ENG-1985 — Page 320

RECREATION AND THE ARTS

Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

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The opening of the academy's Academy Block in September enabled full-time courses to begin there. The administration had moved into the building in July.

Altogether, 39 dance students and 33 music students had successfully completed the first one-year foundation course in the academy's temporary premises at CC Block, Victoria Barracks, and at the Hong Kong Conservatory of Music in the Hong Kong Arts Centre, and they began a three-year diploma course in September.

Over 2 000 applications for admission in September were received by the four Schools of Dance, Drama, Music and Technical Arts, following the publication of the academy's first comprehensive prospectus in May. After extensive selection procedures, a total of 145 students were enrolled in the academy: 35 in dance, 30 in drama, 50 in music and 30 in technical arts.

During the year, students in the part-time Junior Studentship Scheme for Dance and Music made excellent progress, thus laying a sound foundation for future academy intakes. The first part-time courses were offered during 1985 in acting, mime, dance and opera. They elicited an enthusiastic response from a wide spectrum of the community. The facili- ties of the academy building will allow an expansion of this programme in the future.

For the second year, the academy organised 'Hong Kong Summer Dance,' a summer school, in collaboration with the local dance community. From July 22, three weeks of classes in classical Chinese dance, national dance, ballet and modern dance were offered to dance students, teachers and enthusiasts.

To mark International Youth Year, the academy co-organised the 'Youth Music Per- former Award' with a television company. In June, nominations were made by four participating tertiary institutions: Baptist College, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts incor- porating the Hong Kong Conservatory of Music. The final competition was held on July 4, before a panel of the heads of music of the four institutions. An academy foundation-year student won the award and a scholarship of $20,000.

Twenty-five full-time students and juniors from the School of Music were invited to perform in two concerts of Chinese and Western music in July, as part of the Hong Kong International Youth Arts Festival organised by the Urban Council.

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

The first half of 1985 coincided with the celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of the Hong Kong Philharmonic as a professional orchestra. The anniversary concert season, which featured more than two dozen guest artists, came to a rousing close in mid-June with three performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The guest artists included Rudolf Firkusny and Earl Wild, both pianists, and double bass virtuoso Garry Karr, from the United States, and another internationally renowned pianist, Fou Ts'ong. During the season, the orchestra, which received financial support from the government, presented 122 concerts, an increase of 16 per cent over the previous year. For the first time, total audiences numbered more than 250 000 and ticket sales revenue increased by 65 per cent to $5.3 million.

The 1985-6 concert season opened in October with Kenneth Schermerhorn commencing his second season as music director. The orchestra's main activities continued to be subscription concerts in the City Hall, Tsuen Wan Town Hall and the Academic Community Hall, commercial gramophone recordings, popular concerts and two series of education concerts for school children.