The Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong (ADAHK) was founded in 1986. Its vision is “Arts are for Everyone”. In addition to discovering and cultivating artistic talents of people with disabilities, ensuring that equal opportunities to participate in and to appreciate art are available to them, ADAHK also hopes to bring art to the communities and schools. It envisions sharing the art world of artists with disabilities with more people and students, so as to inspire them to reflect on art and the meaning of life.
The Path Together is based on the true stories of four artists with disabilities. Love shown in their stories connecting them with others. Accompanied by her father, Liu Tung-mui travels around various geographies and freely expresses herself and artistic ideas in her wheelchair. The vibrancy in her heart is expressed with courageous brushwork. Kevin Cheng became a father a few years ago. His hope for the next generation is shown through his lens, capturing humour from the perspective of a wheelchair user. Lee Hin and Lee Shing are brothers. As their eyesight gradually deteriorates, they show talent and optimistic mind through music. By presenting these love-infused stories of artists with disabilities, the programme hopes its young audience can understand that we should embrace our dreams and cherish life even when we face difficulties.

Located at Hung Hom, the Ko Shan Theatre has been given a new boost after its New Wing was built. Together with the 1 031-seat Theatre, the new 5-storey building comprises a 600-seat auditorium, an exhibition gallery and an array of rehearsal facilities provides a one-stop service for Cantonese opera troupes, covering costume preparations, rehearsals, performances, as well as post-performance talks and exhibitions. In order to enhance students’ knowledge of the dedicated venue for Cantonese Opera and cultivate their interest in the appreciation of Cantonese Opera, the tour together with interactive and participatory activities will unveil the hidden aspects of stage, lighting and sound effects and lead the participants to visit the Cantonese Opera Education and Information Centre.

The candidates will play a piano concerto, chosen from a list supplied by the organisers, with the Orchestra of the Competition conducted by Maestro Jose Serebier. The jury will then vote the ranking of the candidates in terms of the first, second ,third etc. prize winners. That decisions of the jury are final with no appeals of any form permitted. The rules of the voting are identical to those outlined above.

The candidates chosen from Round II will then play a piano quintet with the Logos Chamber Group, chosen from a list of quintets supplied by the organizers.
There is no elimination or voting at this stage and the candidates go on to Round IV.

The 10 candidates chosen from Round I will now be joined in Round II by 8 first prize winners from competitions which are members of the World Federation of International Music Competitions, the Society being also a member of that Federation. Under the rules of the Competition these prize winners are allowed after applying to the organizers, to join Round II directly.
The 18 candidates will then play over 3 days in front of the full jury a solo piano program of not more than 75 minutes from pieces selected from a prescribed list by the organizers, including a compulsory piece specially commissioned and composed for the Competition by the word-famous Finnish composer E. Rautavaara. The jury will then vote and choose up to 6 candidates to go on to Rounds III and Round IV. Exactly the same voting procedures and rules outlined above apply in this stage of the competition.

Jointly led by veteran Cantonese opera performing artist Yuen Siu-fai and seasoned performing arts coordinator Barbara Tang, Spring Glory Cantonese Opera Workshop is dedicated to the education, promotion and research on the art of Cantonese opera.

This is a modern drama with both English and Cantonese dialogues, written and directed by professional stage actor Tsang Mo-suet. After debuting at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2014, the critically acclaimed show has already toured in three European countries.

This is a story that takes place in the backstage of a Cantonese opera troupe. The performance is about to start, and artists are getting ready for the show. A young foreign-born Chinese reporter who does not speak Cantonese is visiting the troupe in the backstage. She sees the Monkey King rehearsing a combat scene with the leading actor who is dressed in dazzling military costumes. The leading lady shows her stylized movement in her 3 inches shoes. The bearded man who shows his technique with his long beard…The reporter is curious and puzzled by all these. The producer answers her queries. At the same time, an aged artist steps into the backstage and is mistaken as a substitute musician. He rehearses with other musicians. As the Cantonese opera starts, everybody leaves the backstage for the show. The aged artist remains in the backstage alone and reminisces his past as he sings a nanyin (a particular soft style in Cantonese music). When all artists come back to the backstage, they then realise this old gentleman is a renowned opera star…

Students will be able to appreciate and learn more about the colourful and vibrant elements of Cantonese opera through the programme, which is presented with an easily comprehensible and casual approach. An interesting interactive session will be conducted after the performance.

Remark: Dialogues are mostly in English with Chinese & English surtitles.

The story begins when Toasty receives a composition assignment titled “My Dream” from her teacher. As the title sounds a bit vague for Primary 3 students, Toasty and her classmates have no idea of where to start. The word “dream” is a very distant concept for Toasty. Not knowing what to do about the assignment, she decides to look for inspiration in the street. As she walks, she sees office workers rushing to work, a lonely older woman in a park talking to flowers, a puppy that enjoys playing catch, a scholar trying to teach passers-by in a strange language, and a group of students obsessed with a mobile game. Toasty hopes to find something from these encounters that she can turn into a composition, but no one pays any attention to her. Then, from this speechless “communication”, her imagination starts working. As she reflects, an idea gradually starts to form and she is ready to start writing her composition “My Dream”…

The programme themes around the story of “Yan Yuan asked about perfect virtue” in The Analects of Confucius, the Chinese classic of Confucianism. A family that is originally not particularly virtuous becomes enlightened and changes into one that cherishes the virtue of giving. The drama incorporates elements of moral education. During the performance and interaction session, students are invited to stand in the shoes of the characters and synchronise with the dilemmas faced by the actors. The process encourages them to contemplate and understand about the wisdom of being virtuous, as well as the way to treat others well. The perfect virtue of “to subdue one’s self and return to propriety” is passed on.

Adapted from Alexandre Dumas’s famous 19th-century novel and set to Chopin’s timeless music, Val Caniparoli’s Lady of the Camellias will leave the audience on the edge of their seats with this bittersweet tale of forbidden love between the courtesan Marguerite Gautier and the young provincial bourgeois Armand Duval. One of the world’s most sought-after choreographers, Caniparoli creates inspirational and breathtaking choreography, showcased in the lovers’ pas de deux and the high drama that ensues at a soiree at the height of the Paris social season.

The Hong Kong Young Talent Cantonese Opera Troupe aims to provide systematic training and performance opportunities for talented local young people to improve their artistic skills, guiding them to become the inheritors who help preserve and rejuvenate this traditional art form.

The programme is in three parts. First is a performance of an excerpt of a Wen (civil) opera Beating the Princess and a Wu (martial) opera Chasing after Her Husband from Di Qing. Participants are immersed in the roles and will quickly grasp the features of Cantonese opera. The second part consists of a lecture and demonstration by an instructor from the troupe. The students will be taught the Cantonese opera hand gestures, such as riding a horse, crossing a bridge, as well as Mandarin pronunciation for Cantonese opera. The third part is an interactive session for the students to practice simple hand gestures and Mandarin on stage.