The year 2022 marks the 50th edition of the Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF), one of Asia’s premiere international cultural festivals. To celebrate this important milestone, the HKAF is presenting an array of online performances covering music, dance, theatre and more from late February through March for the enjoyment of a global audience.
The 50th Hong Kong Arts Festival features an eclectic host of online performances for a global audience, including Korngold’s Die tote Stadt (The Dead City), by Germany’s Bayerische Staatsoper (Bavarian State Opera) (photo credit: W. Hösl) 
The 50th Hong Kong Arts Festival features an eclectic host of online performances for a global audience, including and To Be A Machine (Version 1.0), by Irish theater company Dead Centre (photo credit: Ste Murray).
Underpinning the significance of staying in touch with the world in the Covid era, this year’s HKAF uses “connections” and “arts and technology” as key themes. It continues to pivot to more online offerings, like last year, which should come as music to the ears of a global audience, as they can enjoy the specially curated performances regardless of geographical boundaries.
Highlights of the online performances include:
Opera
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series
Bayerische Staatsoper (Bavarian State Opera) (Germany)
Korngold’s Die tote Stadt (The Dead City)
An epic psychological drama of love and obsession, composed by one of music’s greatest prodigies, now retold with superlative conducting by Kirill Petrenko and starring tenor Jonas Kaufmann and soprano Marlis Petersen.
Date: Feb 24 – Mar 3 (HK Time)
Free registration: https://go.hkaf.org/dietotestadt-en
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series
Bayerische Staatsoper (Bavarian State Opera) (Germany)
Shostakovich’s The Nose
Acclaimed Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s brand-new interpretation of a classic comedic opera, exploding with surreal imagery and human absurdity.
Date: Mar 10 – 17 (HK Time)
Free registration: https://go.hkaf.org/thenose-en (N/A in Russia)
National Theatre Brno (Czech Republic)
Martinů’s The Greek Passion
The 150-strong cast explores the universal themes of humanity and justice in this provocative four-act opera recorded live in Brno in November 2021.
Date: Mar 17 – Mar 24 (HK Time)
Free registration: https://go.hkaf.org/the-greek-passion-en (N/A in Europe, the US and Korea)
Music
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra (Germany)
Three live-streamed concerts
Under the baton of Czech chief Jakub Hrůša, the concerts celebrate life, death and tradition with Smetana’s stirring Má Vlast and Bruckner’s and Mahler’s epic Ninth Symphonies.
Date: Mar 4, 9 & 12 (HK Time)
Free registration: https://go.hkaf.org/bamberg-en
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra (Germany)
Family Concert
The perfect pastime for children (and the young at heart), featuring Saint-Saëns’s delightful The Carnival of the Animals and Haas’s Little I-Am-Me.
Date: Apr 11 – 25 (HK Time)
Free registration: https://go.hkaf.org/bamberg-family-concert-en
Theatre
Ontroerend Goed (Belgium)
TM
A live interactive one-on-one experience exploring media manipulation, populist ideology and conspiracy theories.
Performed in English
Date: Feb 26 – Mar 27 (Every Sat and Sun, HK Time)
Tickets: https://go.hkaf.org/ontroerend-goed-tm-en
Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe (France)
Molière: Tartuffe and The School for Wives
Radical interpretations of two of the great French playwright’s major works in celebration of the 400th anniversary of his birth. Directed by Stéphane Braunschweig—renowned Molière specialist and Artistic Director of the Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe—these landmark productions explore the depths of timeless human frailty and foolishness.
Date: Mar 18 – 25 (HK Time)
Free registration: https://go.hkaf.org/moliere-en
Dead Centre (Ireland)
To Be A Machine (Version 1.0)
A theatrical adaptation of a prize-winning non-fiction book of the same title to be live-streamed by Game of Thrones star Jack Gleeson from a stage in Dublin.
Date: Mar 23 – 26 (HK Time)
Tickets: https://go.hkaf.org/to-be-a-machine-en
For details of the 50th Hong Kong Arts Festival, please visit https://go.hkaf.org/online-en.
