Private Performance

In October 2013， the Tianjin Grand Theatre presented what many consider to be one of the most important performances in China last year： Over 200 members of Russia’s world-class Mariinsky Theater’s Ballet and Symphony Orchestra made their first ever visit to China to perform the ballets Anna Karenina and Swan Lake.

The performance by the 220-year-old Mariinsky also marked the Tianjin Grand Theatre’s ascension into the ranks of the country’s top theaters， signifying its ability to independently host world-class performances and， according to industry insiders， placing it alongside the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing， the Shanghai Grand Theatre and the Guangzhou Opera House.

The Tianjin Grand Theatre is a pioneer among China’s governmentfunded theaters. While it was built with local government funds， it is managed by a private company the first time such a model has been attempted in China. Since its opening in April 2012， the theater has been at the forefront of the Chinese government’s experimentation with market-oriented high art operation.

City of Opera

Qian Cheng， the theater’s general manager， grew up in Tianjin， a city in north China known as the home of the art of cross-talk a popular form of two-handed comedy repartee. Despite the city’s widely acknowledged cultural importance， ordinary Tianjin residents typically have little interest in high art， particularly opera. Before taking on the theater’s management， the last time Qian watched an opera was some thirty years ago.

Having single-handedly revived a number of theaters， Qian Cheng has a knack for attracting audiences. During the early 1990s， a tough time for China’s performance industry， Qian contracted the struggling Beijing Concert Hall. The number of performances rose from 60 in Qian’s first year in charge to 162 in the second. Two years later， that number had doubled again. At the age of 37， Qian was picked out by State broadcaster China Central Television as a figure representing the development of China’s cultural industries in a documentary commemorating the 20th anniversary of China’s opening up to the world.

However， a serious business failure hit Qian in 2007. He then returned to Tianjin， and took over management of the Tianjin Concert Hall， an institution mired in financial troubles. Qian reintroduced high art to the hall’s event programming， and with the help of his endeavor and experience， business began to pick up half a year later. In 2009， the hall was lauded by Music Weekly， one of China’s largest music newspapers， as the nation’s premier concert hall. The then freshly renovated Tianjin Concert Hall became a role model for its peers.

Thanks to this success， in 2011 Qian Cheng’s private company Propel Culture Media stood out from its State-owned competition in the race to be selected by the city’s municipal government to run the Tianjin Grand Theatre， and was awarded the contract on a “zerosubsidiary， entirely market-oriented” basis.

In the first year of Qian’s tenure， from April 29， 2012 to the end of that year， the Grand Theatre held a total of 141 performances， including performances from seven of the world’s top symphony orchestras. In 2013， the hall hosted a total of 310 performances. Most surprisingly， this number included eight operas， marking the theater as one of China’s top opera houses in terms of number and quality of performances， second only to Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts.

Risky

With a construction investment of 1.5 billion yuan （US$238m）， the Tianjin Grand Theatre has an area of 100，000 square meters， comprising four independent auditoria and 3，600 seats. The yearly operating costs are around 100 million yuan （US$15.9m）.

By the end of 2013， the theater had been running for some 600 days， and although it is currently making a loss， this was expected on average， only half of the available tickets were sold for each performance. However， Qian insists that there is a market for high art in the city， and that education is the key to unlocking Tianjin’s potential cultural audience.

In the prologue to the theater’s 2013 performance calendar， Qian wrote about his vision for the future of Tianjin： “A City of Opera.”Prior to that， Qian had researched Tianjin’s opera history， and found that the earliest performance may have been Le Dame aux Camellias in 1893 at the city’s German Club. 85 years later， in 1978， the Chinese National Opera came to Tianjin， and performed the same piece 40 times， to sold-out 2400-strong audiences each performance. However， since then， according to Qian’s research， not a single opera had been performed in Tianjin.

After taking over the operation of the Tianjin Grand Theatre， Qian successfully persuaded the city’s municipal government to integrate available resources， allowing him to found the Tianjin Opera and hire with Tang Muhai， one of China’s most internationally recognized conductors， as artistic director and chief conductor.

In early 2013， Qian and Tang planned a Complete Beethoven series， comprising ten performances with lectures and after-performance seminars. On the afternoon of March 3， the series’ second performance achieved 90 percent attendance.

Varied Funding

The Mariinsky’s performance of Swan Lake in Tianjin is the first example of government subsidiaries being used for cultural events since the city unveiled a policy for their provision in September 2013. Thanks to government subsidies， prices for half of the tickets were kept below 300 yuan （US$48）， which greatly boosted attendances for Anna Karenina and Swan Lake.

Tianjin’s new cultural policies provide 10 million yuan （US$1.59m） each year to support high art performances， exhibitions and popular arts events， in order to “invite more people into theaters and exhibition centers to enjoy high art.”

Qian says that this progress is the result of continued efforts.

One of these efforts was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s visit to Beijing， Shanghai and Tianjin in February 2013 as part of its Asian Tour the first time this world-renowned orchestra had performed in Tianjin. In advance of the opening night of the performance， only 40 percent of tickets had been sold. Qian Cheng told our reporter that he saw this not only as an economic loss for the theater， but also as an embarrassing indictment of artistic taste in this city of 15 million people.

Qian sent SMS messages to the mayor and vice-mayor in charge of culture， expressing both his anxiety and his hope for support.

The officials responded positively， saying that bills aimed at raising subsidiaries for high art performance were on the government’s agenda. In 2012， Tianjin Grand Theatre saw a bitter contrast between the high quality of its event programming and a cold response from the market. Qian said that cultural subsidies were a pressing issue.

According to Qian， most of the world’s grand theaters serve three major basic functions， namely performance， artistic education and artistic creation. “Every grand theater in the world has these，” said Qian.

Funding for theater operation comes from three sources： government subsidies， social sponsorship， and ticket sales and service provision. Qian told our reporter that theaters in Europe receive great amounts of government subsidies， while in the United States， the majority of funds come from social sponsorship and ticket sales.

Having weathered hard times for nearly two years， the situation is gradually improving for the Tianjin Grand Theatre. The municipal government’s Publicity Department has found bank sponsorship for the theater， and will pay the theater’s 5 million yuan （US$79m） yearly energy bills. Another fund by a foreign sponsor is under negotiation.

Currently， there are over 40 grand theaters nationwide， many of which would be glad to receive similar support to that provided by the Tianjin local government. For most theaters， staging as few as 50 performances per year is a difficult task.

Qian is the first private manager of a major theater in China. Twenty years ago， art changed his life， and now， he believes he can use art to change the character of a city. While this is doubtless a daunting task， Qian claims there are signs that he is making a difference he claims to have heard that a young vice-mayor of Tianjin recently suggested that Tianjin promote itself as a “city of opera.”