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For news and reviews of the performing arts in Hong Kong - ballet, contemporary dance, opera, theatre, musicals and more - and interviews with key players from Hong Kong performing arts groups and visiting troupes, this is your page. Read about the productions of Hong Kong Ballet, Opera Hong Kong, Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, City Contemporary Dance Company, Zuni Icosahedron, Hong Kong Dance Company, Chung Ying Theatre Company, as well as original commissions by the Hong Kong Arts Festival, New Vision Arts Festival, Chinese Opera Festival and the World Cultures Festival.
Busy agenda packs Art Basel, a cultural summit, global investors’ symposium and pop-culture festival into one week, soon to be followed by the Rugby Sevens.
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Hong Kong may no longer be a desert when it comes to quality arts and performances, but it is still far from being a capital of culture.
Hong Kong used to be a global player in the television, film and music sectors but the shine has worn off in the past couple of decades; now is the time for a reboot.
- In his Hong Kong debut, Fung shows he has technique to burn, as well as musicality, in a varied programme that swung between passion and intimacy
- Pianist and cellist were on the same page throughout the recital of works by Schumann, Chopin, Brahms and Fung himself, Cheung by no means playing second fiddle
The Sound of Music is the first Broadway musical performed in Hong Kong since 2019, and its co-presenter is a Chinese state-owned company. Organisers talk about their joint endeavour.
A Hong Kong musical promoting marine conservation and decrying shark’s fin soup, Shark Symphony is a mix of arts: throat singing, contortionism, acrobatics and belly dancing, backed by an orchestra.
US cellist Zlatomir Fung, who has Bulgarian and Chinese ancestry and studied at New York’s Juilliard, make his Hong Kong debut, his grandfather’s birthplace, playing with local pianist Rachel Cheung.
The Legend of Lanling, a new full-length production by the Hong Kong Dance Company, tells the tale of a real-life hero of the Northern Qi dynasty using a blend of Chinese dance and martial arts.
Tai Kwun is an unrivalled heritage art space, TeamLab: Continuous and Florentijn Hofman’s Rubber Duck transformed Victoria Harbour, while the West Kowloon waterfront has hosted anthropomorphic grapes
In an Asian first, the Hong Kong International Shakespeare Festival, taking place in June, will see works by the British playwright reinterpreted by troupes from Romania to the UK to South Korea.
The frenetic pace and complexity of Andonis Foniadakis’ Strangelove, part of Hong Kong Ballet’s triple bill ‘The Rule Breakers’ performance, elicited a show of audience emotion rarely seen in the city.
Orchestra under Estonian maestro give a chilling account of Shostakovich’s Symphony No 5, after some riotous Rimsky-Korsakov and a commanding Stravinsky Violin Concerto with soloist Alena Baeva.
Senri Kawaguchi’s inspired drumming brings alive Hong Kong composer Ng Cheuk-yin’s Fly LIVE! and new work An Array of Stars in a fusion concert with Hong Kong orchestra.
Artist’s Night at Hong Kong’s Tai Kwun heritage arts centre spotlights three Asian artists, as well as one South African, in an eclectic programme featuring sonic and visual installations.
While Art Basel Hong Kong has plenty to keep the fine art-minded enthralled, simultaneous off-site events also showcase creative curiosities
A Sigh of Love, performed by Shanghai Ballet at Hong Kong Arts Festival 2024, had impressive sets, costumes and dancing, but the story was too thin and the score incoherent.
Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord presented Peter Brook’s reworking of Shakespeare’s The Tempest for the Hong Kong Arts Festival in a skeletal production that injected fresh life into the play.
Courville, Canadian Robert Lepage’s play centred on an LGBTQ teenager in 1970s Quebec, and performed as part of the 2024 Hong Kong Arts Festival, featured dazzling Japanese bunraku puppetry.
Period instrument ensemble Concerto Italiano showed their mastery of baroque in a set of Vivaldi concertos; the Lucerne Festival Strings, performing with solo violinist Akiko Suwanai, were good in parts.
Hong Kong Arts Festival show with a rock concert vibe features pieces orchestral in scope composed by Nordic metalheads and performed by multinational Baltic Sea Philharmonic.
La Scala Theatre Ballet’s Hong Kong Arts Festival performance of Le Corsaire had its moments, not least a star turn by Nicoletta Manni as Medora, but was marred by odd story choices and some untidy dancing.
The Chinese opera highlight of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Peony Pavilion (Complete Version), by Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, was well done, but lacked the depth the title promised.
Garden of Repose at the West Kowloon Cultural District, a multimedia choral concert produced by the Hong Kong Arts Festival, includes works by Brahms, Arvo Pärt, Poulenc and Antonia Lotti.
Performed at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Van Gogh in Me is a multimedia display of music and visual art by the Netherlands Chamber Choir using works by Debussy, Gustav Mahler, Saint-Saëns and more.
Pianist Minsoo Sohn, teacher of South Korean prodigy Yunchan Lim, is appearing in the 2024 Hong Kong Arts Festival. He talks to the Post about South Korea’s music scene and how he sees performing.
The inaugural WestK FunFest, at Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District this spring, will feature a range of Cantonese Opera events among its diverse 150-programme schedule, to promote the art form.
Ariadne auf Naxos, which opens this year’s Hong Kong Arts Festival, pits highbrow opera against lowbrow commedia dell’arte, with powerful vocal performances and a strangely monochromatic design.
Philip Chu, the director of Hong Kong-based music ensemble Cantabile, talks about recording a whole Hollywood film score over a weekend, helping young musicians and pursuing his dreams.
Arts practitioners worry about creative freedom and lack of opportunities to appeal authorities’ decisions.
New Age musical artist Daphne Tse is sharing her soulful brand of yoga music, dance, chant and meditation in Hong Kong in February. She talks about spirituality and following her musical dream.
18-year-old British composer, conductor and performer awes Hong Kong audience with on-the-spot improvisation to cap concert featuring three of her orchestral compositions.
