Opera for the Dead | 祭歌
upcoming Project
A contemporary Chinese cyber-opera that reimagines the connection between life and death.
Wander through an immersive music and visual experience. Opera for the Dead (祭歌) harnesses old and new technologies to explore the connection between life and death.
Created by award-winning composer and Guzheng artist Mindy Meng Wang and sound technologist and composer Monica Lim, Opera for the Dead (祭歌) is inspired by Chinese mourning rituals but speaks to our common experiences of death, mourning and ancestry.
This multi-artform performance combines live musicians and singers with electronic processing, ambisonic sound, 3D animation and movement. Audiences are invited to move freely through the performance space as it transforms from stage to cinema to dance floor, journeying between the real and imaginary, past and present.
Opera for the Dead (祭歌) examines the many contradictions that exist in our traditions around death: the tension between spirituality and materialism, the eternal versus digital convenience, and the contrast between our experience of grief and the way it is performed. This epic work highlights the beauty within anguish and finds humour in the macabre.
Image credits: Michael Pham & Dewie Buket
Media
“...a bold, strongly executed, and even dazzling display of Lim and Wang’s combined talents”
“"Opera for the Dead" opens the gateway for the cyber-opera genre, one I hope to see grow and expand. Right now, it deserves the world stage, to entrance audiences in the Asia Pacific and beyond.”
“By blending tradition and innovation, "Opera for the Dead" lingers long after the performance. It does not merely depict grief; it embodies it, allowing us to hear, see, and even feel the weight of remembrance in the air around us.”
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