Belonging to the Ye school (his teacher was Ye Shaolan), Jiang has performed around the globe. He is most noted as an actor able to perfect both military and scholarly roles, with a voice that is not only wide-ranging but also immensely agile. Recipient of countless national and media accolades, in 1993, Jiang won the Mei Lan Fang Gold Award and the Ministry of Culture honored him as one of the nation’s Leading Young Artists in 2000. Television documentaries have also been made in China of his life and art.

Jiang is an international star of the highest caliber, having brought Peking opera into the world of performing arts, crossing traditional boundaries with the greatest ease. The revival of the classic Zhang Xie Zang Yuan (Zhang Xie the scholar) from the southern Song dynasty, in which Jiang played the title role, has been lauded as a true breakthrough in China, directed by the nation’s leading stage director Lin Zhaohua. Jiang is also a frequent collaborator with Li Liuyi, another leading theatre director in Beijing, in Guo Wenjing’s new Peking opera Hua Mulan, which premiered at the Beijing Capital Theatre in late 2004.

Apart from popular leading roles in traditional repertoire such as Bai She Zhuan (Legend of the White Snake) and Yu Tang Chun (Jade Pavilion), Jiang also participated in an experimental play based on stories by Lu Xun. He also performed a leading role in contemporary composer Guo Wenjing’s Night Banquet, which toured such illustrious festivals as Paris Autumn, Perth International Arts Festival, Lincoln Center Festival, Berlin Festival, and Beijing Music Festival between 2001 and 2003. He also played in Singapore director’s Ong Keng Sen’s King Lear, which toured six countries.

Jiang made his debut at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw in the popular Zaterdagmatinee series, in the world premiere of Guo Wenjing’s Fengyiting (Phoenix Pavilion) in March 2004. The world premiere was broadcast live on Dutch radio. Jiang reprises his role in Fengyiting this May at the Cologne Philharmonie, on the occasion of the Cologne Triennale.

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