Portfolio

This portfolio lists the work of Kathy and her opera students after the closure of The London Jing Kun Opera Association in April 2014. It is a continuation of Kathy’s work in the development and practice of Jingju and Kunqu opera in the UK since 2000. For her work between 2002-2014, please click on links on her Profile page.

Performances and teaching by Kathy from 2014 after the closure of the London Jing Kun Opera Association (2002-2014):

2025

  • Kathy gave a 3-hour Kunqu Opera singing and movement session on an excerpt from ‘The Palace of Eternal Youth’ 长生殿Changshengdian to 3rd Year UG students on 27th November 2025 at the Dept of Drama, Theatre and Dance, Royal Holloway UoL, Egham.
  • Kathy gave a 3-hour Introduction to Chinese Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera  to MA students on 19th November 2025, at the Department of Theatre and Performance, MA World Theatre, Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, and taught students a few lines from Mei Lanfang’s iconic ‘Guifei Zuijiu’ (贵妃醉酒’The Imperial Concubine Intoxicated’)。
  • Kathy performed a solo excerpt from the Kunqu Opera scene In Pursuit of the Dream  from The Peony Pavilion on September 24th at the Churchill Fellowship 60th Anniversary Reception at The Fishmongers’ Hall, London Bridge for an audience of over 100 Churchill Fellows. It was very well received and appreciated. Kathy performed this piece as a small thank you token to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust  which granted her the Travel Fellowship(2004) to go to Hangzhou, China, to further hone her Kunqu Opera artistic skills.
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  • July 7th 1pm-5pm- Peking Opera Veteran Amateurs Private Recital at William Morris House, Wimbledon SW19 1SD with expert accompaniment from Mr WAN Jiahuan, Hunan Province Jingju Troupe, China National Grade 1 Spike Fiddle Master 湖南省京剧团国家一级琴师万家欢老师为资深京剧票友提供专家胡琴伴奏.
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  • London Mini-Tour of Kunqu Opera Performance and Workshop showcasing the Splendour of the Sheng Roles with Mr CHEN Rui from the Jiangsu Kunju Opera Troupe with The Startling Dream from The Peony Pavilion and Clearing the Pine Leaves, presented by Kathy Hall, co-performer, and assisted by Mr CHEN Weian, stage manager, Jiangsu Kunju Opera Troupe. 昆曲《牡丹亭-惊梦》及老生经典《扫松》小型伦敦巡回演出陈睿先生生行艺术。As listed below:
  • -Friday May 23rd 10am-1pm  UoL Royal Holloway TW20 0EX, Centre for Asian Theatre and Dance, Dept of Drama, Theatre and Dance
  • -Saturday May 14th 2pm-5pm at BGLT UoL SOAS, London, presented by SOAS Music Department and SOAS Sizhu Ensemble     
  • -Tuesday May 27th 2pm-4pm at Ming-Ai(London) Institute, Main Hall, presented by Programme Leader, Ming-Ai.     

2024

  • The Art of Mei Lanfang 130th Anniversary Celebration -lecture with demo-performances and workshop by Kathy Hall, Dept of Theatre and Performance, MA in World Theatres, Goldsmiths, UoL, New Cross, 20th November 2024 for Goldsmiths University members.

  • The Art of Mei Lanfang: Celebrating the 130th Anniversary of his birth with Kathy Hall, 26th October 2024, The Fan Museum, Greenwich. 

