ENG-2008 — Page 456

380 | Recreation, Sport and the Arts

Appointments of members to the Board of the WKCDA were announced in October 2008. Six Committees the Development Committee, the Performing Arts Committee, the Museum Committee, the Remuneration Committee, the Investment Committee and the Audit Committee have since dealt with different areas of work to kickstart the implementation of the WKCD project.

URBTIX

URBTIX (Urban Ticketing System) commenced operation in 1984 and has become the most widely-used computerised ticketing system in Hong Kong. URBTIX offers patrons a range of convenient and reliable ticketing services through its network of 35 outlets as well as its internet and telephone booking services. In 2008, over $518 million was paid through URBTIX for some 3.6 million tickets for over 7 400 performances.

Cultural Presentations

LCSD Cultural Presentations

The LCSD provides quality cultural programmes on a year-round basis. In 2008, a total of 1 088 performances were presented, featuring local and visiting artists in a variety of cultural programmes appealing to audiences of all ages. More than 511 500 people attended these performances.

The LCSD is committed to organising top quality events and among many world-renowned artists performed in Hong Kong during the year, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic in concerts under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen with piano soloist Yefim Bronfman that were relayed to audiences of as many as 7 000 people at the outdoor Piazza of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Other notable visiting arts. groups included the United Kingdom's Royal Ballet, the Paul Taylor Dance Company and the Peking Opera Theatre of Shanghai.

Major music performances included Verdi's Don Carlos, co-presented by the LCSD and Opera Hong Kong and featuring both local and visiting artists, recitals by mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, the Borodin Quartet, and Fabio Biondi with Europa Galante, and jazz concerts by the Sadao Watanabe Group and the McCoy Tyner Quartet.

The LCSD continued to work closely with local cultural organisations. It supported the Chopin Society of Hong Kong in its presentation of the second 'Hong Kong International Piano Competition' featuring contestants from all over the world and adjudicated by a 10-member jury panel headed by Vladimir Ashkenazy. The department also assisted the Hong Kong Composers' Guild Limited by playing host to Musicarama which included a Chinese Symphonic Concert of representative works of the last century, and a series of concerts with themes on Asian modern music, handbells and choral music.

Local dance and theatre companies are always in the forefront of Hong Kong's performing arts scene and the vitality and creativity of local artists were seen in productions by such companies as DanceArt, Unlock Dancing Plaza, 7A Class Drama Group, Drama Gallery and TNT Theatre. Thematic series including 'Hong Kong