Face Changing in Sichuan Opera

By Amy Lunday
Homewood

About 2,000 Chinese students and scholars from 20 universities and institutes in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, West Virginia and Washington, D.C., are expected to welcome the Year of the Boar from 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The general public is also welcome to attend the event, which is hosted by the Chinese Student and Scholar Associations at The Johns Hopkins University and The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and co-sponsored by the participating universities, many Chinese restaurants and several businesses and banks in the greater Baltimore/Washington area.

Campus celebrations have taken place before but not on this scale, which organizers hope will attract many Chinese students and their families while providing an opportunity to introduce aspects of Chinese culture to others. There are more than 2,000 Chinese students and scholars, including U.S. permanent residents who are Chinese citizens, working and studying at Johns Hopkins' Baltimore campuses.

Last year's festival took place on the university's Homewood campus and drew a crowd of more than 1,000 guests.

The program will include a mix of traditional and modern music and dance, including Chinese kung fu; Peking Opera; performances on ancient Chinese instruments, including the erhu and gu zheng; and Face Changing in Sichuan Opera, in which actors change more than 10 masks in 20 seconds.

On the Western calendar, Feb. 18 is the first day of the Chinese New Year period, which lasts 15 days and ends with the Lantern Festival. The celebration is being held here a few days early so the event can be filmed and broadcast in China.

Tickets are $10 and $3, $3 for all children under 12. For ticket information, e-mail dc_ticket_newyear@yahoo.com or call 410-258-5555. Additional information is online at www.jhmi-cssa.org.

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