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Public Events In Celebration of the World Premiere of the Monkey King

 

《猴王悟空》世界首演相關慶祝活動

October 6, 2025 - November 30, 2025

San Francisco Opera's Department of Engagement and Connectivity is proud to present a series of community events, celebrating the world premiere of The Monkey King by composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang.
Based on Journey to the West–an epic 16th-century Chinese novel attributed to Wu Cheng'en and widely noted as the most popular literary work in East Asia–The Monkey King is an action-packed opera, combining diverse music and text with puppetry, dance, Peking opera, and Buddhist sutras, bringing to life and stage the origin story of this iconic character in Asian cultures.

Workshops 工作坊

Community Events

Opera House Events

The Monkey King

Digital Art Exhibit

Artwork featured in the gallery display inside the War Memorial Opera House will be available for view online upon the opening of the opera.

The Monkey King is a revered character, an immortal trickster deity seeking redemption. A comedic figure, he has a proud and impulsive streak that gets him into trouble, but Sun Wukong is also cunning and ruthless in battle. This exhibition will present the cross-cultural versions of the Monkey King that we grew up knowing. The Monkey King Exhibition will feature artworks from Bay Area artists whose visual depictions of him will allow audiences to feel a connection to his multi-faceted character, expanding their initial beliefs of who he is. Audiences can expect to see various portraits and scenes of the Monkey King accompanied with iconography he’s known for -- the cloud he flies upon and powerful staff.   

 

Meet Our Partners

Art Builds Community

Amanda Rawson is an accomplished arts leader, curator, and strategist with a multi-faceted background in public art, consulting, and museum management. As Co-owner at Art Builds Community (ABC), she develops public art plans, creative placemaking, and co-manages curation for cities and institutions. Her work—including projects at Vietnamese American Service Center (VASC), the Creekside Art Corridor, and for San Jose Jazz—is driven by a core commitment to inclusivity, accessibility, and reflecting local community identity. This expertise is reinforced by her foundation in arts administration, which includes roles at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles and program development for CreaTV San Jose. 

Quỳnh-Mai Nguyễn is a multidisciplinary social practice artist, curator, community organizer, creative producer, and co-owner of Art Builds Community (ABC). She has over 13 years of experience in curating arts and cultural programs for small and intimate events to large festivals. In 2018, KQED Arts Bay Brilliant named her one of 10 recognized movement builders for arts and culture in the Bay Area. She believes in encouraging artists to create art as a way to share and determine their own narratives rather than be subject to others. Creating art is a way to create new artifacts to replace those that have been outdated, appropriated, and/or erased. Some of her current curations include the Lunar New Year Art Exhibition, which she has curated for the past eight years to promote local and emerging AANHPI artists and the further development of art experiences for cultural plazas, neighborhoods, and non-traditional spaces.

Caitlin Pambid is a young professional interested in museum work, specifically curation or collections management. She currently interns at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park in exhibits, collections, and preservation departments. She has also curated for Chopsticks Alley Art, focusing on Southeast Asian artists. Representation is at the forefront when she curates. With her anthropological background, Caitlin operates as a cultural detective to curate exhibitions that bring attention to ideas and issues that are otherwise difficult to articulate without the structure an exhibit provides. Her published research, “Death to the Museum (As We Know It),” further articulates that goal and how cultural exhibitions can become active sites for meaningful change.