Performing Arts

During 2014-15, LCSD continued to offer a wide range of high quality cultural events, helping maintain Hong Kong’s status as Asia’s events capital. Included were a variety of exciting festivals, performances and audience-building activities, with contributions from local and international artists. The department also manages many of Hong Kong’s leading performance venues.

Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Opened in 1989, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre has established itself as the premier performing arts venue in Hong Kong. The cultural centre, which is capable of staging a wide range of performing arts events, houses a 2 019-seat Concert Hall, a 1 734-seat Grand Theatre and a Studio Theatre with a seating capacity of 496. In 2014-15, 677 performances held there attracted over 602 000 audience members.

The Hong Kong Cultural Centre celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2014. As part of its celebrations, the cultural centre delivered an exciting array of programmes, including performances by Murray Perahia, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Los Romeros, Ivo Pogorelich, Compañía Antonio Gades, the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, and the TAO Dance Theater, as well as performances by its venue partners the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Hong Kong Ballet and Zuni Icosahedron. A special Arts Connect Party was also held on November 8, to which all were invited to enjoy free performances and activities. To encourage more community participation in the arts, 25 pianos were placed in the piazza for the public to play; six of them were painted and decorated by local artists.

During the year, the cultural centre also hosted several major cultural events, including the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Hong Kong International Film Festival, Le French May, the Chinese Opera Festival, the International Arts Carnival, and the New Vision Arts Festival. It also provided a stage for many internationally acclaimed performing arts groups, including the Czech Philharmonic, the National Folk Dance Ensemble of Croatia, LADO, Yang Liping and her group from Yunnan, the Peking Opera Research Centre of Hebei, and the Shanghai Center of Chinese Operas.

With its panoramic views of Victoria Harbour, the cultural centre’s outdoor piazza continued to be a popular place for viewing spectacular events such as the International Chinese New Year Night Parade, the Lunar New Year Lantern Carnival and fireworks display. The year-round Creative Market in Partnership @ HKCC also provided a valuable platform for local youth and arts organisations, and the wide range of handicraft and arts stalls set up in the piazza on weekends added vibrancy to the promenade.

Hong Kong City Hall

The Hong Kong City Hall, which opened in 1962, was our first purpose-built civic centre. The Bauhaus-style complex has been designated a Grade 1 Historic Building. It has a 1 434-seat Concert Hall with fine acoustics, a 463-seat Theatre and a 590-square metre Exhibition Hall. Around 338 000 patrons attended 574 performances staged there in 2014-15.

The Hong Kong City Hall’s legacy as a cradle of the arts, and its pioneering role in promoting arts and culture in Hong Kong, is widely recognised in the community. In 2014-15, it hosted many outstanding programmes by world-renowned artists and arts groups, including performances by The King’s Singers, The Tallis Scholars, Claude Delangle, Colin Carr, Lin Cho Liang, Richard Clayderman, Europa Galante, Theatre of Voices, William Christie and Le Jardin des Voix Academy Soloists with the Orchestra of Les Arts Florissants, and The Choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge University. Acclaimed local artists including Jim Chim, Trey Lee, Mary Wu and Carol Yu also performed at the venue.

Community Arts Facilities

Our many arts facilities are focal points for cultural activities around Hong Kong. They include larger venues such as the Sha Tin, Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun town halls and the Kwai Tsing, Yuen Long and Ko Shan theatres; and smaller venues such as the Sai Wan Ho, Sheung Wan, Ngau Chi Wan and Tai Po civic centres, and the North District town hall. Most of them have been serving the community for many years.

Our venue sponsorship scheme promotes and encourages the arts at community level by offering free use of our facilities to district arts groups that are involved in organising cultural activities for the local community. In 2014-15, about 90 community arts groups were sponsored for more than 630 activities which together attracted over 114 000 people. Various independent organisations also hired our facilities for arts activities.

Support for Cantonese Opera

The Government is keen to preserve and develop Cantonese opera in Hong Kong. Given the high demand for performance venues in Hong Kong, LCSD has put in place a priority hiring policy for professional Cantonese opera troupes. This gives them priority hiring of the Ko Shan Theatre, along with priority hiring for specific periods at five other major performance venues. The Yau Ma Tei Theatre only accepts booking applications for Chinese opera and related activities.

