EUGENE BIRMAN
ARIA 空氣頌
NB! Due to Covid-19 regulations Theatre of Voices can not travel to Hong Kong and will instead be streamed as holograms in the concert!
ARIA 空氣頌 is a synthesis of music, installation art, climatology, and big data, written for Grammy and Pulitzer Prize winning ensemble Theatre of Voices from Denmark and premiering in Hong Kong in November 2020.
The music aims not only to visualize the data of air pollution, it seeks to mobilize audiences to confront the reality of quality of life and health in Hong Kong, and serve as a genuine marriage of computer science and art. As a focal dramatic event in the autumn Lantern Festival, ARIA 空氣頌 intends to both musically and physically turn the Forsgate Conservatory into a lantern of its own, powered entirely by mother nature – a living, breathing lantern.
The work’s performance is intended to further an environmental message as well as serve as a landmark lantern for the entire city of Hong Kong, glowing with a message of hope and optimism for the future where Hong Kong exists not only as a financial center for the world, but also as a place where the dream of a sustainable future glows just as brightly.
The work’s premiere will take place in the Forsgate Conservatory in Hong Kong Park, a giant greenhouse in the very center of Hong Kong’s concrete jungle.
ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
Dr Eugene Alexander Birman (USA/UK/HKSAR)
Mr Kingsley Ng (HKSAR)
Prof Johnny Poon, Department of Music, HKBU (HKSAR)
ARTISTIC and RESESARCH COLLABORATION
Theatre of Voices (DK)
Hong Kong Children’s Choir (HKSAR)
Dr Li Chen, Department of Computer Science, HKBU (HKSAR)
and Asian Energy Studies Centre (HKSAR)
Project: https://www.newvisionfestival.gov.hk/2020/en/aria/
Video preview: https://youtu.be/gIc-ihMi-18
SCMP article: https://www.scmp.com/presented/lifestyle/arts-culture/topics/when-artworks-click/article/3108245/holograms-award-winning
Theatre of Voices
-Else Torp
-Signe Asmussen
-Iris Oja
-Paul Bentley-Angell
-Jakob Bloch Jespersen
Hong Kong Children's Choir (HKSAR)