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The package includes performance stills and Chinese-English bilingual lyrics, with a view to internationalization.

Salute to our crowdfunding participants!

To achieve the aim of Canto-operatic singing preservation, we went through the uneasy path of crowdfunding in the past 4 years (2015-2019). Now the dream comes true. We wish to thank our patient sponsors by presenting to them these songs.

As it stands, the singers include: 

HONG Hai (HON Seon), Susanna CHENG (Empress LEOI), LI Pui-yan (Lady JIU), LUI Hung-kwong (SIU Ho), FU Shu-wang (LAU Bong), KWOK Kai-fai (Overlord of Co), MO Hua-min (ZUNG-LEI Mut)

Songs：

01   1’28”  Thrilled in Heyday

02   2’06”  Inner Beast

03   1’39”  Balancing 

04   4’13”  Three Joss Sticks

05   1’47”  Sword Dance

06   1’12”  Ode of Gale

07   4’00”  Spirit

08   3’13”  Supernatural Wisdom

09   5’05”  Between Lines 

10   2’11”  Brotherhood

11   0’31”  Overlord Dis-armoured

12  4’55”  Quest to Heaven

13  1’33”  Ode of Goi-haa

14  3’16”  Out of Midnight Dream

15  3’02”  Deep Inside Her

16  3’25”  Be Nice? Be Just?

17  1’59”  Chasing HON Seon 

18  2’12”  All Sorrows Gone

19  3’44”  Speak Thy Bosom

20  4’37”  Final Revelation 

21  1’07”  Let Go

22  4’07”  Inauguration of General

23   9’29” Intertwined (from theatre version)

In order for the singers to have deeper experience with their roles, recording was postponed till after the Black Box version performance scheduled for 4 November.  All vocal recording was completed on 25 November. Work then entered the mixing stage entrusted to the Musician Lee Che-yi from Taiwan. It is now in the last stage of production. A little later the Director of ArenA will fly to Taiwan for final-stage audio-examination. It is our plan to have the disc batch-produced in Germany and released in early 2019. Grateful for your patience and your support for the development of Brief Canto-operatic songs.

On 13 February 2018 Utopia posted the following announcement:
“Owing to her health condition, we have no clue as to when Bo-bo can do the recording. After consultation with her, we are afraid replacement of her part is unavoidable to enable the CD to be produced and released. We are now soliciting your views within a two-month period (13 February to 13 April 2018). Grateful for your response.

In this time of major changes, we respect the staying or leaving of our voluntary singers and crowdfunding sponsors. The consultation period ended today. Only a few sponsors have requested refind: we are thankful that our major stakeholders continue to support the initiative. We plan to have the CD production finished in the last season of 2018.

On another front, the staging of the Black Box version of ArenA in Seoul last year has received the attention of many of our friends of Utopia. They hope that it can be staged in Hong Kong, so that the audience can experience how a large-scale performance could be scaled down and that non-Chinese speakers abroad have a chance to watch it.

We hereby announce the updated list of major voluntary singers:
HONG Hai (HON Seon), Susanna CHENG (Empress LEOI), LI Pui-yan (Lady JIU), LUI Hung-kwong (SIU Ho), FU Shu-wang (LAU Bong), KWOK Kai-fai (Overlord of Co), MO Hua-min (ZUNG-LEI Mut)

The above actors will also be acting for the Black Box version (Hong Kong) of ArenA now being planned. We believe that the coupling of CD release and opera staging can bring about synergy, making our promulgate ion of Brief Canto-operatic Songs more effective.

Remarks:
(1) News report from on.cc – Oriental Daily
http://hk.on.cc/…/20180212/bkn-20180212230933372-0212_00862…

(2) Deadline for refund application is extended to 31 May.

(3) Applicants for refund will be individually notified of the procedure.

東方日報：胃酸倒流急入院　馮寶寶照內窺鏡似「孫悟空」

We once again extend our gratitude to you for your support and patience.
 
In the past two years we have been in continued contact with Bo-bo to know more about her health condition. We still have no clue as to when she can do the recording. After consultation with her, we are afraid replacement of her part is unavoidable to enable the CD to be produced and released.
 
The very project was birthed by virtue of successful crowdfunding. Now that there is a major change in our project, we hereby publicly solicit the views of all stakeholders.
 
Production progress:
Recording of the non-vocal part was completed in August 2016.
 
Contingency plan:
Two months’ consultation (today 13 February to 12 April 2018). Your response will be appreciated, e.g.:

• You as a crowdfunding sponsor agree to replacement of the singer for the part of Emperor LEOI and having the project so completed.
• Consult the views of the other voluntary singers as to how to complete the project.
• You as a crowdfunding sponsor cannot accept the change and ask for refund.
• Any other views

 
We are deeply sorry for the delay and change of the project.

Our dear backers,
 

Music accompaniment was recorded without hiccup in Taiwan last August. At about the same time we learnt that Petrina FUNG Bo-Bo suffered from acid reflux (GERD), which affects her voice. Here and now, we wish her speedy recovery. In the mean time we explore ways to make our production even better. Arena was Utopia’s first opera written to play tribute to the legendary Cantonese Opera playwright TONG Tik-sang by way of actually writing original plays like him. 2017, it happens, is the centenary of his birth.  Isn’t it awesome the CD somehow hits such a special year?
 

Health is the most precious gift!

Thank you so much for your support to our successful fund raising on the web.

With a view to uplifting the quality of CantOpera music, Utopia conducted an experiment in the concert REVELATION III: His Butterflies (Version 80) staged last February: we invited the crossover musician LEE Che-yi from Taiwan to do music design.

The experiment produced promising results and we are applying the progress made to the upcoming CD production. We are ushering Che-yi into the world of Arena so he can have a taste of its atmosphere and the inner world of the characters. We plan to record instrumental music in Taiwan during summer whereas singing will be recorded in Hong Kong later in the year, followed lastly by batch production of discs and package design. The best scenario is having the project completed by year end.

We hope for fine music and brief CantOpera songs to attain synergy in our exploration into the unknown for CantOpera singing.

Yesterday (2 December) Metro Life Digital broadcast that it was just one day before deadline and we were 72% (or $260 K) behind our target.

Tomorrow we'll discover what our God in Heaven has in store! (From Song: One Day More)

7 hours before deadline today a white knight did appear and offer a donation matching scheme: for each dollar donated s/he will match it with another dollar until the target is met. The offer is good until 31 December. We have immediately negotiated with FringeBacker and have won their support with deadline extended accordingly.

In other words, within the 28 days to come, if we can gather $76,924 more we are there! Please help out by making personal pleas for generosity! 

Backed by popular demand, we are glad to announce that our fundraising campaign will be extended to 3 December 2015.

We wish to thank all our fundraisers for their most eager support in promoting this very meaningful project, reaching out to those who have a heart in conserving local culture and giving them a chance to contribute.

With this extension we can also focus on our stage performance, and have more time to work on selecting and editing the songs that go into your CD.

Once again, we thank all of you for your sincerity and your care to help us conserve our local culture!