  • The University of Sheffield MA Transcultural and Traditional Music Studies invited Kathy Hall to give a Kunqu Opera Singing Workshop on Zoom on 22nd August 2024 to their distance learning students. Kathy taught an excerpt from The Palace of Eternal Youth《长生殿 –惊变》泣颜回曲牌 featuring the love duet between Emperor Ming Huang of the Tang Dynasty and his beloved Imperial Concubine, Yang Guifei, at a moment of leisure before the army insurrection which would topple their serene world. 
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  • CroydonU3A invited Kathy Hall to give a Chinese Opera presentation, ‘A Brief Encounter with Chinese Opera: Jingju and Kunqu’ at The Masonic Hall, Croydon on 12th June 2024 at 2pm. This event was only open to u3a members and guests. 
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  • The University of Music and Performing Arts, Graz, Austria, in collaboration with the Confucius Institute of Graz, invited the kunqu and jingju practitioner, Mrs Kathy Hall, from the London Chinese Opera Studio, and the kunqu actor Mr Chen Rui from the Kunqu Troupe of the Jiangsu Province Performing Arts Company for a two-day kunqu performance and make-up workshop and a public performance in Graz on April 19th and 20th, 2024. It was a cross-Department collaboration of the Institute for Ethnomusicology, Institute for Stage Design and Institute for Drama from the University of Music and Performing Arts of Graz. In it students learnt a short kunqu aria, including singing, acting and make-up. After the workshop, they demonstrated what they had learnt in a public recital, in which the two invited actors, Mrs Kathy Hall and Mr Chen Rui, performed the full scene learnt by the students. The free full-house recital event was supported by the Confucius Institute of Graz.
  • The Fan Museum, which opened in 1991, is the world’s first museum dedicated to the preservation and display of hand fans. It is located within two grade II* listed houses built in 1721 within the Greenwich World Heritage Site on Croom’s Hill, Greenwich. Kathy was honoured to be invited again to perform at this prestigious site on 17th February 2024, 2:00pm -4:00pm at the exquisite Orangery. Kathy Hall, an acclaimed performer and teacher working in the UK for over twenty years took the audience from a brief historical perspective of Chinese Opera to the principles of posture and movement, the role types, their characteristics, and the visual symbolism of the costumes. Attired in exquisitely hand-embroidered costume items, she gave demonstration-performances of Kunqu and Jingju (Peking) opera excerpts.
  • The Kent Equality Cultural Cohesion Plus and the Maidstone Cultural Group invite London Chinese Opera Studio to present professional Jingju actor, Wei He 何伟, from China, to perform the classic military male role movement sequence ‘Preparing for Battle’ 《起霸出征》 at the Jubilee Square, Maidstone, Kent, on Saturday 3rd February 2024 (www.cohesionplus.com /www.maidstone.gov.uk).  Wei will be fully costumed in the military general’s grand regalia, the Da Kao 大靠, with 4 flags 靠旗 , helmet with pom-poms, high platform boots, etc. Don’t miss this rarely seen opera spectacular! Kathy will be on-hand to introduce the piece and the striking details of this voluminous, weighty costume set!

  • Elemental dragons at Museum of London Docklands| Warehouse of the World, MOLD, Co-curated with Jih-Wen Yeh, StepOutArts, February 2024. Children joined Kathy Hall, a traditional Chinese opera artist to learn about dragons in mythology, then created their own unique masks and learnt how to move and dance like a Chinese dragon –adding in their own moves too! 

