The world premiere of More Than Musical's Carmen - Hong Kong becomes West Kowloon's first ever Western opera production
HONG KONG,Sept. 5,2019 -- This November,More Than Musical will launch the world premiere of their new multimedia theatrical production,Carmen- Hong Kong,in Freespace,becoming the first ever Western opera production at the West Kowloon Cultural District. Featuring a score rearranged by renowned Italian musical director,Elio Orciuolo,this 90-minute adaptation of Bizet's classic opera is created by award-winning American director,Jennifer Williams,and performed by a cast of international and local singers,including Korean mezzo soprano,Moon Jin Kim; Korean tenor,Jung Soo Yun and Chinese bass,Shi Zong.
Carmen - Hong Kongis a multimedia theatrical production that fuses classical opera,music theatre,video design,and modern dance into an immersive experience. The adaptation reimagines Bizet's iconic opera as a story about a Hong Kong woman and her unwavering pursuit of self-actualisation and her place in the world as a modern woman.
Rather than being fixed in a specific historical moment,the story is set in an imagined future,a few years ahead of our present. The theatre will be turned into a contemporary and immersive environment which integrates space,light and video. Projections of videos and moving images and a kinetic sculpture,which the vocalists and the dancer will interact with,replace conventional theatrical set and props. These projections include video and photo references to buildings and scenery of Hong Kong as a homage to iconic aspects of the city's cultural past.
The production will run on 1 and 2 November 2019 at The Box,Freespace,Art Park,West Kowloon Cultural District for two performances. Unlike the original opera which is two and a half hours long,Carmen - Hong Kong is 90 minutes in length without an interval. Tickets priced at HK$850,HK$550,HK$350 & HK$250 are available from 30 August 2019 online,by phone or in person at Xiqu Centre and Fresspace ticket offices.
More Than Musical is proud to announce a collaboration with the Grange Festival in 2020. A highlight of the British summer,the Grange Festival,dedicated to world-class opera and dance,is based in a stunning estate with a neo-classical mansion and an elegant 600-seat theatre near Winchester in Hampshire. The collaboration will introduce an internship programme for performing arts personnel and singers in Hong Kong,led by the Grange Festival's Artistic Director,Michael Chance,and supported by the Chairman of its Board of Trustees,the Rt. Hon. Sir Charles Haddon-Cave. Michael Chance will also host master classes and audition singers in Hong Kong for enrolment in the Grange Festival's international singing competition in 2021.
Performance Details
Carmen-Hong Kong(World Premiere)
1 November 2019 (Friday)8pm & 2 November 2019 (Saturday) 4:30pm
The Box,West Kowloon Cultural District
Performed in French with Chinese and English surtitles
The Programme will last approximately 90 minutes without an intermission
Latecomers will not be admitted-- please arrive punctually
Artistic Team
Stage Director
Jennifer Williams
Artistic Director/Music Director
Elio Orciuolo
Projection Image & Lighting Design
Driscoll Otto
Stage and Costume Designer
Julia Noulin-Merat
Choreography
Melinda Sullivan
Cast and Dancer
Carmen
Moon Jin Kim(mezzo soprano)
Don Jose
Jung Soo Yun(tenor)
Escamillo
Shi Zong(bass)
Frasquita
Colette Lam(soprano)
Mercedes
Samantha Chong(mezzo soprano)
Zuniga
Lam Kwok Ho(baritone)
Le Dancaire
Frankie Fung(bass)
Le Remendado
Frankie Liu(tenor)
Dancer
Jonathan Hung
Musicians
Ming Kwong(piano/repetiteur),Vince Chua (violin),Bernard Chan (cello),Venus Chu (flute),Rainbow Lau (percussion)
Ticketing Information
Standard Tickets
HK$ 850,550,350,250
Concession Tickets[1]
HK$ 275,175,125
Tickets available NOWonline,by phone or in person at Xiqu Centre and Freespace ticket offices,The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts,and designated Tom Lee Music outlets in Olympian City and Shatin[2]
Online Booking
www.westkowloon.hk
Telephone Booking
(852) 2200 0022
Programme Information
www.morethanmusical.org
Programme Enquiries
info@morethanmusical.org
Commissioned and Presented by More Than Musical
Supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council,Equal Opportunities Foundation,Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation,Sino Art,DBS Private Bank and DBS Treasures Private Client
The organiser reserves the right to alter the programme and artists
[1]Limited concession tickets available for citizens aged 60 or above,people with disabilities and the minder,full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients on a first-come-first-served basis
[2]No handling fee for tickets bought online,in person or by phone
About More Than Musical
More Than Musical Ltd is a new non-profit company that reimagines Western opera for Hong Kong's diverse communities in a compact,intimate and modern way. Seamlessly weaving key scenes and arias into condensed versions of well-known operas,its multimedia stagings are presented at the highest artistic standard. By presenting operas at intimate,less formal venues,More Than Musical gives audiences an up-close-and-personal and immersive experience of this powerfully vital art form.
