CULTURAL
PRESENTATIONS
The LCSD’s Cultural Presentations Section organises performing arts programmes in music, dance, Chinese opera, theatre and multi-arts. The programmes feature both local and visiting artists and arts groups, and range in style from traditional to modern and cutting-edge. In 2016-17, more than 930 events were held, attracting about 359 000 spectators.
The year 2016 marked the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, and a thematic programme series titled Shakespeare Year was presented. Major programmes under this series included A Midsummer Night’s Dream by the Royal New Zealand Ballet, The Tiger Lillies Perform Hamlet by Theatre Republique from Denmark, Richard III by Schaubühne Berlin from Germany, two operas produced by Opera Hong Kong, namely Verdi’s Otello and Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette and a concert titled Shakespeare in Love presented by The English Concert from the United Kingdom.
A number of large-scale visiting programmes featuring world-renowned artists and arts groups were presented in the year. Music programmes included concerts by The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Music Director/Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin; recitals by American violinist Joshua Bell, German violinist Julia Fischer, Latvian cellist Mischa Maisky and American pianist Murray Perahia; and concerts by Les Vents Français and Ensemble intercontemporain, both from France, and both making their Hong Kong debuts.
A dance programme highlight was Carlos Acosta - A Classical Farewell, at which this celebrated Cuban dancer, at the head of a cast of young Cuban dancers, bid farewell to the classical ballet stage. Spanish flamenco artist María Pagés and her flamenco group María Pagés Compañía performed their acclaimed new work, I, Carmen, to packed houses. Shanghai Dance Theatre was invited to stage Crested Ibises and Fragrance with sold-out performances at the Sha Tin Town Hall and the Yuen Long Theatre in January 2017, which kicked off a series of celebration programmes for the 20th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
As for multi-arts programmes, every year the Cheers! series brings enjoyable family programmes to Hong Kong audiences during the Christmas and New Year season. Notable theatre performances included Beijing Fayuansi by the National Theatre of China, Life After Life by the 8CM Drama Factory & Jalent (Beijing) Culture Communication Co. Ltd. from the Mainland, and Nowhere Near by M.O.V.E. Theatre from Taiwan, performed at the 10th Chinese Drama Festival.
The Chinese Opera Festival 2016 featured mainstream genres such as Kunqu opera, Peking opera and Cantonese opera, as well as regional operas rarely seen in Hong Kong. In commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the death of the great Ming dynasty playwright Tang Xianzu, two leading Kunqu opera troupes from Zhejiang and Shanghai were invited to perform. The Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe opened the festival with a newly commissioned work titled The Legend of the Purple Hairpin, in which artists from Hong Kong and Taiwan participated in script adaptation and played the leading roles. Troupes specialising in Shao opera from Zhejiang and Peking opera from Beijing, with Li Baochun, were invited to present the Monkey King Play Series at the festival. Regional operas from Shandong were also staged. The festival also offered a variety of extension activities in the form of exhibitions, workshops, talks and sharing sessions, as well as screenings of 3D Chinese opera films for the first time.
To further popularise the arts of Cantonese opera and dance, two large-scale free community events, Cantonese Opera Day and Dance Day, were held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in November and at the Yuen Long Theatre in December respectively. Cantonese Opera Day was attended by around 37 000 people, while Dance Day attracted around 14 000 people.
First launched in 2014, the Music Delight Series continued to present innovative programmes at various New Territories venues specially curated to attract youth audiences. Programmes in 2016-17 included performers such as O Duo from the United Kingdom, b vocal from Spain, Five Sax with members from Poland, Italy, Belgium, Chile and the United States, and The Philharmonics from Austria.
The LCSD supports local artists and arts groups by including their performances in many of its programme series. Dance On, a new series first launched in 2015, presents new dance pieces by young choreographers in the middle stages of their careers. In 2016-17, two dance artists were featured in the series. Another new series, City Hall Virtuosi Series, was launched in 2016-17 to support local established musicians and ensembles by providing them with new performance platforms. Meanwhile, the Playwright Scheme supported young and distinguished playwrights, while the Our Music Talents Series featured local emerging talents in the field of music. To encourage local Cantonese opera scriptwriting, Fiend Battle, the Best Script Award of New Cantonese Opera Play Scriptwriting Competition organised by the Cantonese Opera Development Fund, was staged by Major Phoenix Chinese Opera at the Tsuen Wan Town Hall, winning wide acclaims.
The LCSD regularly collaborates with Consulates-General and cultural organisations in organising cultural exchange programmes, including the arts festival Le French May, which showcases French artists and arts groups. In 2016-17, the LCSD also sponsored venue and ticketing services for the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Hong Kong in presenting music and modern dance programmes, and collaborated with the Consulate General of Mexico in the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions in staging a jazz concert. The LCSD also sponsored venue and ticketing services for the Chopin Society of Hong Kong in running the 4th Hong Kong International Piano Competition and the Joy of Music Festival 2016, and the Vienna Boys Choir Music Academy Foundation for its finale concert in the first-ever Hong Kong-Vienna Music Festival.