Pandemic Opera (Hippocrates Cheng 2020)


Pandemic Opera (coined by Hippocrates Cheng, in 2020 September)

Pandemic Opera (Hippocrates 2020) 

 

What is pandemic opera? 

--A new format of opera due to the pandemic since 2019 

--A virtual opera presented online without geographical and time constraints 

 

Concept  

--A product of process produced during the pandemic era and its extended period featuring post-pandemic-phobia  

--Concepts, subjects, stories, performance style, multimedia presentation related to the pandemic and its derivatives such as masks and hand sanitizer; and by-products such as COVID symptoms, social distancing, and a decrease in environment pollution 

--A multimedia "recording" documenting the features and nature of the pandemic  

--A collaborative effort contributed by a large group of people such as composers, librettists, singers, musicians, performance artists, and multimedia artists from around the world via virtual collaboration 

--Unlimited number of performers  

--Encourages collaboration between different types of singing and instruments around the world because the subject of the pandemic is a global issue.  

--The opera will be archived in an online platform, and it could be viewed any time 

--An opera 2.0 could be created as a self-reflexive commentary on the original opera 

 

New possibilities 

--Focuses on individual home recordings for each singer and musician, with new possibilities for the use of ambient sound and visual images to experiment with a new soundscape and visual-scape. 

--The faces of musicians and singers are displayed on the screen in a two-dimensional format, featuring new stage-pit arrangement for acting  

--The opera itself can be  separated into pieces or acts  to become either a one-piece opera or scattered scenes of an opera, depending on how it is presented in an online platform 

--Encourages creativity and multimedia art experimentation 

--Encourages interactive art such as inviting the audience to comment in the comment section (such as YouTube does) during or after the pandemic opera's performance. The artists in the production could also interact with the audience spontaneously without geographical limitation 

 

Cost 

--A relatively low-cost production that differs from traditional opera’s high cost of theatre renting, scenery and costume production, and a large  production crew  


Hippocrates Cheng (b. 1994)

Hong Kong composer, overtone singer, pianist and multi-instrumentalist

@hippocratescheng.music (Instagram)

@hippocratescheng (Facebook)







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