Built in 1930, the Yau Ma Tei Theatre is the only surviving pre-war cinema building in the urban area of Hong Kong. The theatre closed down in 1998, and in the same year was accorded Grade 2 status by the Antiquities Advisory Board. The theatre and the adjacent Grade 1 Red Brick Building were revitalised and re-opened on July 17, 2012. The complex, which contains a 300-seat theatre and two function rooms dedicated to Chinese opera, has become an important training and performance venue for Cantonese opera. In 2014-15, more than 72 400 visitors attended 332 performances at the theatre.

Opened on October 31, 2014, the Ko Shan Theatre New Wing has been specially designed for staging Cantonese opera. The 600-seat auditorium and rehearsal rooms, equipped with modern facilities, perfectly complement the 1 031-seat theatre, cementing the Ko Shan Theatre’s status as an ideal performance and rehearsal base for Cantonese opera.

Planned New Facilities

To facilitate the development of culture and the arts in Hong Kong, the Government has continued its planning of the construction of the East Kowloon Cultural Centre in Ngau Tau Kok, which will comprise a 1 200-seat auditorium; a 550-seat theatre; three music/dance/drama studios ranging from 120 to 250 seats; rehearsal rooms; art booths; a restaurant; a coffee shop as well as ancillary facilities such as offices, car parking spaces, public open spaces, and loading/ unloading area. Scheduled for completion in the end of 2020 the cultural centre will become a major cultural facility in East Kowloon.

Venue Partnership Scheme

A three-year Venue Partnership Scheme has been in place since April 2009. The scheme fosters partnerships between venues and performing arts groups that enhance their images, expand their audiences, optimise the use of the venue facilities, and encourage community involvement in the arts. The second round of the scheme ran from April 2012 to March 2015. Venue partners are supported in various ways, such as by being given work spaces and priority use of venue facilities, as well as funding and enhanced publicity. In 2014-15, the department’s 21 venue partners (which include individual groups, joint groups and consortia) presented 797 performances and engaged in 943 audience-building activities. Together they attracted some 753 000 spectators and participants.

1. Venue

   Partners

2. (1)Hong Kong City Hall

   Hong Kong Sinfonietta
   Hong Kong Repertory Theatre

3. (2)Hong Kong Cultural Centre

   Hong Kong Philharmonic
   Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
   Hong Kong Ballet
   Zuni Icosahedron

4. (3)Kwai Tsing Theatre

   Chung Ying Theatre Company
   W Theatre and Wind Mill Grass Theatre

5. (4)Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre

   Whole Theatre
   E-Side Dance Company

6. (5)North District Town Hall

   Hong Kong Theatre Works

7. (6)Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre

   The Absolutely Fabulous Theatre Connection

8. (7)Sha Tin Town Hall

   The Cantonese Opera Advancement Association
   Trinity Theatre and The Radiant Theatre

9. (8)Sheung Wan Civic Centre

   Perry Chiu Experimental Theatre

10. (9)Tsuen Wan Town Hall

    Hong Kong Dance Company
    Ming Ri Institute for Arts Education

11. (10)Tuen Mun Town Hall

    Spring-Time Experimental Theatre and Hong Kong
    Young Talent Cantonese Opera Troupe

12. (11)Yau Ma Tei Theatre

    The Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong

13. (12)Yuen Long Theatre

    Hong Kong Performing Stage of Cantonese Opera
    Theatre Noir Foundation

Arts Administrator Trainee Scheme

The Arts Administrator Trainee Scheme has been operating since 2010. The scheme nurtures a pool of young arts administrators who will eventually play a role in the development of Hong Kong’s cultural software.

LCSD arts administrator trainees undergo a two-year programme that teaches them about venue operations, facility management, event promotion, and the organisation of performing arts programmes, carnivals and arts festivals. Trainees in stage management also acquire technical knowhow at LCSD venues under the guidance of in-house stage professionals. There were 42 LCSD trainee positions in 2014-15.

During the year, LCSD also sponsored its 21 venue partners (comprising major and small/medium-sized performing arts groups) and the Hong Kong Arts Festival Society in the engagement of 44 trainees to learn about the management of performing arts groups and arts festivals.