  • Enquiries welcome via Contact Us page

    2023

    • Royal Holloway, University of London,  Music Department, invited Kathy Hall to give a movement-based workshop on Mei Lanfang and the Dan Role, in conjunction with the subject, ‘Music/Performance and Gender‘, on 28th November 2023.
    • Goldsmiths, University of London, MA World Theatres, Dept of Theatre and Performance, invited Kathy Hall to give a seminar/workshop on Chinese Theatre: Traditions and Modernity on 22nd November 2023.
    • Wellington College, Berkshire, invited Kathy to give a Drama Masterclass at their Arts Week ‘World Arts’ on 16th October to 13-18-year-olds. Kathy gave a talk on Peking Opera (Jingju) and a workshop on Chinese opera movements.
    • Kathy presented a lecture and performance demonstration on Chinese opera Kunqu and Jingju at a leading international law firm’s Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations, October 2023.
    • London Chinese Opera  Studio presented ‘Carp Leaps over  the Dragon Gate’ -A Peking Opera Interlude《鲤鱼跳龙门》-京剧小品 performance with a 40-minute workshop for all (age 6+), and a Q&A session at 2:00pm and 4:00pm on Sunday June 18th at Blackburn Hall, National Opera Studio, Wandsworth High Street SW18 4HZ, supported by a Wandsworth Arts Fringe Festival funding award 2023.  
    • The British Museum invited Kathy Hall to perform an excerpt from Peking Opera, The Imperial Concubine Intoxicated- The Hundred Flowers Pavilion《贵妃醉酒-百花亭》on June 9th 2023 at the BP Lecture Theatre, Clore Centre,  at the close of the 2-day Conference: China’s 1800s -Material and Visual Culture. (Please check https://www.britishmuseum.org/…/imperial-concubine… for full details). 
      In addition, Kathy performed an excerpt from Kunqu Opera, The Palace of Eternal Life -the Intimate Feast 《长生殿 –小宴》. This offered an informative and beautiful comparison and contrast between the two major Chinese Opera genres in music, singing, and movements. English and Chinese surtitles were provided.
    • British Library Exhibition: Chinese and British                                                                   
      Kathy’s first gold opera folding fan and first pair of hand-embroidered opera shoes were among the items included in this exhibition. The exhibition celebrated Chinese people’s contributions to British life in many ways over the years. Thank you, British Library!  (Please see below for details.) https://www.bl.uk/press-releases/2022/september/british-library-announces-autumn-exhibitions
    • Jose Navarro performed the title role in Kathy’s newly devised 6-minute ‘Carp that Leaps over  the Dragon Gate’ -A Peking Opera Interlude《鲤鱼跳龙门》-京剧小品  at The Great Hall, University of Lancaster, 26th January 2023.  
    • ‘Carp that Leaps over  the Dragon Gate’ -A Peking Opera Interlude《鲤鱼跳龙门》-京剧小品 presented Jose Navarro at the Maidstone (Kent) Chinese New Year Celebrations , organised by Kent Equality Cohesion Plus Forum at Maidstone Jubilee Square, 28th January, 2023 at 12 noon and 1pm. 
    • Kathy’s opera pupil, Coco Lan Shi,  performed a Mei Lanfang style Jingju Opera excerpt from ‘The Imperial Concubine Intoxicated’ on 21st January 2023 at the National Maritime Museum Lunar New Year Celebrations, Greenwich, London, to a packed seated family audience at the Great Map Space. 

2022

  •   Kathy Hall gratefully acknowledged Arts Council of England National Lottery Project Grant funding support, November 2022, for the preparation stage of her newly devised project, ‘Carp Leaps over the Dragon Gate -A Peking Opera Interlude‘, which led to two performances  at the end of January 2023 in University of Lancaster and in Maidstone, Kent, with the prospect of more performances in the year.
  •   Kathy gave a Masterclass and movement workshop for MA World Theatre on Chinese Theatre: Tradition and Modernity on 2nd November 2022 at UoL Goldsmiths University, London.
    • My pupil, Coco Lan Shi, performed a short excerpt from the Kunqu Opera scene, In Pursuit of the Dream on July 15th at the National Maritime Museum. It was part of the Generation Z Youth Collective programme, Descending the Runway, which a group of 16-24 year-olds devised and took part in.
    • The International Media Marketplace (IMM) 2022, a leading media event for  travel media, was held at the QE II Conference Center, Broad Sanctuary, Westminster, London, on 14-15th March. On 14th March, Kathy Hall was featured in a Kunqu Opera excerpt from ‘In Pursuit of the Dream’, from ‘The Peony Pavilion’ with accompanying musicians Zhenyan Li, Xiao Wang and Ying Wan. This special presentation was supported by the Suzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism executed by PHG Consulting.
    • Jingju opera classic, The Imperial Concubine Intoxicated 贵妃醉酒 (Guifei Zuijiu), performed by Jiawei Li 李嘉蔚  at the Maidstone Chinese New Year Celebrations was presented by Cohesion Plus & Maidstone Cultural Group at Jubilee Square, Maidstone, Kent, on February 5th 2022 (www.cohesionplus.com /www.maidstone.gov.uk), assisted by London Chinese Opera Studio.
    • In January the Watford Football Club invited Kevin Zhang and Kathy Hall to present two short videos of Jingju male role movements and Chinese Opera face-painting on masks of the Five Tiger Generals 五虎上将 of the Three Kingdoms as part of their Year of the Tiger Chinese New Year celebration activities.                                                           
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    • 2021
    • Kathy performed the Mei Lanfang Jingju classic, The Imperial Concubine Intoxicated 贵妃醉酒 (Guifei Zuijiu) on December 18th at a wedding celebration at Cliveden House, Berkshire.
    • UoL Goldsmiths College MA World Theatres Contexts and Practices invited Kathy Hall to give a 3-hour lecture-demonstration and workshop on Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera Theatre Forms on November 3rd 2021.
    • On September 29th, Kathy was invited to perform an excerpt from the scene, ‘In Pursuit of the Dream’ from ‘The Peony Pavilion’ at the Garden Museum with accompanists Zhenyan Li, Xiao Wang and Ying Wan. It was a private tourism trade event hosted by the Suzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, executing through PHG Consulting, entitled ‘The City of Culture & Arts – Suzhou Kunqu Opera Educational Showcase in London’.

