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The Bone Feeder recently played as part of the Auckland Festival 23-26 March.
A new opera, beautifully and imaginatively scored by Gareth Farr and written by poet and playwright Renee Liang, which explores the mysteries, traumas and gifts of migration, home and belonging. A young Chinese man searching for his roots is guided by a magical cicada and Māori Ferryman. He crosses to ‘the other side’, where ghosts reveal secrets of love, loss and betrayal. His attempt to uncover his ancestor’s bones disturbs the earth and, ultimately, threatens his life.
Directed by Sara Brodie and conducted by Peter Scholes, the opera takes Gareth Farr’s unique combination of Western, Māori and Chinese instruments to create sweeping beautiful and playful music sung in English, Māori and Cantonese.
You can read the full synopsis and download the libretto at the
Festival’s website listing.
The music by Gareth Farr combined western instruments with traditional Chinese flutes, fiddles and zithers, along with taonga pūoro, mirroring the combined strands of the story. He used the instruments to produce a superb range of sound, from eerie ghostly sounds through the dramatic and ritualistic.”
John Daly-Peoples
www.nbr.co.nz
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