Promoting Beijing Opera in America: The Confucius Institute of Chinese Opera at Binghamton University

Abstract

The Confucius Institute of Chinese Opera at Binghamton University (CICO) was co-founded by Binghamton University, SUNY (BU), and the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts (NACTA) 中國戲曲學院 in November 2009. It is the only one of its kind among 500 Confucius Institutes in the world. As the name of the institute indicates, the mission of CICO is to promote Chinese opera, mainly Beijing opera (Jingju 京劇, also known as Peking opera), in the United States. As the Director of CICO, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our Institute and its activities. CICO regularly hosts seven instructors sponsored by the Confucius Institute Headquarters, commonly known as Hanban. Our current faculty includes the following faculty members: Professor Tu Linghui 涂玲慧, a national tier one Chinese opera performer and Professor Cheng Shijun 程世君, a Chinese flute expert, both from NACTA. There are also three young volunteer teachers who are graduate students of the Department of Performance at NACTA. In addition, there are two language instructors sent directly by the Hanban. These CICO teachers, working together with Binghamton University professors, carry out activities in the four areas of teaching, performance, outreach, and student competitions.