, from strategic weapons to AI, and from military power to institutional capital. Her dual career—allocating capital and preserving legacy—finds resonance in this ambitious project, which asks how inherited history can be reimagined for the future.
Dr. Su's musical endeavor is complemented by her recognition as a leader in finance, having been named among the Leaders of Influence: Banking & Financing 2026 by the Los Angeles Business Journal. Her book China 2010 also ranks No. 1 in financial engineering on Amazon. With this catalog, Su offers a unique artistic contribution that bridges disparate worlds, inviting listeners to contemplate the intricate connections between history, technology, and identity.
