18 June 2018
On 11 June, the Chinese Traditional Opera College of the Shanghai Theater Academy and the Chinese Traditional Opera School affiliated to the Shanghai Theater Academy held the Academic Symposium in Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of Yu Zhenfei’s Appointment as the Principal of the Shanghai Chinese Traditional Opera School at the Lianhua Road Campus of the Shanghai Theatre Academy. The participants to the symposium, together with the teachers and students, shared the cherished memory of the former principal Yu Zhenfei, and exchanged a lot of thoughts and had a lot of discussions on the current situation of Chinese traditional opera education.
Mr Yu Zhenfei was not only a master of performing arts in Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera, but also an outstanding educator of Chinese traditional opera. As the first principal of the Shanghai Chinese Traditional Opera School, Mr Yu worked hard on the inheritance of Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera Art and achieved great accomplishments. He not only left us an extremely rich cultural heritage for the art of Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera, but also left us a spiritual character for our lifelong benefit.
As former students taught personally by Mr Yu, three veteran artists, namely, Ms Yue Meiti, Ms Liang Guyin and Ms Zhang Xunpeng, talked about the past events of them studying with Mr Yu and about Mr Yu’s great love for the students as his own children and for the school as his own home which moved everyone. Some of the teachers, such as Mr Fei Sanjin and Mr Wang Shimin, recalled the past days of studying with Mr Yu, expressing that Mr Yu is a model for future generations to learn whether it is the profound attainments of art or the humble and modest moral standing.
The atmosphere of the symposium was warm. Mr Zhai Huisheng, Mr Ba Tu, Mr Liu Dong, Mr Lin Ruikang, Mr Cheng Shouheng, Mr Zhao Zhiyuan, Mr Zhang Yao and other experts and scholars also expressed their admiration for Mr Yu, and summed up the practical significance of the teaching concept of Mr Yu, and put forward a lot of practical and feasible suggestions on the current work of Chinese traditional opera education.
Mr Yang Yang, Vice President of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, Ms Li Peihong, Dean of the Chinese Traditional Opera College and famous Peking Opera artist of the Cheng Yanqiu school, Mr Han Yongsheng, Acting Principal of the Shanghai Chinese Traditional Opera School attached to the Shanghai Theatre Academy, and Ms Tang Hexiang, Vice Principal of the Shanghai Chinese Traditional Opera School of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, spoke at the symposium. The symposium was presided over by Mr Huang Dunwei, Vice Dean of the Shanghai Chinese Traditional Opera College of the Shanghai Theatre Academy.
Members of the leadership of the Chinese Traditional Opera College and the Shanghai Chinese Traditional Opera School participating in the symposium all expressed that in the future, the Shanghai Theater Academy, the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts and the Beijing Vocational College of Art and other partner institutions will strengthen intercollegiate relationships and build a long-term strategy for the training of Chinese traditional opera talents. The Chinese Traditional Opera College of the Shanghai Theatre Academy will hold more relevant academic seminars in the future to provide more reference and guidance for the Chinese traditional opera education going forward.
