Dream of the Red Chamber

ARC | Arts + Design is delighted to program a series of events, in partnership with Anthony Cascardi, Dean of the Arts & Humanities and the Center for Chinese Studies, to celebrate the San Francisco Opera’s world premiere of Dream of the Red Chamber, directed by UC Berkeley Alumnus Stan Lai. Lai is one of the most acclaimed playwrights and directors in East Asia known, not only for creating some of the most notable works for modern Chinese theater, but also for crafting new genres and innovative staging.

Join us on September 12 for a symposium In Honor of Dream of the Red Chamber, where scholars and artists will gather for an afternoon of conversation on the music, stage, and words of this opera. The symposium culminates in a conversation between Stan Lai and Wen-hsin Yeh, the Richard H. and Laurie C. Morrison Professor in History at UC Berkeley. Kindly RSVP here and reserve your spot by Wednesday, September 7th.

Schedule of Events

2:30 pm: Welcome and Introductions

Shannon Jackson, Associate Vice Chancellor, Arts & Design; Director, Arts Research Center, UC Berkeley

Anthony Cascardi, Dean, Arts & Humanities, UC Berkeley

2:40 pm: Roundtable – Stage and Word

Judith Zeitlin, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor, East Asian Languages and Civilizations and Theater and Performance Studies, University of Chicago

Wu Hung, Director of the Center for the Art of East Asia; Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor of Art History, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago

Sophie Volpp, Associate Professor, Comparative Literature and East Asian Literature, UC Berkeley

Monica Lam, Director of Journey of a Bonesetter’s Daughter: the Making of an Opera

3:40 pm: break

3:55: Roundtable — Music

Cindy Cox, Professor of Composition, UC Berkeley

Yao Chen, Associate Professor of Composition, Central Conservatory of Music

Jindong Cai, Associate Professor of Performance, Stanford University

Sheila Melvin, author of Beethoven in China and Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese

Kara Riopelle, graduate student in Musicology, Stanford University

4:55 pm: break

5:10 pm: Stan Lai in conversation with Wen-hsin Yeh, the Richard H. and Laurie C. Morrison Professor in History, UC Berkeley

In Honor of Dream of the Red Chamber is sponsored by the Arts + Design Initiative, the Arts Research Center, the Division of the Arts & Humanities, the Department of Music, and the Center for Chinese Studies, UC Berkeley.