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RECREATION AND THE ARTS
Hong Kong Jockey Club Music Fund Established in December 1979 with a donation of $10 million from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music Fund is a non-statutory trust fund to promote and develop music, dance and other related activities. A board of trustees of eight members, chaired by the Commissioner for Recreation and Culture, administer and monitor the fund.
Up to the end of 1983, grants and scholarships totalling $5.5 million had been paid from the fund: 69 scholarships have enabled young Hong Kong people to study music and dance at home or abroad, and 63 grants have been given for related purposes such as the purchase of musical instruments and the staging of special events.
Hong Kong Chorus
Formed by the Urban Council in 1982, the Hong Kong Chorus is a semi-professional choral group with a repertoire of Oriental and Western compositions. The 100-strong chorus gave 23 concerts during the year, attended by 24 500 people. The group also gave choral support to the opera production Carmen which featured principal singers from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and made its operatic debut at the 1983 Festival of Asian Arts.
Festival of Asian Arts
The Eighth Festival of Asian Arts was held for 17 days in October and November. Local groups, and visiting artistes from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Hawaii gave more than 50 indoor performances. These were staged at the City Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Stadium and the Hong Kong Coliseum, while 82 free performances were given at outdoor
venues.
Lectures, demonstrations, and exhibitions - including Chinese jade, Hong Kong con- temporary art and Hong Kong currency - were held as part of the festival.
Hong Kong Arts Festival
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The 1983 Hong Kong Arts Festival was the biggest yet in its history with more than 120 performances staged during the four-week period. Some 89 500 tickets were sold, represent- ing 85 per cent attendance for the event which is sponsored largely by the government, the Urban Council and the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club.-
The National Theatre of Great Britain and the Sydney Theatre Company played to near-capacity audiences. Silent theatre featured Jacques Lecoq, Dimitri and Teatre de la Claca, while Cantonese drama was provided by the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre and the Chung Ying Theatre Company.
The musical content of the programme included performances by a variety of international artistes, the Sydney String Quartet, the Canadian Brass, the Song- makers Almanac, and Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen, and leading Hong Kong artistes. Orchestral concerts were given by the Philharmonia Hungarica and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. A production of The Secret Marriage was the festival's operatic highlight with music by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra which, in its own. right, opened and closed the festival. As in previous years, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra attracted large audiences.
Contrasting dance styles were represented by the Song and Dance Ensemble from Chengdu, the Shumka Dancers from Canada and the Australian Dance Theatre. Other