Cai Chengyu is a Chinese operatic tenor. He is known for participating in Hunan TV's singing variety showSuper-Vocal where he first gained attention and recognition throughout China for singing 9 high-quality High Cs in his debut and finally made to the top 6 leading singers. In 2019, Cai joined Decca Records together with Tong Zhuo, Gao Tianhe and Ju Hongchuan as China's first male bel canto quartet named Super Vocal. In the same year, Cai was recognized as the Forbes China30 Under 30 List honoree.
Early life
Cai grew up in Suzhou, Anhui, China and attended Sucheng No.1 High School. In his last music class in high school, he performed "Heroes' Song" at classmates' invitation. Impressed by Cai's talent, his music teacher encouraged him to pursue a career in music. A year later, he successfully made to Shanghai Conservatory of Music with the fourth best grades nationwide. Cai is currently studying under the celebrated baritone Wang Kaiwei.
Singing career
In 2018, Cai participated in Hunan TV singing competition Super-Vocal. He made his debut by performing "Ah! mes amis.", one of the well-known arias from the opera "La fille du régiment". Cai smoothly knocked off a string of nine high Cs in this joyous aria “Ah! mes amis." and won the nickname of "Cai High C". Later in the competition, he has been continuously improving and finally made to the top 6 leading singers in Super-Vocal for the year of 2018. In February 2019, he was invited to participate in Hunan TV singing competition Singer together with other finalists from Super-Vocal, Zheng Yunlong and Ayanga ). After ten rounds of challenge, on April 12, 2019, the team achieved the third place in the Grand Final. In the same year, to commemorate the spirit of May Fourth Movement and to celebrate the founding of the Communist Party, he partnered with the journalist from Xinhua News Agency, Lu Binqi, and introduced two songs "Journey" and "Original Aspiration". In June 2019, being part of the "Revival of the Classics Project" organized by NetEase Cloud Music, Cai released his first single by covering the song "That's it" from the rock duo Power Station. In November 2019, after Cai teamed up with other three vocalists, the new bel canto ensemble Super Vocal announced its first single: Mandarin version of the song "Into the Unknown" from the Disney animation Frozen II. In the same month, on the 25th Anniversary of Riverdance, the well-known theatrical show consisting oftraditional Irish music and dance, Cai released a Mandarin version of the show’s principle song "Lift The Wings", composed by Bill Whelan. Celebrated around the world for its Grammy-Award winning score, this release is a powerful and stirring reinterpretation of Bill Whelan’s mesmerizing soundtrack.
