Lady Linda Wong Davies didn't listen to her first pop record until she was 15. Raised by her father, Dato Wong Kee Tat, a Chinese-Malaysian businessman, she grew up with Italian opera and Mozart.

Classical music not only became a lifelong hobby but also a career, to which she has been dedicated since she launched the KT Wong Foundation six years ago.

In memory of her father and paying tribute to her Chinese heritage, the foundation aims to help bridge the cultural divide between China and the West.

"My father instilled in me a love of both art and culture. It was only after he passed away that I began to think that perhaps I should go back and see what I could do," says London-based Davies, who is in her early 50s.

Her most recent project brought Frankenstein, a stage production by London's National Theater Live, to Beijing. It was a major success as tickets sold out within 48 hours and the show received a long standing ovation.

Her grandfather left China in the first years of the 20th century for Indonesia. Born in Singapore, Davies was brought up in Malaysia and educated in the United States.

Sitting in a fancy private club in downtown Beijing, Davis is excited about the staging of the production, at Beijing's Capital Theater, during its fourth theatrical season as part of the Beijing People's Art Theater International Festival.

"It's the third time for us to bring the production to China since 2011," she says. "We brought it to China again and again, driven by popular demand. I am very proud to see that queues are all around the block."

But for Davies, bringing this production to Chinese audiences has been far more than just an artistic gesture.

She recalls that when she first wanted to do it, everybody said no.

"They said 'Don't waste your time, don't bother, just do opera and music. Everybody can understand music and you don't need to translate anything'," Davies recalls. "But I'd seen this masterpiece in the UK and was touched. I think that a country needs a rich and comprehensive cultural life to nourish the soul of its people."

So Davies was delighted, when she presented the production for the first time in China, to find that Danny Boyle, its director, and Benedict Cumberbatch, its leading actor, were already stars in the country because Trainspotting and BBC TV's Sherlock were avidly watched by Internet viewers.

She also plans to bring Shakespeare's plays performed by the National Theater to China this year, after taking a Chinese interpretation of Shakespeare's Coriolanus to the Edinburgh International Festival last year.

The show was directed and produced by one of China's most esteemed theater directors, Lin Zhaohua of the Beijing People's Art Theater. Performed in Mandarin and featuring two of China's leading heavy-metal bands, Miserable Faith and Suffocated, it has sold out twice at Edinburgh.

"I feel that the production has something to say to Chinese audiences. I think we've proved that there is a market for this type of production. Shakespeare doesn't equal boring," she says.

Since the KT Wong Foundation was established, it has put on some unforgettable shows, including Benjamin Britten's Noah's Flood in Belfast Zoo with huge life-size handmade Chinese lanterns.

Davis also commissioned Chinese artist Zhang Huan to direct a baroque opera - Handel's Semele, though the artist had no experience working in theater. Then the production came to Beijing in 2010 as part of the Beijing Music Festival, where it was China's first major staging of a baroque opera.

Creating new work and giving artists opportunities are also important facets of the foundation. In 2014, it will kick off a mini-film festival collaborating with British Film Institute and China Film Archive.

It has also commissioned a new work by renowned musician Chen Qigang, which will be performed by China Philharmonic as the opening of BBC Proms this year.

"Even when we choose something old, we do it in a new way, something more contemporary," Davies says.

"We promote and provide the opportunity for the music to be heard. A painting hangs on the wall, and you can see it every day. For a piece of music, if you don't play it, it will be forgotten."

chennan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 04/08/2014 page8)