THE ARTS
Chapter 14.
The casual visitor to Hong Kong may easily believe that the citizens of Hong Kong are not devotees of the Arts, since he finds in the Colony no art gallery, no English-language theatre, no public concert-hall, no museum, no public library and few ways therefore in which during his stay in the Colony he can engage in that particular artistic activity in which he is most interested. Such an indictment would not be wholly fair to the Colony, since although there is little public patronage of the Arts there is a wide variety of clubs and societies, too numerous to chronicle in detail in this Report, whose members follow with enthusiasm one or other of the Arts, whether it be music or painting, photography, dancing or the drama. Most of these societies from time to time provide public performances of plays or concerts or exhibitions of paintings or photographs.
Music
new
The year 1948 has been a year of greater musical activity in Hong Kong than any year since the war. The regular concerts sponsored by the Sino-British Club have brought several musicians before the public, and these concerts have been con- sistently well attended. The efforts of the Club to produce a local orchestra were rewarded finally by the appearance of a Sino-British Symphony Orchestra, which made a good impression by its initial performances. A parallel venture was the promo- tion of a Light Orchestra, which caters for more popular tastes and has won considerable favour with the public. The efforts of these two organizations were greatly stimulated by a visit from the Municipal Symphony Orchestra of Manila in July, which was the first large orchestra to come to Hong Kong for many years. The visit of the Band of the Royal Artillery, which took part in the Remembrance Day parade, also aroused considerable interest,
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