于魁智

简介

Yu Kuizhi was born on December 15, 1961 in Shenyang, Liaoning Province into an ordinary working-class family, with his mother being a music teacher and his father a grade-eight fitter. Influenced by his music-teacher mother from an early age, he was the choir leader in primary school, and thanks to his excellent vocal talent, in April 1972 at barely ten years old he was selected to join the apprentice class of the Shenyang Peking Opera Theatre. He received training from renowned masters and built a solid foundation in all aspects of Peking Opera art, and at just thirteen he performed a child lead role in the modern Peking Opera "The Great Oar Song" for over a hundred performances to wide acclaim. After graduating in 1978, he traveled to Beijing and entered the China Academy of Theatre Arts, studying under distinguished professors and excelling in the lao sheng (old male) roles in the Yang (Baosen) school style. In 1982 he graduated with top marks and was admitted to the First Troupe of the National Peking Opera Company. He was promoted to first-class actor in 1992, then continued his graduate studies in the advanced program for outstanding young Peking Opera actors, graduating in 2001. He became director of the Second Troupe of the National Peking Opera Company in 2001, then director of the newly reorganized First Troupe in 2005, artistic advisor and deputy director of the National Peking Opera Company in 2010, and chief artistic director (director-general level) in 2018. In 2022 he returned to the China Academy of Theatre Arts as artistic advisor and head of the Peking Opera department, and in 2023 became dean of the School of Drama Arts at Henan University. Yu Kuizhi has toured extensively around the world, visiting Asia, Europe, and America, and gained wide fame in Taiwan and Hong Kong. His artistic style blends traditional Peking Opera singing with modern vocal techniques, earning him the title of "the most box-office-appealing martial and civil lao sheng."