28 / 2 / 2021
Jockey Club maintains strong support for Hong Kong Arts Festival amid the pandemic
The 49th Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF), the city・s annual international celebration of the arts and culture, opened last night (27 February). The Hong Kong Jockey Club is pleased to provide funding support, as it has done for nearly half a century. In view of the pandemic, the Club has also supported the HKAF to bring a wide variety of outstanding performances and educational programmes online this year.
Officiating guests at the opening ceremony included Club Chairman Philip Chen, Secretary for Home Affairs Casper Tsui, Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Vincent Liu, Hong Kong Arts Festival Chairman Victor Cha and Executive Director Tisa Ho.
：The Club has been pleased to support the festival since its launch and has donated more than HK$400 million to support various programmes, offering world-class arts to a wide audience,； said Mr Chen. ：Though we cannot enjoy live performances due to current circumstances, I firmly believe that the arts have no boundaries. We can enjoy and applaud spectacular performances no matter where we are.；
As a long-term partner of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Club is once again supporting the festival・s opening performance. This year・s performance, Music About China, presented by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, will feature a wide-ranging performance of Chinese music.
Since 2008, the Club has supported three main pillar programmes under The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series, which brings some of the world・s leading performances to Hong Kong. This year・s series features a concert by the Wiener Symphoniker from Vienna conducted by its new music director Andrés Orozco-Estrada; the award-winning operas Jenůfa and The Cunning Little Vixen, both performed by National Theatre Brno; and a new recording of Matthew Bourne・s double Olivier Award-winning stage production The Red Shoes, a ballet film which is being shown in Hong Kong for the first time.
Other exciting performances and associated events funded by the Club include:
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Contemporary Dance Series, which promotes local talent by featuring young dancers and choreographers and their innovative dance works. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the series will present five programmes including Dance On and Off, which offers a stage for ten past participants to show off their talent through a range of multifaceted dance works created by themselves.
The Jockey Club Local Creative Talents Series, which supports local artists, will feature a double-bill of chamber operas, Journey to the West Rewind and Women Like Us, which will be presented in Chinese and Western operatic formats respectively. Also under the series is Yat-sen (tentative title). Presented as a bare-stage preview, it is set to be the highlight musical of HKAF 2022.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Student Matinee Programme will feature a free online performance, Igor Moiseyev Ballet Special, which is the festival finale, as well as other free online educational activities for students. As in previous years these free programmes reflect the Club・s support for making the arts accessible to people of different backgrounds and ages.
More details of all these events are available at www.hk.artsfestival.org/en/.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club
Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a world-class racing club that acts continuously for the betterment of our society. The Club has a unique integrated business model, comprising racing and racecourse entertainment, a membership club, responsible sports wagering and lottery, and charities and community contribution. Through this model, the Club generates economic and social value for the community and supports the Government in combatting illegal gambling. In 2019/20, the Club contributed HK$19.9 billion in duty and profits tax and HK$0.8 billion to the Lotteries Fund. Approved charity donations were HK$4.5 billion. The Club is Hong Kong・s largest single taxpayer and one of the city・s major employers. Its Charities Trust is also one of the world・s top ten charity donors. The Club is always ：riding high together for a better future； with the people of Hong Kong. Please visit www.hkjc.com.
Photo Captions:
Photo 1:
Club Chairman Philip Chen (1st left), Secretary for Home Affairs Casper Tsui (2nd right), and Hong Kong Arts Festival Chairman Victor Cha (2nd left) and Executive Director Tisa Ho (1st right) at the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Arts Festival.
Photos can be downloaded from the website of The Hong Kong Jockey Club (www.hkjc.com/english/corporate/corp_news.asp).
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