| Hong Kong Arts Festival | |
| Location: | Hong Kong |
| Years Active: | 1973–present |
| Genre: | Arts festival |
| Website: | https://www.hk.artsfestival.org/en/ |
| T: | 香港藝術節 |
| J: | Heong1 gong2 ngai6 soet6 zit3 |
| Y: | Hēung góng ngaih syuht jit |
| Hide: | yes |
The Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF), launched in 1973, is a major international arts festival committed to enriching the cultural life of the city by presenting leading local and international artists in all genres of the performing arts as well as a diverse range of "PLUS" and educational events in February and March each year.
Genres seen and heard at the Hong Kong Arts Festival include classical music, Chinese music, world music, Western opera, Chinese opera, drama and dance. HKAF presented top international artists and ensembles, such as Cecilia Bartoli, José Carreras, Yo-Yo Ma, Philip Glass, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Chailly, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Sylvie Guillem, Kevin Spacey, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre, Bavarian State Opera, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Cloud Gate Dance Theater, Zingaro, Royal Shakespeare Company, Moscow Art Theatre, and Beijing People's Art Theatre.
HKAF actively collaborates with Hong Kong's own creative talent and showcases emerging local artists. Over the years, HKAF has commissioned and produced over 200 local productions across genres including Cantonese opera, theatre, chamber opera, music and contemporary dance, many with successful subsequent runs in Hong Kong and overseas.
HKAF frequently partners with renowned international artists and institutions to produce exceptional works, such as Der Fensterputzer (The Window Washer) co-produced by HKAF, Goethe-Institut Hong Kong and Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Richard III and The Tempest produced by The Old Vic, BAM and Neal Street under "The Bridge Project" with HKAF as a co-commissioning institution, Green Snake co-commissioned with Shanghai International Arts Festival, and Dream of the Red Chamber co-produced with San Francisco Opera.
HKAF invests heavily in arts education for young people. The "HKAF Young Friends" has reached over 782,000 local secondary and tertiary school students since 1992.[1] Close to 10,000 half-price student tickets are issued each year.
HKAF organises a diverse range of "Festival PLUS" activities in community locations each year to enhance engagement between artists and audiences. These include films, lecture demonstrations, masterclasses, workshops, symposia, backstage visits, exhibitions, meet-the-artist sessions, and guided cultural tours.[2]
HKAF is a non-profit organisation. Its principal income sources are recurrent funding from the government, box office revenues, and sponsorship and donations made by corporations, individuals and charitable foundations which form a significant portion of total income and also enable HKAF to receive support from the Government's matching scheme that matches income generated through private sector sponsorship and donations.[3] [4]
| Position | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| Patron | The Chief Executive The Hon Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, GBM, GBS | |
| Honorary Life President | Sir Run Run Shaw, CBE (1907-2014) | |
| Executive Committee - Chairman | Mr. Victor Cha | |
| Executive Committee - Vice Chairman | Prof. Kingman Lo, MBE, JP, SBS | |
| Executive Committee - Honorary Treasurer | Mr. William Li | |
| Executive Committee | Mr. Edward Cheng, GBS, JP | |
| Executive Committee | Ms. Margaret Cheng | |
| Executive Committee | Mrs. Yu-san Leong | |
| Executive Committee | Prof. Gabriel Leung, GBS, JP | |
| Executive Committee | Ms. Miriam Yao | |
| Executive Committee | Mr. Sunny Yeung | |
| Executive Committee | Mr. Sebastian Shiu-Wai Man | |
| Executive Committee | Dr. Dennis Sun, BBS, JP |
| Year | Festival | Chairman | Executive Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 1st HKAF | Sir Run Run Shaw CBE | |
| 1974 | 2nd HKAF | ||
| 1975 | 3rd HKAF | ||
| 1976 | 4th HKAF | ||
| 1977 | 5th HKAF | ||
| 1978 | 6th HKAF | ||
| 1979 | 7th HKAF | ||
| 1980 | 8th HKAF | Mr. Keith Statham 史迪敦先生 | |
| 1981 | 9th HKAF | ||
| 1982 | 10th HKAF | ||
| 1983 | 11th HKAF | ||
| 1984 | 12th HKAF | ||
| 1985 | 13th HKAF | ||
| 1986 | 14th HKAF | ||
| 1987 | 15th HKAF | ||
| 1988 | 16th HKAF | Mr. Tseng Sun Man 鄭新文先生 | |
| 1989 | 17th HKAF | ||
| 1990 | 18th HKAF | The Hon Martin Barrow OBE JP 鮑磊先生 | |
| 1991 | 19th HKAF | ||
| 1992 | 20th HKAF | ||
| 1993 | 21st HKAF | ||
| 1994 | 22nd HKAF | ||
| 1995 | 23rd HKAF | Mr. Kau Ng 吳球先生 | |
| 1996 | 24th HKAF | ||
| 1997 | 25th HKAF | ||
| 1998 | 26th HKAF | ||
| 1999 | 27th HKAF | ||
| 2000 | 28th HKAF | ||
| 2001 | 29th HKAF | ||
| 2002 | 30th HKAF | Mrs Mona Leung SBS BBS MBE JP 梁紹榮夫人 | |
| 2003 | 31st HKAF | Mr. Douglas Gautier 高德禮先生 | |
| 2004 | 32nd HKAF | Mr Charles Y K Lee GBM GBS JP 李業廣先生 | |
| 2005 | 33rd HKAF | ||
| 2006 | 34th HKAF | ||
| 2007 | 35th HKAF | Ms. Tisa Ho 何嘉坤女士 | |
| 2008 | 36th HKAF | ||
| 2009 | 37th HKAF | ||
| 2010 | 38th HKAF | ||
| 2011 | 39th HKAF | ||
| 2012 | 40th HKAF | ||
