Experiment Naamyam Hong Kong
Blind Musician Dou Wun
Experiment Naamyam Hong Kong
Blind Musician Dou Wun
Introduction
Male singers of Deishui Naamyam are called gu si (blind songster). Born in 1910, Dou Wun began learning Naamyam in the early 1920s. When the civil war broke out, he moved from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, where he earned his living by singing. Dou improvised his singing on current affairs topics in the RTHK radio programme Dou Wun’s Naamyam in the 1950s. In the 1970s, Naamyam went downhill and became a lost art amidst the prevalence of European and western music. In 1975, Professor Bell Yung came to Hong Kong to make recordings of Dou’s performance. To fully reflect the artistic merits of Dou and to be truthful to the originality of Naamyam, Yung made the live recordings in Fu Loong Teahouse. The outcomes became a treasure. In 2019, Zuni restores the recordings of Dou using audio and imaging technologies of the theatre to relive the audio-visual space of Deishui Naamyam.
Creative Team
Artistic Consultant Bell Yung
Curator & Designer Mathias Woo
Music Director Yu Yat-yiu @PMPS
Performance David Yeung
Ticketing
$200, *$100
*Full-time students
Ticketing
About Dou Wun
Dou Wun (1910-1979) is considered the last master of Deishui Naamyam (southern tone) in Hong Kong. In the 1950s, he performed naamyam, sometimes an impromptu with references to current affairs, at Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK). In 1972, Dou’s programme was put to a halt alongside the decline of other traditional cultural programmes at RTHK. The audience took delight in his artistry, appreciating the way he played the paiban with his left hand and guzheng with his right, whilst singing simultaneously.
In 1974, the Goethe-Institut invited Dou to perform Sorrow Of The Traveller, Mourning for My Lady, etc. In 1975, Bell Yung, Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Pittsburgh, recorded 16 numbers of Dou’s naamyam singing at a teahouse. Dou also performed at the Hong Kong City Hall and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Since Dou died in 1979, deishui naamyam has become a legend.
Blind Musician Dou Wun
Adapted from:
Blind Dou Wun Remembers His Past: 50 Years of Singing Naamyam in Hong Kong
A Blind Singer’s Story : 50 years of Life and Work in Hong Kong
Writer and Singer: Dou Wun
Music:
Blowin’ In the Wind (Mono Version)
Written by: Bob Dylan
Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor Opus 30 – I – Allegro Ma Non Tanto
Composed by: Sergei Rachmaninoff
Creative Team
Artistic Advisor and Photographer (Dou Wun photos):Bell Yung
Artistic Director cum Director, Spatial & Visual Designer: Mathias Woo
Music Director: Yu Yat-yiu @PMPS
Performer: David Yeung
Visual/ Digital Images: Dan Fong
Pupper Design & Making: Lai Tat Tat Wing
Assistant Artistic Director: Cedric Chan
Production Team
Production Managers: Carmen Cheng, Chow Chun-yin
Sound System Designers: Can.Ha; d&b audiotechnik – Alex Poon, Allen Tin
Sound Designer: Can.HA
Lighting Designer: Alice Kwong
Stage Manager: Satina Shum
Deputy Stage Manager: Charmaine Cheng
Assistant Stage Manager: Chan On-ki
Video Operator: Johnny Sze
Set Assistant: Venus Lee
Stage Crews: Ray Chan, Chim Man-lung
Technical Partner: d&b audiotechnik
Graphics: Rachel Chak
Graphic Design Assistant: Coco Cheung
Promotional Video: Wing Chan
Translation (Promotion): Vicky Leong
International Exchange Director, Producer: Wong Yuewai
Company Manager (Administration and Finance): Jacky Chan
Company Manager (Programme): Doris Kan
Assistant Artistic Director: Cedric Chan
Senior Programme Manager: Bowie Chow
Public Relations and Publicity: Luka Wong
Programme Manager: Ho Yin-hei
Assistant Programme Manager: Ricky Cheng
Programme and Art Administration Trainees: Megan Hung, Stephy Yeung
Blind Dou Wun Remembers His Past 50 Years of Singing Naamyam in Hong Kong – 6 Audio CD
Singer: Dou Wun
Publisher: Chinese Music Archive, Music Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Editors and Original Concept: Bell Yung, Sonia Ng
Producer: Yu Siu-wah
Assistant Producer: Tse Chun-yan
Field Researcher: Bell Yung
Editors of Song Lyrics: Sonia Ng, Bell Yung, Erica Lee
Copy Editor: Lulu Chiu
Open Reel Restoration & Digitalization: Guo Jin
A Blind Singer’s Story : 50 years of Life and Work in Hong Kong – DVD
Project Management: Bell Yung, Hong Kong Museum of History Leisure and Cultural Services Department Hong Kong SAR, Music Department University of Hong Kong
Producer: Bell Yung
Director: Ringo Tang
Scriptwriters: Bell Yung, Erica Lee
English Translation: Bell Yung
Technical Partners


Academic Partner