2020

  • Under the auspices of the SOAS Jing-Kun Chinese Opera Societyfrom 2014 to March 2020 (when Covid put a hold on activities), Kathy taught short courses three or four times a year in Jingju 京剧 and Kunqu昆曲 Opera singing and movements at SOAS, open to the public. These included excerpts from Jingju (Yuzhoufeng 宇宙锋, Guifei Zuijiu 贵妃醉酒, Yutangchun 玉堂春, Su San Qijie 苏三起解, Yangmen Nujiang 杨门女将 ) and Kunqu (Mudanting 牡丹亭 –youyuan 游园, jingmeng 惊梦, xunmeng 寻梦, Qintiao 琴挑 , Hongliji 红 梨记, Qianli song Jingjiang 千里送京娘, and Changshengdian 长生殿). Kathy also taught sets of movements without singing with the folding fan 折扇, the palace fan 团扇, watersleeves 水袖 and hand movements. At the end of each course, learners were invited to perform in the classroom, free for the public, with open discussions.
  • London Chinese Opera Studio presented Tom Stell in ‘Guifei Zuijiu’ (‘The Imperial Concubine Intoxicated’) at Maidstone, Kent, Chinese New Year Festival, 25/1/2020, supported by the Maidstone Cultural Group.

2019

  • In October 2019, Kathy was invited to translate 14 Peking Opera excerpts of subtitles from Chinese to English by Sinolink Productions for the China National Peking Opera Company’s UK tour.
  • The China National Peking Opera Company (CNPOC) 中国国家京剧院 gave a workshop for 6 secondary schools in Oxford High School on 26th November 2019 as an introduction to their 2019 UK tour. Kathy was Facilitator at the workshop and introduced some highlights from the actors and musicians. The CNPOC was brought here by Sinolink Productions.
  • On 27th November 2019, Kathy was Facilitator for the CNPOC performance at the Sadlers Wells Theatre, London.
  • Kunqu Opera was performed for the first time at The Fan Museum at Greenwich on 18th November 2019. (This is the first fan museum in the world.)
    Kathy performed an excerpt from ‘In Pursuit of the Dream’ from ‘The Peony Pavilion’.
  • Kathy was invited to be External Vocal Tutor to Hazel Meades for the module, Performance as Research (Ethnomusicology), as part of her MA/M Mus degree at Goldsmiths College, UoL. Kathy designed the course to cover singing and movements of excerpts from Southern and Northern Song（南曲, 北曲）from Kunqu operas, ‘The Peony Pavilion’ and ‘Escorting Jingniang for One Thousand Miles’. Hazel performed in May 2019 at her course assessment presentation.
  • Tom Stell, performed Peking Opera excerpt from ‘The Imperial Concubine Intoxicated’ at the SOAS Chinese New Year 2019 celebrations on 8th February, presented by the SOAS Chinese Department.

