Deng Yun: Glad to Work in My Hometown

Deng Yun, Honorary President of Guangzhou Opera Institute, was born in Guangzhou and grew up here.

Guangzhou impresses the lady aged 60 with its beautiful flowers and abundant food culture.

But the city touches the lady with its earnest and responsible citizens willing to sacrifice when SARS broke out.

During that time, local government and citizens, especially those medical workers represented by Zhong Nanshan, were not scared and determined to conquer the disease.

Touched by the citizens, members from Guangzhou Opera Institute created a vocal symphonic poem named Sunshine of Love to compliment those medical workers in a short time.

Afterwards, this poem was performed as a gift for the founding ceremony of Guangzhou Opera Institute. The poem was popular with the audience and changed their view that Cantonese care more money than humans.

To the famous opera singer, it is not difficult to deal with the dialect and living convention.

The difficulty she has faced is how to publicize both foreign and Chinese operas among Chinese citizens.

She has to start from the very basics. She selects segments from famous western operas, simplifies the scenery, localizes the costumes, interlude asides and explanations during the show.

She even adds Chinese captions to the segments.

When asked why she came to Guangzhou, she answered, "When working abroad for many years, I was always thinking about my hometown. Now I am glad to work in my hometown."

Source: GZ Morning Post

Editor: Jessie Hwang