Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report

Penn State Greater Allegheny welcomes China's Ningbo Yong Opera Troupe at 7 p.m. Monday (Oct. 13) for a 90-minute performance in the McKeesport campus' Wunderley Gym.

The public is invited to attend and admission is free. For more information, contact the Academic Affairs Office at (412) 675-9140.

The 27-member troupe from Ningbo Performance & Arts Group is traveling to the U.S. from Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China. The performance will include parts from "Andi," adapted from Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer-winning "Anna Christie," as well as highlights from other plays.

"We are so excited and fortunate to host the award-winning Ningbo Yong Opera Troupe," says Margaret Signorella, director of Academic Affairs for Penn State Greater Allegheny.

"We are always looking for cultural and educational opportunities for our students, and to have a world-renowned musical group perform on our campus is an experience consistent with the campus emphasis on a global curriculum," she says.

Zhihao Song, a Penn State Greater Allegheny business major, had the idea to bring the group to the campus. Back home in Ningbo, China, he is neighbors with one of the opera's performers. He contacted the troupe, which was performing at Grinnell College in Iowa, and asked them to come to Penn State Greater Allegheny while they were in the United States.

"Zhihao showed great initiative in arranging the visit," Signorella says.

As one of the most important local operas in its province, it is widely popular in Ningbo, Zhoushan, Taizhou and Shanghai. With a wide repertoire featuring traditional Chinese opera and interpretations of modern works, the Ningbo Yong Opera Troupe has performed in France, Germany, Saudi Arabia and the United States, among other countries.

The group's recent performance of "The Red Dress" at New York City's Lincoln Center won the 11th National Spiritual Civilization Five Top Project Prize and the Excellent Repertoire Award of the Seventh China Dance Lotus Award.