| 2013 | 41st HKAF | ||
| 2014 | 42nd HKAF | The Hon Ronald Arculli GBM CVO GBS OBE JP | |
| 2015 | 43rd HKAF | ||
| 2016 | 44th HKAF | Mr. Victor Cha查懋成先生 | |
| 2017 | 45th HKAF | ||
| 2018 | 46th HKAF | ||
| 2019 | 47th HKAF | ||
| 2020 | 48th HKAF | ||
| 2021 | 49th HKAF |
| Year | Programme Highlights Festival Opening | Programme Highlights Festival Finale | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Julio Bocca & Ballet Argentino | ||
| 1997 | Tan Dun Marco Polo | Montreal Symphony Orchestra | |
| 1998 | Richard Strauss SalomeLos Angeles Opera | Compania Nacional de Danza | |
| 1999 | Cantonese Opera – An All-Star Night | Hamburg BalletA Midsummer Night's Dream | |
| 2000 | Birmingham Royal BalletEdward II | ||
| 2001 | Rossini's La Cenerentola | National Ballet of ChinaRaise the Red Lantern | |
| 2002 | Bolshoi TheatreBoris Godunov | National Ballet of ChinaRaise the Red Lantern | |
| 2003 | Stuttgart OperaThe Abduction from the Seraglio | Hamburg BalletNijinsky | |
| 2004 | Komische Oper BerlinThe Merry Widow | London Symphony Orchestraunder Gennadi Rozhdestvensky | |
| 2005 | Polish National Opera - Otello Conductor: Jacek Kaspszyk Director: Mariusz Trelinski Tenor: Richard Decker Tenor: Krzysztof Bednarek | Ballet Nacional de EspanaDirector: Jose Antonio | |
| 2006 | Michael Tilson Thomas and San Francisco SymphonySoloist: Lynn Harrell | Semper Opera Dresden and Opera NurembergMozart's Don Giovanni Conductor: Howard Arman Director: Willy Decker | |
| 2007 | Soloist: Konstantin Lifschitz Soloist: Boris Belkin Soloist: Shen Wenyu | Tango Buenos Aires | |
| 2008 | Choreographer: John Cranko | Vladimie Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra Soloist: Nikolaj Znaider Soloist: Jean-Yves Thibaudet | |
| 2009 | Bernard Haitink and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra | Lisa Ono A celebration of 50 years of Bossa Nova | |
| 2010 | Cantonese Opera Treasures | Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra | |
| 2011 | Cecilia Bartoli | Lost Tango Ute Lemper and the Piazzolla Sextet | |
| 2012 | The Hamburg Ballet John NeumeierThird Symphony of Gustav Mahler | Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra - Daniel Harding | |
| 2013 | American Ballet Theatre - Dance Gala AD: Kevin McKenzie | Teatro Di San Carlo - Viva Verdi Conductor: Michele Mariotti Choral Director: Salvatore Caputo | |
| 2014 | Guerzenich Orchestra Cologne | Savonlinna Opera Festival Gala Concert | |
| 2015 | Christian Thielemann & the Staatskapelle Dresden | The Bolshoi Ballet - Jewels | |
| 2016 | Compagnia Finzi Pasca - La Verità (The Truth) | The Mikhailovsky Ballet - The Sleeping Beauty | |
| 2017 | Bayerisches Staatsballett (Bavarian State Ballet) - La Bayadère | A co-production between San Francisco Opera andthe Hong Kong Arts Festival - Dream of the Red Chamber | |
| 2018 | Ballett Zürich - Anna Karenina | Estonian National Symphony Orchestra andEstonian National Male Choir | |
| 2019 | Marin Alsop with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra | The Hamburg Ballet-John Neumeier - The World of John Neumeier | |
| 2020 | Andris Nelsons with the Boston Symphony Orchestra(Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic) | Igor Moiseyev Ballet - Legend of the Century (Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic) | |
| 2021 | Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra - Music About China | Igor Moiseyev State Academic Ensemble of Popular Dance - Igor Moiseyev Ballet Special |
The HKAF is very active at promoting and engaging homegrown creative talents and emerging artists through commissioning producing and publishing new works in theatre, chamber opera and contemporary dance. Some of these productions go on to successful subsequent runs in Hong Kong and overseas.
In 2008, the HKAF commissioned and produced the production, Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare for the 36th HKAF as part of its New Works series, and was later featured in a second run in the 40th HKAF in 2012 before participating in Globe to Globe, a World Shakespeare Festival at the Globe Theatre in London in which 37 of Shakespeare's plays were performed in different languages. This was the first Cantonese production to be performed at the Globe.[5]
In 2013, the 41st HKAF commissioned the New Stage Series, Heart of Coral,playwright and lyrics by YiHeng. a chamber opera about the life of Xiao Hong, one of the most celebrated female Chinese writers. The opera production was later featured in Taiwan at "Hong Kong Week 2014 @ Taipei" as part of a cultural exchange organized by the Hong Kong-Taiwan Cultural Co-operation Committee.[6]
The Crowd, another HKAF commissioned production which is written by Shanghai-based writer Yu Rongjun and directed by Hong Kong theater director, Tang Wai-kit for the HKAF in 2015 was also performed in Shanghai in April 2015.[7]
Co-commissioned by the HKAF and the Shakespeare's Globe, renowned Hong Kong theatre director Tang Shu-wing premiered his Cantonese production of Macbeth at the Globe Theatre in London in August 2015, 4 years after the debut of his production of Titus Andronicus as part of the Globe to Globe initiative.[8] [9] Macbeth was then staged at the 44th HKAF.