Website
www.morethanmusical.org
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/morethanmusical/
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/morethanmusical/
Artistic Team Profiles
Jennifer Williams(Stage Director)
An innovator in multimedia,immersive and site-specific approaches to opera,acclaimed by the San Francisco Chronicle as an 'imaginative' director of 'particular ingenuity'
Recently directed acclaimed new productions of Mohammed Fairouz's Sumeida's Song and Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek's 27 for Pittsburgh Opera,as well as 'consistently imaginative' and 'extraordinarily beautiful' new productions with video projections of Ainadamar,Dark Sisters,Les contes d'Hoffmann,A Midsummer Night's Dream,and La bohème for Miami Music Festival
Elio Orciuolo(Artistic Director/Music Director)
Artistic Director of More Than Musical,and Director of the Erasmus Orchestra
Conducts a wide range of symphonic repertoire and operas in Italy and across the globe
Has collaborated with renowned musicians including Andrea Bocelli,Renato Bruson,Jose Carreras and Daniela Dessi,among others
Driscoll Otto(Lighting and Projection Design)
New York-based lighting and projection designer with works seen frequently in New York City and regional theatres and opera houses across the USA
Highlights include projection design for Santa Fe Opera's production ofThe Golden Cockerel,The Metropolitan Opera's production ofLa Donna Del Lago,(transmitted by The Met Live in HD in 2015),and Der fliegende Hollländer for Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Julia Noulin-Merat(Stage and Costume Designer)
Co-Artistic Director for Guerilla Opera and Associate Producer for Boston Lyric Opera
Has designed over 400 opera,theatre and television productions,including 18 new operas and 22 new plays,and produced 50 shows
This season's credits include an epic installation of Giulio Cesare with Boston Lyric Opera,and Albert Herring with the Curtis Institute
Melinda Sullivan(Choreography)
Boston-based choreographer,movement coach and teacher
Has choreographed extensively for opera productions at the Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF),where she was recently appointed the Lucy Graham Director of Dance
Developed a unique movement and dance programme for opera singers at New England Conservatory,where she taught and choreographed for 25 years
Cast and Dancer Profiles
Moon Jin Kim(mezzo soprano) as Carmen
Has sung extensively in major European theatres such as Grosses Festpielhaus in Salzburg,the Philharmonic Concert Hall in Munich,and the Giuseppe Verdi Auditorium of Milan
Has performed a wide range of roles including Azucena in Il trovatore,Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana,and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly
Known for her interpretation of the title role of Carmen,winning several competitions with arias from the role
Jung Soo Yun(tenor) as Don Jose
First prize winner of the Richard Tauber Prize (2010)‚ the Stuart Burrows International Voice Award (2010),Les Azuriales Singing Competition (2010),and the Montserrat Caballe International Singing Competition (2011)
Has performed in London's Royal Opera House,Opera North and Danish National Opera,among others,and made his Wigmore Hall debut in 2013
Praised for his 'vocal substance and colour' singing in Anna Bolena for Longborough Festival Opera in summer 2019
ShiZong (bass) as Escamillo
Completed the Young Artists Programme of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia,Spain,and has since performed extensively in various international theatres and concert halls
Has worked with conductors Roberto Abbado,Alberto Zedda and Gustav Kuhn,among others
Recent performance highlights include singing Mustafa in L'italiana in Algeri for Lunenburg in Canada and Teatro Verdi Trieste
Colette Lam(soprano) as Frasquita
Completed her Master of Advanced Vocal Studies degree with Distinction at the Wales International Academy of Voice in Cardiff under the tutelage of Dennis O'Neill
One of the selected vocalists for the Jockey Club Opera Hong Kong Young Artist Programme 2017-18
Has performed a wide range of operatic roles and in concerts throughout Asia and Europe
Samantha Chong(mezzo soprano)as Mercedes
Champion of the 41st National Singing Competition of Malaysia,and first prize winner of Singapore Lyric Opera Vocal Competition- ASEAN in 2016
Has performed in such roles as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro,Dorabella in Cosifan tutte,Suzuki in Madama Butterfly,Mercedes in Carmen,and the title role of La Cenerentola
Lam Kwok Ho(baritone) as Zuniga
Operatic credits include Sciarrone in Tosca,Somnus in Semele,Marco and the title role in Gianni Schicchi,and Lindorf/Coppelius/Dr.Miracle/
Dapertutto in Les contes d'Hoffmann
Has sung as a soloist in Beethoven'sChoral Fantasy and Bach'sChristmas Oratorio under the baton of Helmuth Rilling
Joined masterclasses by Nelly Miricioiu,Renee Fleming,Thomas Quasthoff and Dennis O'Neill,among others
Frankie Fung(bass) as Le Dancaire
Pursued a master's degree in chamber vocal music in the G. Briccialdi High Institute of Musical Study in Terni,Italy
Jockey Club Opera Hong Kong Young Artist Development Programme participant in 2015 to 2016,studying with distinguished bass Gong Dongjian and New York Metropolitan Opera vocal coach Pierre Vallet
Frankie Liu(tenor) as Le Remendado
Holds a master's degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Has actively performed in Hong Kong,mainland China,North America and Europe
Opera roles include Ernesto in Don Pasquale,Don José in Carmen,and Romeo in Romeo et Juliette,and Roderigo in Otello
An alumni artist of the Jockey Club Opera Hong Kong Young Artists Development Programme
Jonathan Hung(dancer)
Graduated from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts,and has danced in their productions of Fragile Matter,Echoing Woods,and Savage Symphony,all choreographed by Christine Gouzelis
Recent engagements includeThe Rite of Spring(Zuni Icosahedron) in Hong Kong and Taipei,and the world premiere of Elena Langer's chamber opera Beauty and Sadness,directed by Carolyn Choa in Hong Kong
Please download full biographies and high resolution portraits here: http://bit.ly/carmenhk
