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RECREATION AND THE ARTS
music education programmes especially designed for the young. About 20 000 children participated in this event.
Council for the Performing Arts
The Council for the Performing Arts was appointed by the Governor in February to advise the government on the development of the performing arts in Hong Kong. The council comprises 11 unofficial and six official members and is chaired by an unofficial.
In addition to the main council, six sub-committees cover music, dance, drama and technical services, business sponsorship, festivals and district activities, and finance vetting. Each sub-committee is chaired by a member of the main council and includes specialists in the particular fields. The sub-committees examine and advise the council on policy and financial support in their respective areas of the performing arts.
The Recreation and Culture Department provided administrative and financial aid to a number of organisations involved with the performing arts during 1982, including the Hong Kong Arts Festival Society, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society, the Hong Kong Conservatory of Music, the Hong Kong Academy of Ballet, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the Chung Ying Theatre Company. It co-ordinated international events and overseas tours, such as the International Music Council's Symposium held in Hong Kong, and supported music and dance activities through the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club Music Fund.
Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
The creation of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts was announced in April to encourage and help develop high professional standards in music, dance and drama among young people in Hong Kong and to cater to the increasing need for rehearsal and training facilities.
The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club will build the academy on a water-front site in Wan Chai as a project to mark its 150th anniversary in 1984 and will donate $300 million towards the cost. As well as providing the site, the government will contribute $70 million towards the project and will pay annual running costs.
The academy will house four major schools for training at tertiary level in music, dance, drama and technical services for both Western and Chinese arts forms. A prevocational school for gifted children in music and dance, and part-time and evening classes for a wider public, are also envisaged. At full development the academy will cater to an estimated 600 full-time students.
Facilities will include two major theatres with a combined seating capacity of 1 600 for dance, drama and music; a 200-seat studio theatre for experimental drama; classrooms, practice-rooms and studios for teaching; a rehearsal hall, fully-equipped as a recording studio; and a small television studio. A provisional council has been formed with its own secretariat to oversee the development of the curriculum and the recruitment of teaching staff from Hong Kong and overseas in time for the 1985 academic year.
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Throughout 1982, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra demonstrated its emergence as one of Asia's leading symphony orchestras. Weekend evening subscription concerts at City Hall continued to attract near-capacity audiences and regular concerts were given at the Academy Community Hall, the Tsuen Wan Town Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Stadium. For the first time, the orchestra gave a series of concerts in Sha Tin and