A Digital Opera in 7 Acts – Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci
St. Ignatius Chapel, Kowloon
"New Vision Arts Festival 2010" Programme
Commissioned and Produced by Zuni Icosahedron
Co-organized by St. Ignatius Chapel
St. Ignatius Chapel, Kowloon –
A World Premiere
An operatic performance based on Jonathan Spence's book of the same title The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci. Incorporating many new thinking trends in performing arts, this modern opera in 7 acts has solid texts as its foundation and versatile and daring contemporary music as pillars, together with puppetry, multimedia design and digital image, the digital collage of singing, image and space reveals the legend of the Jesuit priest who came to the Ming Dynasty China in the late 16th century for missionary work and his effort to convert the Chinese people to Christianity through teaching them the Western art of memory, creating a memory palace transcending time, space and culture. The opera is written by Diana Liao, playwright of Poet Li Bai, with music composed by Steve Hui Ngo-shan. Internationally acclaimed basso cantante Tian Hao Jiang, portraying Matteo Ricci, will interact with various virtual characters in this palace through a diversity of performing forms, such as music, singing, dancing and puppetry, to lead the audience to explore the internal journey of this pioneer of exchange.