Ms Leung So-kam is a highly renowned Cantonese opera singer, actress and film star. Equally talented at both singing and acting, she has developed the unique singing style dubbed the “Kam Voice” and is known as “The Gifted Lady of Cantonese Opera” in Cantonese opera circles.

Ms Leung hails from a Cantonese opera family. Her father, Mr Leung Yi-chung, was a master in the field while her mother, Ms Cheung Yuk-king (stage name: King Sin), was a zihou (falsetto voice) specialist.

Ms Leung made her performing debut at six with a radio rendition of the Cantonese opera masterpiece, Admonishing Her Husband. Her unique singing style – tuneful with a scholarly flavour – is dubbed the “Kam Voice” by Cantonese opera enthusiasts. Her performance in Gorgeous Dream in Tong Palace, a recording made in collaboration with her father, is widely regarded as a Cantonese opera classic.

Ms Leung is also an exceptional actress. She became a disciple of the legendary Sit Kok-sin at the age of 12 and toured with the Kok Sin Sing Opera Troupe and Aroma Opera Troupe. She made her silver screen debut in Meng Lijun in 1949. Over the course of her cinematic career, she excelled in a diverse range of roles and appeared in approximately 50 films, including Top Singers Two, A Poor Girl, and The Nine Ladies of Fragrant City.

Ms Leung retired from performing in 1969. However, she has continued to devote time and energy to developing the Cantonese opera singing style and nurturing young talent. She was the Artistic Director of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department’s Chinese Opera Festival in 2014 and 2015. She also has trained young talent, including graduates of the Academy’s School of Chinese Opera, in the classic style.

In recent years, Ms Leung has dedicated herself to facilitating exchanges with Chinese Opera teachers and students of the Academy. In 2016, she released Leung So-kam: Passing the Torch in Cantonese Opera Singing Style, a recording featuring compositions by School of Chinese Opera lecturer Dr Boaz Chow. Ms Leung advised on the singing style in the recording, while the music was performed by the Academy’s teachers and students.

The contribution of Ms Leung to the performing arts world is widely recognised. In 2012, the Hong Kong Film Archive organised the retrospective Actress, Singer, Opera Star: Leung So-kam programme in her honour. In 2015, the Centre for Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research of the Faculty of Education of The University of Hong Kong published the book Cantonese Operatic Singing Art of Leung Yi-chung and Leung So-kam to record the artistic achievements of Ms Leung and her father. The book also includes extensive analyses of the “Leung Voice” and the “Kam Voice”, and is an invaluable Cantonese opera educational resource.