2018

  • Kathy was invited to perform an excerpt from In Pursuit of the Dream (Xunmeng) from The Peony Pavilion, on 21st November 2018, as part of ‘More than Music: Collecting Kun Opera’ for the Digital Museum of Global Chinese Kun Opera project, hosted by the Cambridge Rivers Project (CRP) at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge. The project was to collect, document, research and exhibit collection of Chinese Kun Opera that are in organisations worldwide, and promote Kun Opera as a contemporary living art form.
  • The China National Peking Opera Company (CNPOC) 中国国家京剧院 gave a workshop at the British Library, London, on 13th October 2018 as an introduction to their 2018 UK tour. Kathy presented the workshop and introduced some highlights from the actors and musicians. Kathy also presented a similar workshop on 12th October 2018 at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. The CNPOC was brought here by Sinolink Productions in successive years.
  • On 26th September 2018 at the 10th Anniversary Celebrations of the Confucius Institute of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Preston, Kathy performed excerpts from Kunqu scene, The Intimate Feast (from The Palace of Eternal Life) 昆曲《长生殿 -小宴》, and Jingju The Hundred Flowers Pavilion from The Imperial Concubine Intoxicated 京剧《贵妃醉酒—百花亭》.
  • Tom Stell performed Peking Opera, ‘The Imperial Concubine Intoxicated’ on 19th May at the Wenlin Chinese School Traditional Arts Festival, Wandsworth Festival Fringe, at the Chestnut Grove Academy.
  • Jiawei Li performed Peking Opera, ‘The Imperial Concubine Intoxicated’ in Swansea on 5th April 2018.
  • Josephine Liang and Jiawei Li gave a demonstration performance of ‘A Stroll in the Garden’ from the Kunqu Opera, ‘The Peony Pavilion’ on 19th February 2018 at the Islington Chinese Association Chinese New Year Celebrations.
  • Tom Stell and Jiawei Li performed Kunqu Opera scene, ‘A Stroll in the Garden’ from ‘The Peony Pavilion’, February 2018 at the Cambridge Corn Exchange organised by the Cambridge Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) Chinese New Year Gala.

2017

  • Tom Stell was invited to the BBC Chinese World Service for an interview on 6th October 2017 on his experience of learning Chinese Opera. He presented some Jingju and Kunqu demonstrations.
  • Kathy was invited to give a Chinese Opera workshop at the ‘Sounds and Cultures of East Asia’, Department of Music, UoL Royal Holloway College on 6th March 2017.
  • Kathy was guest-instructor for a Chinese Opera Workshop on 9th February 2017, at the Department of Drama, Theatre and Performance, University of Roehampton.
  • Jiawei Li and Anlan Chen performed ‘The Startling Dream’ from ‘The Peony Pavilion’ at  Maidstone, Kent, Chinese New Year Celebrations on 28th January 2017, supported by the Maidstone Cultural Group.
  • Jiawei Li and Anlan Chen performed ‘The Startling Dream’ from ‘The Peony Pavilion’ at the National Maritime Museum Chinese New Year Celebrations on 29th January 2017, presented by StepOut Arts.
  • Kathy gave an introduction to Chinese Opera and movement demonstrations with the horse-whip and folding fan on 27th January 2017 at Assembly at the Chobham Academy, Newham. Jiawei Li gave a make-up demonstration and performance, and an Opera Mask-painting workshop.

2016

  • Kathy and Tom Stell performed Kunqu Opera scene, ‘A Stroll in the Garden’, from ‘The Peony Pavilion’ on 12th September 2016 at the Opening Ceremony of Phoenix Publicity and Media Group International (London) at their new site, Phoenix House, SE8.
  • The SOAS Music Department World Music Summer School in July 2016 invited Kathy and Chen Rui 陈睿, professional male role actor from the Suzhou Kunqu Opera and Performing Arts Company, to be tutors and course planners for the Kunqu Opera course, ‘Tone, Word, Movement in Kunqu Opera’ which lasted one week with 16 contact hours, ending with a performance by course participants with musicians in the Lecture Theatre.
  • Jiawei Li performed Kunqu Opera scene ‘In Pursuit of the Dream’ on 25th June 2016 at the Basingstoke Festival World Party at Eastrop Park. Kathy and Jiawei also gave a Face-painting Workshop.
  • At the Mei Baojiu Memorial Event on 7th June 2016 at SOAS, organised by the UK-Chinese Opera Association, Kathy and Jiawei Li gave a demonstration performance of ‘A Stroll in the Garden’. Student performers included Tom Stell, Clare Wen, Ann Liang and Louisa Cheung.
  • Tom Stell gave a demonstration performance of a Kunqu Opera excerpt from ‘In Pursuit of the Dream’ on 23rd April 2016 at the Wenlin Chinese School, and Jiawei Li and Anlan Chen performed an excerpt from ‘A Stroll in the Garden’.
  • Kathy and Kevin Zhang performed Kunqu opera excerpt from ‘The Startling Dream’ from ‘The Peony Pavilion’ at the London Book Fair, 12th April 2016 at Olympia.
  • On 29th March 2016, Jiawei Li was model for the image of Yang Guifei for a photography session for Amouage Perfume publicity. 
  • The British Museum Friends Event, on 25th February 2016, invited Kathy to perform Kunqu Opera excerpt from In Pursuit of the Dream from The Peony Pavilion at The Great Court, with musicians Jack Footitt, Ying Wan, Yuyao Teo and Liting Cai.
  • Tom Stell gave a demonstration of Guifei Zuijiu at the V&A Chinese New Year Celebrations on 13th February.
  • Kathy gave a Peking Opera demonstration-performance and movement workshop on 9th February 2016 at the Abacus Belsize Primary School.
  • Jiawei and Anlan Chen performed Kunqu Opera scene ‘A Stroll in the Garden’ on 6th February 2016 at the Maidstone Chinese New Year Celebrations, supported by the Maidstone Cultural Group.

