Nine Actors (九角子) is based on a traditional Fujianese local drama called Gaojia Opera (高甲戏); its original title roughly translating to Nine Actors‘ Opera, in which said opera would feature nine actors (角). To imitate the nine actors in this piece, the composer has assigned nine traditional Teochew instruments (or instrument groups) to represent these actors. These include: the suona, “drum and gong” ensemble, flute and woodwinds, strings, instrumental solos and court
instrumental music, and more.

The piece is divided into seven continuous sections. The first four sections: beginning (起), undertaking (承), change (转), and togetherness (合) are written in a style of Fujianese folk tunes, while the remaining three sections: order (序), disorder (破) and hast (急), are written in Hakka style folk tunes.

Altogether, Nine Actors covers a wide range of varying tone colour, energetic rhythms and motions that reflect soundscapes that evoke traditional Teochew culture.