ENG-1985 — Page 323

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RECREATION AND THE ARTS

The Summer Youth Music Camp was held at the Po Leung Kuk Pak Tam Chung Holiday Camp for the second successive year. Around 1 000 young musicians benefitted from the expert tuition provided by nine musicians from China, Israel and the United Kingdom. The third Youth Chinese Music Festival was held in November and, in December, a 68-member youth symphonic band from Japan joined with local participants in the 1985 Hong Kong Youth Band Festival.

Hong Kong Conservatory of Music

The integration of the Hong Kong Conservatory of Music with the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts went further forward in 1985, with the work of the conservatory becoming readily identified with that of the academy's School of Music. Orchestra and chamber music concerts were sponsored jointly.

Two conservatory students performed in the 1985 Hong Kong Arts Festival's Serenade- at-Six series which was broadcast on RTHK Radio 3, and another student came third in the Hong Kong Young String Player of the Year competition, organised by RTHK Radio 4. Senior students from the conservatory were featured alongside foundation and junior students of the academy in two concerts in the Urban Council's International Youth Arts Festival.

Nine candidates obtained the conservatory diploma, one with high distinction and three with distinction. In addition, four graduates won overseas scholarships: three to the United States and one to the Royal College of Music in London.

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 for the promotion and development of music, dance and other related activities. A board of trustees of nine members, chaired by the Commissioner for Recreation and Culture, administers the fund. By the end of 1985, grants and scholarships totalling $6.9 million had been paid from the fund: 98 scholarships have enabled young Hong Kong people to study music and dance at home or abroad, and 744 grants have been given for related purposes such as the purchase of musical instruments and the staging of special events. In considering applications for grants, the fund placed emphasis on quality and identified particularly deserving cases for full or substantive support, so as to enable applicant bodies to start now on worthwhile projects and therefore have more incentive to promote music and dance.

Hong Kong Chorus

The Hong Kong Chorus was established by the Urban Council in 1982 and its varied repertoire includes both Chinese and Western oratorios, operatic works and popular show tunes. During the year, the chorus gave 32 concerts which were attended by 36 483 people. Apart from its own regular concert series, the chorus took part in the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra concerts and provided choral support to the Urban Council's opera productions Aida and Faust, which featured singers from the Metropolitan Opera of New York.

Festival of Asian Arts

The Festival of Asian Arts, one of the most important cultural events organised by the Urban Council, entered its 10th year in the international cultural calendar. The 17-day