2015

  • On 11th December, Kathy presented an introduction to Peking Opera on costumes, role types and the ‘Painted-Face’ and demonstrations with the folding fan and the horse-hair ‘cloud-sweeper’ at the CasaAsia event in Barcelona, Hacia la comprensión de la Ópera Pekinense, at the Barcelona City Conservatory of Music. This was an event of Peking Opera Performance, Talk and Demonstration by The UK-Chinese Opera Association, London. Jingju performers were Kevin Zhang and Ming Lu, with musicians Joanna Zenghui Qiu, Qi Zhang and Haishuo Liu. There was also classical and folk music by the ensemble.
  • Jiawei Li performed as Chunxiang in Kunqu Opera scene, ‘A Stroll in the Garden’ with visiting Kunqu scholar, Yuan Yubing on 9th July 2015 at the City of London East India Company Festival, Devonshire Square, with musicians Jack Footitt, Ying Wan and Ruard Absaroka. Kathy gave general backstage support.
  • Jiawei Li performed Kunqu Opera excerpt from ‘A Stroll in the Garden’ on 20th June 2015 at the Basingstoke Chinese New Year Celebrations. 
  • On 5th May 2015, Tom Stell gave a demonstration performance of ‘Guifei Zuijiu’ at the Wimbledon Guild, Drake House. Kathy gave a demonstration performance from ‘The Cosmic Blade’ (‘Yuzhoufeng’).
  • Jiawei Li performed ‘Guifei Zuijiu’ on 21st February 2015 at the Maidstone Chinese New Year Celebrations, supported by the Maidstone Cultural Group.
  • Kathy gave a lecture-demonstration on Kunqu Opera on 28th January 2015 at the UCL Centre for Language and International Education.
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  • 2014
  • At the Mei Lanfang 120th Anniversary Symposium on 18th October 2014 presented by Dr Ashley Thorpe, UoL Royal Holloway College, at SOAS, Kathy gave a demonstration performance from ‘The Cosmic Blade’ (‘Yuzhoufeng’). Student Tom Stell presented a lesser known piece from the beginning of ‘The Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers’.   
  • Kathy was invited to give a talk on Peking Opera and a watersleeves movement workshop on 3rd July 2014 by the Department of Music, UoL Royal Holloway College.
  • Kathy gave a talk on Chinese Opera, ‘The Role of the Clown’, at the Wimbledon Guild, Drake House, on 6th May 2014.
  • At the SOAS China Institute Book Launch on 11th March 2014, Kathy performed excerpts from Kunqu Opera scenes, ‘In Pursuit of the Dream’ (from ‘Peony Pavilion’) and ‘The Foolish Dream’ (from ‘The Broken Axe Mountain’)
  • Jiawei Li performed an excerpt from Kunqu Opera scene, ‘In Pursuit of the Dream’ for Maidstone, Kent, Chinese New Year Celebrations, supported by the Maidstone Cultural Group, 1st February 2014.
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