Zhou Long (Story teller/Han envoy/Cai Yong/Han General, a Beijing Opera Performer) is a distinguished Beijing opera (Jingqu) and Kunji performing artist. Currently a professor at the Academy of Chinese Traditional Opera in Beijing, the best-known academy for the studies of traditional Chinese performing arts, Zhou Long is deemed a National First-Class performer by the Ministry of Culture and has been awarded the Plum Flower Award, the most prestigious award for performing artists in China. Zhou Long started his training in Beijing opera and Kunju at the age of six with his father and grandfather. He is a graduate of Performing Arts from the Academy of Chinese Traditional Opera and holds a degree in Literature from the Beijing Education University.
Zhou Long is a multi-talented artist. He has played more than 60 roles from the Beijing opera and Kunju repertoires and has received numerous awards. Zhou Long is committed to artistic creativity and has worked with artists from different countries to explore new ways to present drama, opera and dance. He has participated in various international productions, serving as director, actor, singer, movement consultant, etc. He has performed lead roles in Chen Shi-Zheng's Beijing opera version of Bacchae; Asia Society's production of Forgiveness, in which he performed together with traditional Japanese and Korean artists; and a musical version of The Hunchback of Notredame. In 1994, he was selected to play the lead in The Monkey King by the National Beijing Opera Company, giving over one hundred performances in Japan. He was the Assistant Director of the acclaimed Peony Pavilion, which was performed at New York's Lincoln Center and in Australia, Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam and Berlin. Zhou Long also teaches classes and gives lectures wherever he performs. He has also published articles on different aspects of performance technique and contemporary creativity in Beijing opera.
