Dr Alexandra Huang-Kokina

On June 4th, we gather for the UNEXPECTED Arts and Science Innovation Forum 2025 – where creativity meets cutting-edge science in surprising ways. The Forum, organized and hosted by Future by Lund, gathered over 200 people from all over Europe to discuss and share solutions on how to support and create with actors in the cultural and creative industries in Europe. Event page here.

PostDoc fellow Alexandra Huang-Kokina and opera singer Clíona Cassidy gave an example of the work the Centre for Aesthetics and Business Creativity (ABC) is doing, exploring opera and digital technologies, audience-participation, interactivity and immersiveness.

Latest Updates – speakers & performers from the ABC Centre

Alexandra Huang-Kokina
Enjoy an immersive music experience by Alexandra Huang-Kokina. With roots in both performance and research, Alexandra is a pianist and postdoctoral fellow that explores the rich interplay between 20th-century piano traditions, literature, and new media art.

Daniel Hjorth
Daniel is Professor and Director of the Centre for Aesthetics and Business Creativity, a playground that reimagines the role of aesthetics in business research, education and practice. Listen to his talk “Difference and Repetition: Innovative Style without Fashion?”

Clíona Cassidy
Clíonas practice is focused around operatic improvisation and she has co written and recorded an improvised opera “Silk Threads” with Raymond MacDonald which was featured on BBC Radio 3. She performed her song cycle “Hiatus” at the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s Tectonics festival with the New String Collective and is currently touring with Scottish Opera as Margo (Grisette) in their production of The Merry Widow. She has worked regularly for Scottish Opera since 2012 and has toured with the orchestra of Scottish Opera as soprano soloist in The Opera Factory.

Performance Highlights

Concert programme
The concert begins with a solo piano arrangement of Debussy’s Beau Soir. This prelude is paired with a visual transcription of the original poem that inspired Debussy’s composition, inviting a dialogue between music, visuals and the hidden text.

Following this, Cliona joins Alexandra to perform three arias from the sci-fi opera Yūrei: Ghost of the AI Empire—a spinout from Alexandra’s artistic research.

The opera follows the journey of a woman unjustly murdered and resurrected in the ghost shell of an AI. The selected scenes depict her tragic death, awakening as a superintelligent being, and her final act of vengeance.

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Concept, story & lyrics ©️ Alexandra Huang-Kokina, music by Atzi Muramatsu. Research preview only – full production in development with OperactiveArts Ltd. Scenic design by Jiarong Yu

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A more complete version of this opera will be performed later in collaboration with the Centre for Aesthetics and Business Creativity at Lund University School of Economics and Management