Wu Pak Chiu (Pinyin: wǔ bó jiù; Yale Cantonese: ng5 ba3 jau6) (ca. 1913 – March 31, 1974), was a prominent Chinese tenor who sang in Europe under the name of Gregorio Wu Pak Chiu. Wu Pak Chiu was born in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and graduated from the

Shanghai Conservatory of Music The Shanghai Conservatory of Music () was founded on November 27, 1927, as the first music institution of higher education in China. Its teachers and students have won awards at home and abroad, thus earning the conservatory the name "the crad ...

in 1937 where he studied voice under Professor Lu Cha Zhi. During the Sino-Japanese War he earned fame for his singing of the anthem 'Defend China' by Ho An-Tung. In December 1946, he left China and enrolled as a fourth year student at the

Accademia di Santa Cecilia The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia ( en, National Academy of St Cecilia) is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, founded by the papal bull ''Ratione congruit'', issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints prom ...

in Rome. He graduated in 1948 at the top of his class. During that period he also studied as a private student with

Beniamino Gigli Beniamino Gigli ( , ; 20 March 1890 – 30 November 1957) was an Italian opera singer (lyric tenor). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tenors of his generation. Early life Gigli was born in Recanati, in the Marche, the son of a shoem ...

. In 1952 he sang in concert with Gigli and his daughter Rina Gigli at Sezze Romano. Gigli also attended Wu Pak Chiu's solo concert in Rome at the Sala Borromini on June 29, 1955. Following his performance as the tenor soloist in Bartok's ''Cantata profana'' at the

Teatro Argentina The Teatro Argentina (directly translating to "Theatre Argentina") is an opera house and Theater (structure), theatre located in Largo di Torre Argentina, a square in Rome, Italy. One of the oldest theatres in Rome, it was constructed in 1731 an ...

in Rome in 1954, he was invited to sing in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, and England both in concert halls and on radio and television, where he often included Chinese songs in his repertoire. He also played Chinese characters in several Italian movies. In 1969, he returned to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

where he gave his final performance in a recital for the

Lingnan University Lingnan University (LN/LU), formerly called Lingnan College, is a public liberal arts university in Hong Kong. It aims to provide students with an education in the liberal arts tradition and has joined the Global Liberal Arts Alliance since ...

Alumni Association. Following his retirement from the concert stage, he taught vocal and choral singing at several secondary schools in the city and directed a production of

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...

's ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' (; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano in 1926, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. ''Turandot'' best-known aria is "Nessun dorma", whi ...

''. He died in Hong Kong.

References

www.wupakchiu.com
This site contains several mor
photographs
of Wu Pak Chiu with Gigli and hi
obituary
in a Hong Kong newspaper. This site also contain
recordings
of Wu Pak Chiu singing.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu Pak Chiu Chinese operatic tenors 1974 deaths Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia alumni Year of birth missing 21st-century Chinese male opera singers