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Artists of the Kunqu Society
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Artists |
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Cai, Zhengren
Ji, Zhenhua Liang, Guyin Yue, Meiti Yao,
Jikun Zhang, Jiqing
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Cai, Zhengren
As the former Director of the Shanghai
Kunqu Troupe, Mr. Zhengren Cai has enjoyed a celebrated career
that has long established him as a doyen of classical Chinese
Theater. One of the top ranking and most esteemed Kunqu actor,
he performs with polish and finesse the role type of young men,
whether as an emperor, a scholar, or a romantic young man, Mr.
Cai sings with a countertenor that could be the envy of the
finest sopranos.
Indeed, he has a most extraordinary
voice that is not only big, clear and beautifully produced, but
is also projected with high virility and tremendous lungpower.
His musical insights and emotional
involvement with the librettos further intensify the beauty of
his singing. This remarkable voice, however, is not his only
asset as an artist; his brilliant performing style and dance
movements have also earned him unanimous acclaim in and out of
China.
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Ji, Zhenhua
A graduate of the prestigious Shanghai
Academy of Performing Arts where he studied the elder male role
type with Kunqu masters, Zheng Chuanjian and Ni Chuanyue, Master
Ji Zhenhua is a legendary performer of the genre. Master Ji,
recipient of the Fourth Plum Blossom Award and Shanghai Magnolia
Award, two of the highest awards for the performing art in
China, where he is a national
treasure of a performer. An actor, singer and dancer -- three in
one, his powerful but controlled performing style and his voice
of extraordinary resonance, richness and purity all contribute
to distinguish him as a towering Kunqu performing artist.
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Liang, Guyin
Winner of the Third
Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Prize and Leading Role Prize of First
Shanghai Magnolia Drama Prize, Ms. Liang is specialized in Hua
Dan (the young and lovely women) and Zheng Dan (The Righteous
Women). A member of the first graduating class of the
Shanghai
Traditional
Opera
School,
she has studied with such renowned artists as Zhang Chuan-fang
and Shen Chuan-zhi. With a sweet voice and exquisite skill
as a character actress, she specializes in the Hua Dan (the
young and lovely woman) role, portraying a wide range of
characters. Ms. Liang performed the leading role in Pan
Chinlien, which won Excellent Achievement Prize of '89 Shanghai
Cultural Festival and won Second Prize of National Drama
Telefilm Prize. Her "To Be Arrested" won Performance Prize of
third Shanghai Drama Festival. She has well performed in many
plays including New Butterfly Dream, The Rotten-Helve Mountain,
Borrowing Tea, and Perfect Time. Ms. Liang also performs Beijing
Opera and is a member of Chinese Dramatists Society and director
of Shanghai Dramatists Society.
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Yao,
Jikun
Mr. Yao is a
veteran Kunqu performer playing the old-man role type. He began
his training in the Kunqu art in the 50’s and studied with great
Kunqu actors such as Shen Chuanzhi and Zheng Chuanjian. With a
robust voice, clear diction and imposing stage presence, Mr. Yao
is considered one of the finest actors performing the old-man
role type in China today. Among Mr. Yao’s most popular roles is
Zhu Maichen, the male lead in “The Ballad of Broken Ax
Mountain,” which he has played for the past 25 years against the
legendary Zhang Jiqing’s Cui Shi, the heroine of this dark
drama. Mr. Yao toured with Mine. Zhang in Taiwan, Japan and
Europe, where he garnered great critical acclaim.
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Yue,
Meiti
Ms. Yue Meiti, playing the young-man role type of the Kunqu theater, is a
distinguished countertenor who has attained the status of
'national treasure' in performing art in China. Blessed with a dazzling and
rogynous beauty, Ms. Yue's young male scholars are as handsome
as they are cultured and refined. Ms. Yue has a clear and sweet
voice that is produced with virility and great lung power. Her
young men's movements are marked by grace and agility; their
expressions and emotions intriguing and exquisite. Thus
performing superbly in singing, dancing and acting, Ms. Yue has
earned herself the fame of being the foremost performer of the
young-man role in the classical Chinese theater. Indeed, hers is
a household name to millions of aficionados in and out of
China.
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Zhang, Jiqing
A towering performer of
Kunqu, the 500-year-old representative classical theater of
China, Mine. Zhang Jiqing is a national treasure of
China. Highly revered for her
exemplary stage work, which is marked by dramatic and musical
intensity, Zhang was the first recipient of the Plum Blossom
Award in 1984, the highest acting prize awarded to distinguished
artists in China.
Performing Cui Shi, the tragic female lead in “The Ballad of
Broken Ax Mountain,” one of her signature roles, Zhang seems to
have a fire burning in her; but she always brings a very tender
and womanly quality to her acting and singing, even in the
darkest and most delirious moments of the play.
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