PAINTED SKIN: A Chamber Opera

The US-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music

Thursday, October 13 at 7pm

Tickets: $25/$45 ($10 student price with ID)

Hao Weiya, composer
Wang Yuanfei, librettist
Michael Hofmann, director
Jindong Cai, conductor
Based on a story by Pu Songling (1640-1715)

Painted Skin is composer Hao Weiya’s modern operatic interpretation of a haunting story from Strange Tales of Liao Zhai (1740), a famous collection of renowned Qin Dynasty author Pu Songling’s ghost stories from the early 18th century.

The opera made its debut in 2018 at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center. For the 2022 China Now Music Festival, director Michael Hoffman and conductor Jindong Cai have created a new production that transports this supernatural tale into the fabric of modern American society. The cast of three characters includes two Western opera style singers and an acclaimed NY-based Kunqu opera singer, accompanied by a 20-piece Chinese orchestra.