Formerly the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Troupe, the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Theatre is located in the city’s Yuexiu district, city and occupies a total floor area of around 40,000sq-m. The venue includes a 1,200-seat Grand Theatre, a 500-seat theatre and three 60-seat cinemas. Two new theatres, the Hung Sin-nui Theatre and smaller Red Bean Hall, include a DiGiCoSD5 and Quantum 338 in each respecitively.
Cantonese Opera is one of the traditional Chinese opera genres, with a history spanning more than 300 years. It is popular around the Zhujiang River delta and other places where the Guangfu people live. It is also the most performed type of opera in Guangdong and the Cantonese-speaking region of Guangxi. In 2009, Cantonese Opera was added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. The building of these two new facilities will form a cultural centre for the world of Cantonese Opera and ensure a solid base for its revitalisation.
In recent years, Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Theatre (GOH) has been making artistic innovations based on science and technology, and co-operated with industry leaders to explore the construction of 5G Smart Theatre. More than 300 online performances and activities have been held utilising 5G, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technology, bringing this ancient art to modern audiences. GOH hosted the inaugural Chinese Culture Festival event in 2024.
DiGiCo distributor Racpro, installed the SD5 in the Hung Sin-nui Theatre. This space was built in honour of the famous Cantonese opera artist Hung Sin-nui who, in 2009, received the first Chinese Opera Lifetime Achievement Award.
The SD5 is equipped with 37 physical faders on the console surface and three 15-inc LCD high-resolution touch screens, which can display information, such as gain, processing and EQ for 253 channels. Situated in the control booth at the rear of the stalls, the DiGiCo SD5’s low profile ensures good sightlines and the larger mix surface means that every channel is easily accessible.
Red beans have long been a symbol of romantic longing in China. The Red Bean Hall is named as a reminder of the praise of Premier Zhou Enlai, who famously said that Cantonese Opera was the ‘Southern Red Bean’. The audio team chose to install the DiGiCo Quantum 338 as its main mixing console, also situated in a booth at the rear of the stalls.
The Quantum 338 has 128 input channels and 64 output buses. It provides additional channel processing for the main output and matrix, which brings more powerful processing capabilities and extremely flexible workflows. GOH believes that the choice of the Quantum 338 for the Red Bean Hall will promote the development of performing arts in a more refined and systematic way.
GOH investment in performers includes the development of art training courses, the first theatre-affiliated children’s choir, the first children’s ballet troupe, the first youth marching band and the first youth string orchestra, all with highly professional standards. It also created the unique art training mode of ‘Classroom × Stage’ to cultivate artistic talents, training more than 19,079 young artists and building the Arts Boost, an art management professional exchange and learning platform to ensure a strong pool of future talent.
With its investment in ground-breaking technology and in the next generation of performers, the Opera House promises to remain a vibrant part of Chinese culture and carry on the cultural essence and customs of Lingnan that have been passed down for thousands of years. Today, the power of DiGiCo technology works with Cantonese Opera to innovate, while building on this cultural history and growing into the future.
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