Cypriot composer Marios Ioannou Elia brings one of his most ambitious international works to Nicosia this June — a audiovisual piece that asks an unusual artistic question: how can an entire city be turned into music.
“Sound of Shanghai” receives its European premiere on June 10 at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre, opening the Chinese Film Week in Cyprus, organised to mark the International Day for Dialogue Among Civilisations and 55 years of diplomatic relations between Cyprus and China.
The work was developed over approximately a year and a half, drawing on extensive research in Shanghai. Elia composed the music, oversaw artistic direction and production, weaving together field recordings, city sounds, and elements of Chinese musical tradition into a single contemporary work. More than 250 musicians and performers took part, including the China National Orchestra, with the collaboration of more than 30 Shanghai-based organisations. Thousands of audiovisual fragments of the city were recorded and became the foundation for a multilayered cinematic and sonic composition.
Among the more unusual aspects of the project is its engagement with Chinese scientific institutions. During his time in Shanghai, Elia had his brain activity recorded at the Institute of Neuroscience of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, then repeated the process three months later at the Music Acoustics Laboratory of the Shanghai Conservatory. The resulting data was converted into electronic sound textures and woven into the composition, capturing the changes the lived experience of the city produced in him.
Elia — an internationally recognised artist and full member of the Cyprus Academy — describes the work as an “Opera of a Cosmopolis,” in which Shanghai itself is the protagonist rather than any individual character. The narrative unfolds across more than 90 locations in the city and draws on the tradition of Kunqu opera, one of the oldest forms of Chinese musical theatre.
«Ο Ήχος της Σαγκάης είναι μια πρόσκληση να ακούμε διαφορετικά: τις πόλεις, τους πολιτισμούς και ο ένας τον άλλο» — “Sound of Shanghai is an invitation to listen differently: to cities, to cultures, and to one another,” Elia said at the work’s Nicosia presentation.
“Sound of Shanghai” is part of a broader international artistic series Elia has been developing for nearly a decade. It began with “Sound of Vladivostok,” created in 2016–17, and continued with “Sound of Kyoto,” developed in 2018 at the invitation of the City of Kyoto and Japanese cultural organisations. In each case, Elia sets out to capture the distinctive sonic, cultural, and historical pulse of a city and transform it into a complex musical and audiovisual work.
Chinese Film Week programme
The screening on June 10 opens the Chinese Film Week, which runs from June 10 to 15 across Nicosia and Limassol, featuring contemporary Chinese films and parallel cultural events.
The opening day at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre begins with cultural activities at 3pm, supported by the Confucius Institute at the University of Cyprus, followed at 4pm by a screening of the animated film “Boonie Bears: The Hidden Protector.” The opening ceremony takes place at 7.30pm, after which “Sound of Shanghai” receives its premiere.
Screenings continue across Nicosia and Limassol with “A Table for Two,” “I Am What I Am,” the Cantonese comedy “Night King,” “The Shadow’s Edge” starring Jackie Chan, and the contemporary drama “It’s Okay.” The closing ceremony takes place on June 15 at K Cineplex in Nicosia with a screening of “Blades of the Guardians: Wind Rises in the Desert.”
Most screenings are free and open to the public; a limited number are by invitation only. All films will be shown in their original language with Greek and English subtitles.
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