Josephine Ma Became a Chinese Opera Star and Fundraiser​ Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply. Close

Devoted to the Art of Chinese Opera

How fundraiser Josephine Ma transforms into the glamorous star of a traditional spectacle

Josephine Ma CAYCE CLIFFORD and martial arts, and spectacular costumes, hairpieces and makeup. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. I was dedicated to my training. My parents, however, didn’t want me to try to make a living as an opera performer, so they sent me to college. I began a career at Cathay Pacific Airways, where I worked as a secretary, then a flight attendant, then an executive trainer. In 1988, I moved to the and took a job as a fundraiser at Self-Help for the Elderly, which serves the area’s vulnerable older adults with nutrition, health and housing programs. (I recently retired from that job and have transitioned to a volunteer fundraising role with the agency.) Ma in makeup and costume for a performance with Hong Kong opera star Xiao Ming Liang in 2019. Courtesy Josephine Ma But I missed the opera. In 1997, I founded a Chinese-opera troupe, Duen Fung Ming, in the Bay Area. Its mission is to train future generations of performers — of all ethnicities, not just Chinese American — and to spread the art to wider audiences in the Western world. The troupe currently consists of more than 60 volunteers, including performers, musicians, the backstage crew and an audiovisual production team. I direct, choreograph and produce our performances, and each serves as a fundraiser for Self-Help. In 2019, just before the pandemic, we raised $200,000 for the agency. We had to take a break due to , but we did a virtual performance last year and hope to do an in-person performance in November, if the pandemic allows. What I love about Chinese opera is the beauty of the spectacle and the stories, which are taken from Chinese history and mythology. It’s a physically taxing art, not only because of all the movement but because of the weight of the costumes. To wear a crown, you have to wrap three or four yards of ribbon around your head for support — so the crown stays put through all the wild movements. Now that I’m older, it’s much harder to do some of the acrobatic moves, like fighting, jumping and bending down on one leg. But I still love the opera as much as I did the first time I saw it. Josephine Ma, 75, is a volunteer fundraising consultant in Hayward, California, and the founder of the Duen Fung Ming opera troupe. MORE FROM AARP AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Magazines & Resources offers > See more Home & Real Estate offers > See more Events offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS