PRESS RELEASES - The 55th Hong Kong Arts Festival 第55屆香港藝術節

The 50th Hong Kong Arts Festival in 2022
Changes to In-Venue Programmes
Romeo and Juliet of Paris Opera Ballet Opens the 50th Hong Kong Arts Festival

(Hong Kong, 10 Feb 2022)

In view of the uncertainty surrounding venue availability and social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) is announcing changes to a number of in-venue programmes.

The following in-venue programmes will not take place as previously scheduled. Please find information, including details of ticket refunds (if applicable) below. Details regarding the rescheduling of selected programmes will be announced in due course. Please refer to the HKAF website at hk.artsfestival.org for updates and developments regarding the 50th HKAF.

Free In-Venue Programmes

HKAF@Taikwun

12 – 20 February

Tai Kwun

For details and updates, please refer to taikwun.artsfestival.org

Laila

25 February – 3 April

HK Maritime Museum

For details and updates, please refer to laila.hk

AΦE Company - 0AR

3 – 13 March

618 Shanghai Street

For details and updates of the performances at The Center, please refer to HKAF website.

Paid In-Venue Programmes

A Tribute to Cantonese Opera Legend Sun Ma Sze Tsang

22 – 25 February

HK City Hall

Ticket refunds available*

Nirvana – Yu Xiangjun Piano-Hypermedia Recital

24 February

HK Cultural Centre

Ticket refunds available*

Xiao Ke – I Hope

24 – 26 February

HK Cultural Centre

Ticket refunds available*

Internationaal Theater Amsterdam

24 and 27 February

HK City Hall

Ticket refunds available*

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra – Mahler’s Symphony No 4

25 – 26 February

HK Cultural Centre

Ticket refunds available*

Reminiscence – Chinese Opera at the Keyboard

26 February

HK Cultural Centre

Ticket refunds available*

Yue Pipa Ensemble – Different Strokes: A Fresh Take on Pipa

26 February

HK City Hall

Ticket refunds available*

No Limits:

Yang Enhua – A New Vision of Huqin

26 February

HK City Hall

Changed to online viewing. For details and updates, please refer to nolimits.hk.Ticket refunds available*.

Sculpting Air – the Music Documentaries of Frank Scheffer

1 – 5 March

HK City Hall

Ticket refunds available*

Joint Celebration Concert of Hong Kong City Hall 60th Anniversary & Hong Kong Arts Festival 50th Anniversary: Hong Kong Sinfonietta – Reflections on Refractions

2, 4 March

HK City Hall

Ticket refunds available*. For details and updates, please refer to hksl.org

Chen Sa Piano Recital

3 March

HK Cultural Centre

Ticket refunds available*

Cantonese Opera Creative Studio

3 – 5 March

HK Cultural Centre

Ticket refunds available*

Colossus

3 – 5 March

HKAPA

Ticket refunds available*

Jérôme Bel & Xiao Ke –

Xiao Ke

3 – 5 March

HK Arts Centre

Ticket refunds available*

Young Friends Music Theatre Special

Radio Wave Hunter -- The Lost Playlist

4 – 5 March

Tuen Mun Town Hall

Ticket refunds available*. For details and updates, please refer to yfs.artsfestival.org

Hong Kong Ballet – Amor y Pasión

4 – 6 March

HK Cultural Centre

Ticket refunds available*. For details and updates, please refer to hkballet.com

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Bamberg Symphony Orchestra

4, 9 and 12 March

K11 Art House

Changed to free online live-streamed performanceson the same dates and time as scheduled, 4, 9, 12 March (20:00 HK Time).Registration for free viewing can be made on the HKAF website.

Faith, Family, Fealty - Three Cantonese Operas

5 March

HKAPA

Ticket refunds available*

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Chen Sa

5 – 6 March

HK City Hall

Ticket refunds available*

Esmé Quartet

7 – 8 March

HK City Hall

Ticket refunds available*

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Esmé Quartet

10 March

HK Cultural Centre

Ticket refunds available*

Jockey Club InnoArts Series: SHH – Virtual Reality

10 – 13 March

HK Cultural Centre

Ticket refunds available*

Jockey Club InnoArts Series: Shuffle Dimensions

10 – 13 March

WKCD Freespace

Changed to free online viewing. For details and updates, please refer to HKAF website. Ticket refunds available*

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Paris Opera Ballet – Romeo and Juliet

11 March

HK Cultural Centre

Changed to free online viewing from 25 February to 4 March. Ticket refunds available*

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra – The Stage Door on Mars

12 March

HK City Hall

Ticket refunds available*. For details and updates, please refer to hkco.org

Anne Lam and HK Phil Brass Quintet

12 March

HK Cultural Centre

Ticket refunds available*

Festival PLUS: For details and updates, please refer to go.hkaf.org/plus

Festival Opening

The original Festival Opening performance by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra – Mahler’s Symphony No 4 will be replaced by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Paris Opera Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet, which will be available for free online streaming at 20:00 Hong Kong Time on 25 February, and then from midnight on 26 February to 20:00 Hong Kong Time on 4 March.

