Zhang Jun

Zhang Jun is the Director of the Affiliated Chinese Opera School of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, National Class One Performer, UNESCO Artist for Peace, and founder of the Shanghai Zhang Jun Kunqu Art Centre. Known as the “Prince of Kunqu”, he has received a number of awards and accolades for his contribution to Chinese opera, including the prestigious ‘Plum Performance Award’, the Shanghai Magnolia Stage Performance Award, the UNESCO Prize for Kunqu Promotion, and the ‘Top Ten Outstanding Youth of Shanghai’ award.

He apprenticed under a number of acclaimed Kunqu performers, including Cai Zhengren, Yue Meiti, Zhou Zhigang and Maestro Yu Zhenfei. During a career spanning over 30 years, his repertoire has included a broad range of roles in major works such as Peony Pavilion, The Palace of Eternal Life and The Story of Jade Hairpin as well as modern Kunqu operas such as Spring Blossoms on a Moonlit River and I, Hamlet. In 2010, his performance in Tan Dun’s opera Marco Polo earned the work a Grammy Award nomination; in May 2011, Zhang became the third Chinese artist to be designated as a UNESCO Artist for Peace, following in the footsteps of Gong Li and the China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe.