Tonight, Konu Kim takes the stage at the San Francisco Opera in the world premiere of Huang Ruo's new opera, The Monkey King, with a libretto from Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang.
Konu Kim, leading the cast as Jade Imperor, is also nominated for the Emerging Stars Award for this role. With tonight’s performance, Konu returns to San Francisco Opera after much acclaim for his ''bright and energetic voice [that] carried... with ease'' (OperaWire) in Dream of the Red Chamber.
The story of the opera is based on the classic 16th-century Chinese novel, Journey to the West (Xī Yóu Jì), by Wu Cheng'en, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Huang Ruo's style fits the novel's content. He is known for crossing both cultural and genre borders with his distinctive compositional voice. Alongside him in the creative team is director Diane Paulus, a multiple Tony Award winner and current Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University. On the podium is Carolyn Kuan, a recognised expert in Asian contemporary music who directed the San Francisco Symphony's annual Chinese New Year concert from 2007 to 2012.
Konu Kim, leading the cast as Jade Imperor, is also nominated for the Emerging Stars Award for this role. With tonight’s performance, Konu returns to San Francisco Opera after much acclaim for his ''bright and energetic voice [that] carried... with ease'' (OperaWire) in Dream of the Red Chamber.
The story of the opera is based on the classic 16th-century Chinese novel, Journey to the West (Xī Yóu Jì), by Wu Cheng'en, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Huang Ruo's style fits the novel's content. He is known for crossing both cultural and genre borders with his distinctive compositional voice. Alongside him in the creative team is director Diane Paulus, a multiple Tony Award winner and current Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University. On the podium is Carolyn Kuan, a recognised expert in Asian contemporary music who directed the San Francisco Symphony's annual Chinese New Year concert from 2007 to 2012.
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