*Ticket Refund

Patrons who have purchased tickets for these programmes may apply for ticket refunds through the HKAF website.

For ticket refunds for performances of Hong Kong Ballet’s Amor y Pasión, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta’s Reflections on Refractions and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra’s The Stage Door on Mars, please contact:

Hong Kong Ballet: marketing@hkballet.com | 2105 9724

Hong Kong Sinfonietta: ticketing@hksinfonietta.org | 2836 3336

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra: inquiries@hkco.org | 3185 1600

Patrons who have bought tickets to performances at the West Kowloon Cultural District and the HKAPA may seek refunds via the following respective channels:

WKCD: ticketinfo@wkcda.hk | 2200 0022

HK Ticketing: premier.hkticketing.com | 31 288 288

Online Programmes

An exciting selection of online programmes are on offer at the 50th HKAF:

• The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Jakub Hrůša, will live-stream three concerts from its home venue, the Joseph Keilberth Hall in Bamberg, featuring works by Smetana, Bruckner and Mahler (4, 9, 12 March). The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra will also present a family concert featuring Saint-Saëns’s delightful The Carnival of the Animals and Haas’s Little I-Am-Me. Perfect for the very young as well as the young at heart! (11–25 April)

• Audience interaction takes a new guise in two theatre productions: Ontroerend Goed (Belgium) presents the live interactive one-on-one experiences TM (26 February–27 March); while Dead Centre (Ireland) returns with an exciting online adaptation of To Be A Machine (23–26 March), Mark O’Connell’s Wellcome Prize-winning non-fiction work on transhumanism.

• The Paris Opera Ballet treats Hong Kong audiences to a dance extravaganza with the Asian video premiere of Rudolph Nureyev’s Romeo and Juliet (25 February–4 March), newly filmed in 2021; Crystal Pite’s Body and Soul. (14–21 March) and Patrice Bart and Eugène Polyakov’s interpretation of Giselle (21–28 March)

• The eminent Bayerische Staatsoper (Bavarian State Opera) brings two filmed productions: Korngold’s Die tote Stadt (The Dead City) (24 February–3 March), conducted by Kirill Petrenko and starring tenor Jonas Kaufmann; and Shostakovich’s spectacular satirical opera The Nose (10–17 March).

• National Theatre Brno joins the Festival once again with Martinů’s The Greek Passion, a provocative follow-up to its earlier resounding successes. With renowned Czech opera director Jiří Heřman at the helm, National Theatre Brno brings together a cast of nearly 150 soloists and actors to present this masterpiece. (17–24 March)

• From the stage of the Bristol Old Vic comes a powerful coming-of-age drama exploring the inner world of a boy with a speech impediment. Wonder Boy is a new production written by Bristol-based playwright Ross Willis and directed by acclaimed director Sally Cookson (Jane Eyre, 2016 HKAF). (26 March–2 April)

Booking and registration for the above online programmes can be made on the HKAF website.

About the Hong Kong Arts Festival

Launched in 1973, the Hong Kong Arts Festival is a major international arts festival committed to enriching the cultural life of the city. In February and March every year, the Festival presents leading local and international artists from all genres of the performing arts, giving equal importance to great traditions and contemporary creations. The Festival also commissions and produces work in theatre, music, chamber opera and contemporary dance by Hong Kong’s own creative talents and emerging artists, many of which have had successful subsequent runs in Hong Kong and overseas. Every year, the Festival also presents over 250 “PLUS” and educational activities that offer diverse arts experiences to the community as well as tertiary, secondary and primary school students. In addition, through the “No Limits” project co-presented with The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the Festival strives to create an inclusive space for people with different abilities to share the joy of the arts together.

Media Enquiries

For further enquiries, please contact Ms Katy Cheng, Marketing Director, at (katy.cheng@hkaf.org), or Ms Valentina Wong, Marketing Manager, at (valentina.wong@hkaf.org).

The 50th Hong Kong Arts Festival in 2022Changes to In-Venue ProgrammesRomeo and Juliet of Paris Opera Ballet Opens the 50th Hong Kong Arts Festival

The 50th Hong Kong Arts Festival in 2022
Changes to In-Venue Programmes
Romeo and Juliet of Paris Opera Ballet Opens the 50th Hong Kong Arts Festival