'I Sing Beijing' Transcends Culture

Newfound opportunities

"When I saw this program, [exchanging] language with native speakers, I wanted to study Chinese. And I've been dying to visit China," said Stucker, explaining why she decided to attend this program.

"Compared to my experience in the US, the support for classical art here is tremendous," she said.

"I think this is where art is flourishing now, rather than places like the US. In the news, we hear bad things like concert halls going bankrupt or other music houses closing."

Before she came here, Stucker said she watched the The White-Haired Girl movie and listened to the ballet to become familiar with the story. Though she studied Chinese in college for a year, singing in Putonghua is much harder.

"It's different from singing Western opera, and making sense of what you are singing is the most important," she said,

"I need to figure out which words are important and bring them out…I started to get this wild and desperate energy she (the leading female character in the The White-Haired Girl) has, it wasn't until then that I understood the importance of the words."

It can be difficult for someone from another culture to understand an old Chinese story.

"As a non-native speaker, there are connotations and ideas that I'm not aware of. Learning about the linguistic construction of the text of my aria immensely helps me get into these emotions," Stucker told the Global Times.

After their performance late this month at the NCPA, the group will tour cities including Paris, and perform at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, February of next year.

"Though it's difficult, it's really interesting. I'm excited to go to those places to perform," said Stucker.

Editor: MetalAllen