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RECREATION AND THE ARTS
Six committees service the main council in music, dance, drama, technical arts, business sponsorship and public relations, and finance. Each committee is chaired by an unofficial member of the council and to ensure that the council is advised by those actively involved in the performing arts in Hong Kong, it includes, as co-opted members, specialists and professionals in the particular fields.
Performing Arts Division
The Performing Arts Division of the Recreation and Culture Department administers the government financial support provided to the Hong Kong Arts Festival Society, Hong Kong Philharmonic Society, Hong Kong Conservatory of Music, Hong Kong Academy of Ballet, Chung Ying Theatre Company and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. The division provides support for music and dance activities through the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music Fund and provides administrative support to the Council for the Performing Arts. It also co-ordinates international events and overseas tours.
Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
When the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts moves into its new premises scheduled for September - courses will begin in all its four schools: dance, drama, music, and technical arts. The academy offers a three-year diploma course in these schools and a one-year full-time foundation course normally precedes the diploma course.
The diploma course provides complete, integrated training to prepare the student for a professional career in the performing arts. The foundation course offers a year of preparatory specialised training, focusing on the development of technical skills and artistic understanding in the student's major study area, with the inclusion of certain important ancillary studies.
Because of the integration into the academy of the Hong Kong Conservatory of Music and the Hong Kong Academy of Ballet, the foundation course in the schools of dance and music began, ahead of drama and technical arts, in September 1984.
The foundation course in dance is currently held at the academy's temporary premises in CC Block Victoria Barracks; in music, the foundation course is conducted at the Hong Kong Conservatory of Music in the Arts Centre.
Although the academy was operating from temporary accommodation, 1984 was an eventful year. As well as the first intake of students in September, several other projects took place under the auspices of the academy.
For example, in February the academy commissioned a report on Cantonese opera compiled by Dr Leung Pui-kam, Lecturer in the Department of Chinese at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The report researched the current climate for Cantonese opera presentation and covered such areas as existing performing venues, opportunities for professional companies, and 'cultivating' the audience.
A one-day symposium on Cantonese opera was organised by the academy in April and the views and opinions expressed were included in Dr Leung's report, the findings of which formed the basis on which the academy would determine its future role in the development of Cantonese opera.
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
September marked the beginning of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra's celebration of its 10th anniversary season as a professional orchestra, and the first to be presided over by the new music director, Kenneth Schermerhorn. Maxim Shostakovich continued into