ENG-1981 — Page 282

RECREATION AND THE ARTS

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block houses a 1500-seat concert hall, a 470-seat theatre, an exhibition hall and a restaurant. The high block contains an exhibition gallery, a 116-seat recital hall, lecture and conference rooms, the Hong Kong Museum of Art and public libraries operated by the Urban Council. The headquarters of the Cultural Services Department is also located there.

The City Hall is administered by the Urban Council. Its facilities are available for hire by the public and it is used by the council for various functions and performances. With increasing public interest in cultural activities, the City Hall continues to be the hub of cultural life in Hong Kong. During the year, about 587 000 people attended 1092 performances in the concert hall, the theatre and the recital hall, and 151 exhibitions were held at the exhibition hall and exhibition gallery.

Among the performances, the Urban Council presented some 80 overseas artistes and groups, some of whom appeared with the assistance of various cultural organisations, such as the United States International Communication Agency, the British Council, the Goethe Institute and the Alliance Francaise. The Urban Council also received generous help from various consulates.

Among the well-known artistes and groups who performed under the council's auspices were the pianists Fou Ts'ong, Abbey Simon, Sequeira Costa and Nicolas Constantinidis; Violinists Sergio Luca and Yu Yasuraoka; flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal; mime artistes Adam Darious and Kazimar Kolesnik; the Sadao Watanabe Jazz Sextet, the Andree Colson Instrumental Ensemble, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Metro-Manila Symphony Orchestra, the Wells Cathedral School Orchestra, the Contemporary Dance Forion Ensemble of Mexico, the Dutch National Ballet; the Inter-Europe Spectacle; and the Singers of the Metropolitan Opera.

The Urban Council also takes an active interest in promoting local artistic talent. In August, the Fourth Chinese Opera Festival which featured Peking, Chekiang and Canton- ese operas gave nine performances. Talented newcomers made their debut under Urban Council sponsorship in the Young Artistes Series. During the year, the council presented 59 vocal and instrumental recitals, 23 opera performances and 25 Chinese and Western dance performances.

Other noteworthy presentations in the year included the Hong Kong-Japan Cultural Week 1981, featuring contemporary and traditional music, folk and modern dances and an exhibition on Japanese cultural handicraft; two opera productions, Don Pasquale and La Boheme; the 33rd School Music Festival Prize-winners' Concerts, the 17th Schools Dance Festival Prize-winners' Performances and the 36th Hong Kong International Salon of Photography.

Tsuen Wan Town Hall

Opened in 1980, the Tsuen Wan Town Hall is the first multi-purpose cultural complex to be built in the New Territories.

The hall has a 1 424-seat multi-purpose auditorium to suit both concert and theatrical performances. And its 450-square-metre cultural activities hall is a venue for both exhibitions and cultural presentations. Other facilities include lecture and conference rooms, music book shop and coffee lounge.

The Tsuen Wan Town Hall on a 5 900-square-metre site in the centre of the new town is administered by the Cultural Services Department and managed by a committee compris- ing representatives from the government, the Tsuen Wan District Advisory Board and local community organisations. Apart from making the facilities available for hire, the manage-