Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC) and National Arts Council (NAC) collaborate to debut Chinese Opera Festival 2025, taking place from 21st June 2025 to 26th July 2025. This is a joint initiative to celebrate one of Singapore’s traditional performing art forms.
Chinese Opera Festival 2025
Chinese Opera Festival 2025 will take over five weekends from 21st June to 26th July 2025, featuring five local Chinese opera troupes, each performing on a select Saturday in a different dialect.
These are the following active Chinese opera troupes, dedicated to keeping Singapore’s local Chinese landscape alive.
Chinese Opera Studio (Teochew) – The Mistake of Justice Bao
Date: 21st June
Time: 7pm
https://www.facebook.com/chineseoperastudiogroup/
Chinese Opera Ensemble (Hainanese) – The Peacocks Flying Southeast
Date: 5th July
Time: 7pm
https://www.facebook.com/coe0217/
OperaWorks (Singapore) (Cantonese) – The Betrothal Sword of Love
Date: 12th July
Time: 7pm
- https://operaworkssingapore.org/
- https://www.facebook.com/OperaWorks.Singapore/
- https://www.instagram.com/operaworks.singapore/
- https://www.youtube.com/c/OperaWorksSingapore
Tian Yun Beijing Opera Society (Peking) – Mei Yu Pei
Date: 19th July
Time: 7pm
Tang Renaissance (Yue) – Marshal Lim Bo Seng
Date: 26th July
Time: 7pm
- https://www.tangrenaissance.org/
- https://www.facebook.com/tangrenaissance
- https://www.instagram.com/tangrenaissance
- https://www.youtube.com/@tangrenaissance440
A significant collaboration between SCCC and NAC that brings quality performances to more audiences from all walks of life to celebrate the diversity and rich cultural heritage of Chinese opera in Singapore. Chinese Opera Festival 2025 is a gathering of five distinct opera traditions on a single stage, presents an exciting opportunity for more people to watch their performances, experience Chinese Opera, and to appreciate the importance of rich cultural heritage and to preserve it.
At the same time, Chinese Opera Festival also helps to promote and provide vital support for local Chinese opera groups to develop their capabilities, embark on artistic growth, and cultivate a paying audience. There will be bilingual sub-titles provided for all performances, ensuring accessibility for all audiences.
According to Mr Alvin Tan, Chief Executive of SCCC, “Through the festival, we hope to support local Chinese opera groups by providing a safe creative space for them to showcase their works and capabilities without having to worry about venue rental, funding, ticket sales, marketing etc. In doing so, we hope to safeguard and showcase a traditional artform which is rich in Chinese history and culture; attract new and hopefully younger audiences; and contribute to its long-term sustainability.”
Low Eng Teong, Chief Executive Officer of NAC, said, “The traditional arts are a vital part of Singapore’s arts landscape as they reflect, shape and strengthen our cultural identity. NAC is proud to partner with the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre on the inaugural Chinese Opera Festival. Through this initiative, audiences from all walks of life can come together to discover, connect with the arts and experience the richness and heritage of Chinese Opera in Singapore.”
Chinese Opera Festival 2025 Fringe Activities
There are a series of carefully curated Chinese Opera Festival 2025 fringe activities that will accompany the performances at SCCC, in line with the goal of expanding arts touch points for audience participation and engagement.
These include interactive Chinese opera movement workshops designed for participants of all ages, and insightful practitioner talks featuring respected artists. Participants can expect to hear from experienced Chinese opera artists including Cultural Medallion recipient Joanna Wong and Stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage Award and Young Artist Award recipient Cai Bixia.
The Art in Every Gesture: Discovering Movement in Chinese Opera
- Dates: 5th & 19th July
- Time: 4pm to 5pm
- Venue: SCCC Recital Studio, Level 6
Behind the Painted Faces: Voices of Chinese Opera Today
- Dates: 21st June (Su Zhang Kai) | 12th July (Cai Bixia) | 26th July (Joanna Wong)
- Time: 4pm to 5pm
- Venue: SCCC Recital Studio, Level 6
Chinese Opera Roving Exhibition
- Dates: 4th June to 26th July
- Time: 9am to 10m
- Venue: SCCC, Level 7 Foyer
Troupe leader of OperaWorks (Singapore), Ms Winsome Chan, said: “It is our honour to collaborate with SCCC and NAC, and to participate in this year’s Chinese Opera Festival. We hope that our audience would enjoy our performance of Cantonese opera The Betrothal Sword of Love, and we also hope to reach out to and attract new audiences to the festival.”
Vice-President and Artistic Director of Tian Yun Beijing Opera Society, Ms Lim Mei Lian, added: “Being the inaugural Chinese Opera Festival in Singapore, we hope that the initiative does not stop here but will continue to stay true to its objectives and forge ahead with perseverance.”
Personal Thoughts and Views from a documentary visual storyteller
At the media preview, we got to know more about Chinese Opera Festival 2025 objectives from Mr Alvin Tan, CEO SCCC opening remarks. We also got to view snippets of the Chinese opera troupes performing at the upcoming Chinese Opera Festival 2025.
This was an enriching cultural heritage experience for me, a sector that I didn’t manage to cover as much over my years of documenting and photographing history, heritage, culture and conservation sectors in Singapore.
Through this inaugural Chinese Opera Festival 2025, I hope that I can do more, learn, experience, and appreciate this rich Chinese cultural heritage, and where I can play my small part for this sector, as a documentary visual storyteller in history, heritage, culture and conservation sectors.
Chinese Opera Festival 2025 Information (Ticketing Prices and Promotions)
Chinese Opera Festival 2025
- Dates: 21st June to 26th July 2025
- Venue: SCCC Auditorium, Level 9
- Standard Ticket Price: $30 (available on SISTIC)
Chinese Opera Festival 2025 tickers are available on SISTIC at $30 with a special five-show bundle at $120. Early bird discount of 30% off tickets at $21 are available from 4th till 10th June 2025.
To register for onsite fringe activities, please visit SISTIC.
| Promotion | Promotion Period | Details |
| Early-bird tickets | 4 June till 10 June 2025 | 30% off tickets |
| Special five-show bundle | 11 June till 21 June 2025 | $120 per bundle |
| SCCC EDM Subscribers
(Subscribe to SCCC EDM) |
11 June till 26 July 2025 | 25% off tickets |
For more information on Chinese Opera Festival 2025, please visit Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC) website: https://singaporeccc.org.sg/