Hong Kong String Orchestra lit up Athens
Concert formed part of the China-Greece Year of Culture and Tourism
The Hong Kong String Orchestra (HKSO) gave a superb performance at the Athens Conservatoire on Thursday evening, the first date of its “Strings of the Bauhinia” Central and Eastern Europe tour along the Belt and Road countries from November 9 to 18 that will also inlude a performance at Naoussa, northern Greece, on Saturday.
The event formed part of the “China-Greece Year of Culture and Tourism,” while internationally acclaimed Greek choreographer Dimitris Papaioannou is appearing from Thursday to Saturday in Hong Kong.
The HKSO, one of Hong Kong’s outstanding arts projects recognized by the China National Arts Fund, is supported by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for conducting cultural exchange activities outside Hong Kong to showcase Chinese artistic excellence as well as to tell the good stories of Hong Kong.
The tour is performing two concerts in Greece, and one concert each in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania, led by its founder and artistic director, virtuoso Yao Jue, on the special occasions of the 10th anniversaries of China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” and also the establishment of the HKSO in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels (HKETO Brussels) was happy to support the HKSO in person with its guests in Greece on its first night in Athens, which is also the closing event for the “China-Greece Year of Culture and Tourism.” The Under Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Raistlin Lau, was also in Athens to applaud the inaugural concert of the tour. The concert was also attended by the Greek Tourism Ministry’s Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development, Myron Flouris.
HKETO Brussels helps to promote the concerts to its contacts in government, business and cultural circles in the cities.
Fiona Li, the Deputy Representative of HKETO Brussels, said there was no better way in forging people-to-people bonds and bridging the gap between different cultures along Belt and Road than sharing music.
The concert tour also highlighted the efforts of the Hong Kong government in grooming music talents with a view to developing Hong Kong to be an international arts and cultural exchange hub.
Noting that the HKSO had achieved significant recognition in Hong Kong and internationally for its “music uniqueness in fusing Easter and Western influences”, she said it was emblematic of Hong Kong as an East-meets-West cultural center, bearing a unique role in promoting the “Belt and Road Initiative”.
The HKSO aims to pave the way for young music graduates towards a professional career. By nurturing and engaging homegrown talents it contributes to establishing Hong Kong as an international arts and cultural hub.
