Academy for Performing Arts to focus on employability and research
Director says working with the cultural sector, bolstering research and producing employable graduates will be at heart of strategic plan
The city's only academy for the performing arts is to focus on preparing students for the "real world" of work by teaching them a wide range of disciplines while building partnerships with the cultural sector and bolstering research.
The Academy for Performing Arts also plans to raise HK$10 million for new initiatives over the next five to 10 years, including scholarships and ensemble companies for graduates, director Adrian Walter said.
The academy will celebrate its 30th anniversary next month with the launch of its new strategic plan. It will run alongside a HK$444.8 million expansion.
Walter sets out a vision with key differences to that put forward by a team of consultants in an unpublished report prepared before his arrival last year. Rather than attempting to paint the academy as one of the leading institutions of its kind in Asia, he wants it to strengthen research and graduate employability.
"We have been so consumed in the creative world that we forget about the real world," he said.
The consultants recommended that the academy concentrate on developing its schools of music, theatre and entertainment arts, while positioning itself as a "top-tier institution".