Stephen Chun-Tao Cheng was born in Shanghai, China in 1923. He was educated in the United States and received his M.A. from Columbia University. He was a singer, composer, and actor and even performing in the Broadway rendition of “The Wonderful World of Suzie Wong” in 1969. Throughout his life he constantly tried to blend eastern and western vocal styles together. In a lauded but mostly unknown pieced called “Always Together,” which Cheng recorded in the late 60s for the Chinese population in Kingston, Jamaica, he blends the Jamaican music genre Rocksteady (a blend of Jamaican ska and American R&B) with Chinese vocals; which had never been done before.
Cheng briefly had his own band “Stephen Cheng and the Dragon Seeds,” who performed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in August of 1971. Cheng tapped Public relations specialist Emile Bocian (featured earlier in out 150 stories) and tried unsuccessfully to pitch a variety TV show. While the variety show never saw the light of day Cheng went on to teach at schools such as New York University and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He passed away in September of 2012.
1923年，Stephen Chun-Tao Cheng出生于中国上海。他在美国接受教育，并在哥伦比亚大学获得硕士学位。他是一位歌手、作曲家和演员，甚至在1969年登上百老汇的舞台，表演过《苏丝黄的奇妙世界》（The Wonderful World of Suzie Wong）。在他的一生中，他不断地尝试融合东西方的演唱风格。60年代末，Cheng先生为牙买加金斯敦的华人录制了一首名为《永远在一起》（Always Together）的曲子，广受好评，但几乎无人知晓。在这首曲子中，他将牙买加音乐流派Rocksteady（一种牙买加流行音乐斯卡和美国R&B的结合）与中国音乐混合在一起，这是前所未有的做法。
1971年八月，Cheng先生短暂组建了他自己的乐队“Stephen Cheng和龙的种子，”在纽约现代艺术博物馆（Museum of Modern Art）演出。他聘请了公共关系专家包信（Emile Bocian（曾在我们之前发布的“150个故事”中讲述过），试图推出一档综艺电视节目但没有成功。因为这档综艺节目从未如愿播出，Cheng先生后来去了纽约大学（New York University）和美国戏剧艺术学院（American Academy of Dramatic Arts）等学校教书。他于2012年9月去世。
Countdown to the TCS NYC Marathon on November 3, 2019: 216 Days.
2019年是美国第一条横贯大陆铁路建成150周年，为了纪念第一批华人来美建设这条铁路所做出的巨大贡献， MOCA将其2019 TCS NYC Marathon的活动命名为 MOCA Spike 150 – Running Forward With Our Stories！ 鼓励大家通过马拉松公益跑，全国线上接力，以及一天一个故事的方式讲述150个华人的历史故事，敬请大家持续关注， 讲出华人自己的故事，回顾过去，立足现在，展望未来，共同书写美国历史，使之更加充实完整。