ENG-1959 — Page 355

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

professional artists introduced by local impresarios, gave a wide variety of concerts, recitals and stage productions. Of particular note amongst these were the production of Purcell's 'Dido and Aeneas' by the Diocesan Girls' School and "The Mikado' by the Hong Kong Singers. A number of musical celebrities including Rudolph Firkusny and Jan Peerce visited Hong Kong. The well- known concert pianist, Annarosa Taddei is a resident of the Colony. An unusual feature of the Festival of the Arts 1959 was a series of concerts of contemporary Chinese music sponsored by Radio Hong Kong. The Chinese Classical Music Group and many professional Cantonese and Peking opera-groups have also been active. Visitors of note during the year were the Little Orchestra of New York and the Vienna Boys' Choir.

The Colony has always exhibited a lively interest in the visual arts and there are several active groups and clubs, the most prominent being the Hong Kong Art Club, the Hong Kong Chinese Art Club, the Photographic Society, the Chinese Cultural Group, the Hong Kong Artists, and the Chinese Calligraphers and Painters Association. Local artists have held several exhibitions-at St. John's Cathedral Hall, the Reading Room of the British Council, the Loke Yew Hall of Hong Kong University and the Festival Centre whose venue this year was the East Wing of the Star Ferry Pier. Outstanding occasions were an exhibition sponsored by the Shell Company called "The Artist's View of an Industry', a dis- play of pictures from the collection of the late Sir Robert Ho Tung, (described in more detail below), an exhibition of etchings, aquatints and lithographs by Keith Ronald Armour, A.R.C.A., and a display of Modern and Traditional Art at The Festival Visual Arts Centre.

The British Council plays a significant part in the artistic and cultural life of the Colony and this year was able to expand its activities by removing its administrative offices out of the Gloucester Building Library to release more space for the Reading Room and for lectures and exhibitions. In Kowloon the new Centre in Nathan Road rapidly attracted a large membership, particularly of young people. Weekly lectures on varied subjects alternated between the two libraries. Weekly film shows proved popular in Kowloon and documentary and feature films were shown at