FEDORA - HERE AND THERE

Opera Prize
Winner 2022

HERE AND THERE - UNTOLD

Platform member

Netherlands
O. Festival for Opera.Music.Theatre

UNTOLD (c)Zen Grisdalejpg (5) © i

Winner of the FEDORA Opera Prize
€100,000 with the support of The Silver Company

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HERE AND THERE - UNTOLD brings together an opera, vocal projects and communities that deal with diaspora. Untold stories of people that are trying to find connection; a search of how to connect to their homeland and who they are in the country where they live. But also, how does the diaspora influences the art they create.

The multi-disciplined opera UNTOLD by the British-Chinese composer Alex Ho is part of the HERE AND THERE project of O. Festival for Opera. Music. Theatre. and the creative director Rajiv Bhagwanbali.

World Premiere: 22 April 2023 - Brugge, Belgium

Presentation

UNTOLD is an opera by Alex Ho exploring British-Chinese identity through music and movement, directed by Julia Cheng and performed by Keith Pun and Tangram. Long before Cinderella, considered to have been first transcribed in the 17th century by Italian writer Giambattista Basile, this tale is in truth one version of the much older story of Ye Xian from the Tang Dynasty from the early 9th century. UNTOLD retells this story by integrating contemporary classical music, movement, and Chinese and western instruments into an immersive experience that blends genres, art-forms and cultures. UNTOLD is a response to the rising racism East Asian communities face.

Video Presentation

Artistic Team

Alex Ho / Julia cheng / Tangram / Rajiv Bhagwanbali TANGRAM Tangram is a London-based music collective transcending the China-West divide. Made up of researchers, composers and performers of Chinese and western instruments, the group launched in 2019 as recipients of the Chinese Arts Now Artist Development Bursary and winners of Nonclassical's Battle of the Bands. They have worked with the London Symphony Orchestra, Silk Road Ensemble, New Earth Theatre, and are currently Associate Ensemble at SOAS University of London. Most recently, they have been announced as recipients of Jerwood Arts' inaugural Live Work Fund and Genesis Foundation's Kickstarter Fund. Tangram's compositions and performances delve into the richness and multiplicity of transnational Chinese experience, encouraging audiences to engage in nuanced cultural exchange and deep listening across perceived borders. Through the emotional languages of music, they hope to transcend the pervasive assumption that China and the West are mutually exclusive entities, in favour of imagining more interconnected futures. https://www.tangramsound.com/