::::: Welcome to Chinese Opera Institute ::::

The Chinese Opera Institute (COI) was established in August 1995 as a non-profit organisation with the support of the National Arts Council. It is a training and research centre responsible for the promotion of all facets of Chinese opera. Dr. Chua Soo Pong is the founding director.

The COI plays a unique role in Singapore by holding talks and courses throughout the year to encourage opera practitioners here to expose themselves to different genres and techniques in Chinese opera, as well as to familiarise and educate the public on Chinese opera. These include topics on music, physicality, staging, training, specific genres, character types and contemporary development in Chinese opera. As a training and research centre, COI has launched an annual symposium since 1997, featuring artistes and academics in Chinese opera. This provides an arena for discourses on this multi-faceted art form.

The Institute has succeeded over the years in cultivating new audiences as well as nurturing a new generation of young performers. Through its popular Arts Education Programme, it has reached out to 200 schools throughout Singapore to date with innovative workshops and productions. This is executed with the help of the Singapore Chinese Opera Performing Ensemble (SCOPE), which was established as an affiliate in 1997. SCOPE also provides a platform for the Institute’s students to perform alongside veteran actors under renowned directors. The COI organises educational programmes like visits to street opera for school students and children opera camps during school holidays.

Since 1998, it has set up the Singapore Children Opera Repertory Ensemble (SCORE), for young performers aged between 5 and 12, with Dr. Chua Soo Pong as the Artistic Director. It presented its inaugural series of performances of Monkey King and the White Bone Demoness in Singapore in June 2002 and participated in the Toyama World Festival of Children's Theatre, Japan in the same year and at the Savonlinna International Children’s’ Theatre Festival in Finland, the following year. They then participated in the 7th World Festival of Children’s Theatre in Lingen, Germany with great success in 2002 and in 2004 at the Asia-Pacific Children Theatre Festival in Toyama, Japan.

The Institute has also won acclaim at the 1st Asian Folk Drama Festival in Bangkok 1998, the Seoul International Theatre Festival 1999, International Ramayana Festival in four cities in India (2000) and the Liverpool International Theatre Festival 2000 in Canada. It also participated in the Chun Cheon International Theatre Festival in Korea (2002), International Theatre Festival in Indonesia(2003), Monaco International Theatre Festival (2005), American International Theatre Festival in Midland, USA (2006).

Creating contemporary Chinese opera is one of the key missions of COI. A milestone in this direction is Heroes: The Story of Lim Bo Seng, which premiered in March 2000. It demonstrated that it is possible to develop Chinese opera with a distinct Singapore branding by drawing on local history. Original operas crested by the COI has won acclaims in many countries as it projected a distinctive Singapore identity and has an unique local flavour.

In 2000, the COI launched the “Youth Opera Showcase”, an annual event that features students trained by the COI. Since its inception it has nurtured over 600 young performers and groomed a new generation of young audience. Many of them represented Singapore at International Theatre Festivals: Pohang International Theatre Festival (2003), the 1st Daegu International Festival of Traditional Theatre (2003), a Revitalising Malay Culture Festival in Tunjung Pinang, Indonesia (2004), 6th International Children Performing Arts Festival in New Delhi, India (2005) and Huang Mei Opera Festival in China (2006).

The COI has, in 2003, launched a series of books on Chinese opera in Singapore. The publication included “Teochew opera in Singapore” by Cai Bi Xia (2003), “Beijing Opera in Singapore” by Wang Fang (2004) and “Hokkien Opera in Singapore” by Zhuang Hai Ning (2005).

The COI is governed by a board chaired by Mr. Lim Fang Hua. Board Members include Mr Ang Mong Seng, Mrs Annie Chin, Mr Goh Kim Leong, Mr Leen Kim Swee and Mrs Nancy Ng.

The COI conducts courses in Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Huangmei and Yue opera. For enquiry please call 6339 1292 or 6339 8168, or send your mail to 111 Middle Road, Singapore 188969. Email address: coisinga@singnet.com.sg

OUR OBJECTIVES :

promote appreciation of the art form among the young
nurture a core of new generation Chinese opera performers
create original Singaporean Chinese opera
infuse theatrical influences of other cultures to enrich the medium
provide professional training and research on popular opera forms
raise standards of local opera performers
collaborate with local Chinese opera groups
promote Singapore through Chinese opera to the international stage.

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