Asian Premiere Dream of the Red Chamber
Chairman and Executive Director of ICBC (Asia) Gao Ming (middle) and the ICBC (Asia) management team raised a toast at the cocktail reception
HONG KONG — ICBC (Asia) has continued steadfast support for the development of arts and culture in Hong Kong and committed to giving back to the community. For the fifth consecutive year, ICBC (Asia) is the exclusive sponsor of the finale performance of the Hong Kong Arts Festival. This year’s visionary opera performance, Dream of the Red Chamber has concluded the 45th Hong Kong Arts Festival on a perfect note, while simultaneously celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR.
The lavish operatic spectacle co-produced by San Francisco Opera and the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Dream of the Red Chamber is brought to life by the collaborative efforts among internationally renowned Chinese artists, including the celebrated Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng for music composition and libretto; Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang for co-libretto; iconic Taiwanese drama master Stan Lai for direction; the Academy Award-winning designer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Tim Yip, for production design; as well as choreographer Fang-Yi Sheu, who participated in film The Assassin, for choreography. Hong Kong is the first Asian city to see this new opera after its 2016 premiere in San Francisco. The performance is also honoured by the HKSAR Government as one of its official events for the 20th Anniversary celebration. Maestro Muhai Tang conducted the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, alongside seven Asian vocalists and over a hundred outstanding artists, brought the beauty and charm of Chinese classical literature onto the stage of Hong Kong in an innovative way. This performance is truly a milestone and a highlight of the international opera scene.
To celebrate the grand finale performance of the 45th Hong Kong Arts Festival, ICBC (Asia) held a pre-event private cocktail, which was hosted by Chairman and Executive Director of ICBC (Asia), Ms. Gao Ming, in the presence of government officials, representatives of the Hong Kong Arts Festival and distinguished guests of ICBC (Asia).
In her welcome remarks, Ms. Gao Ming, Chairman and Executive Director of ICBC (Asia) said, “ICBC (Asia) has always appreciated the artistic and cultural heritage. Through the particularly meaningful sponsorship this year, we not only give back to society, but also celebrate and share the joy with the public for the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Dream of the Red Chamber is one of China’s four great classical novels. Tonight’s performance is transformed from this Chinese classic into a brand new opera by the star-studded cast fusing both Chinese and Western artistic techniques. It precisely corresponds to ICBC (Asia)’s enterprise value orientation of constantly striving for excellence and innovation, as well as the business philosophy of continually forging ahead and aspiring to change.
Being the flagship of overseas banking business of ICBC, ICBC (Asia) persists in the business strategy of “based in Hong Kong, backed by the Mainland, facing the world”, seizes the favourable opportunities of Hong Kong being the offshore Renminbi centre and keenly explores Renminbi businesses and cross-border banking services, with ultimate aim to become an outstanding cross-border financial service provider. Recently, ICBC (Asia) has formulated the strategy of “Going Asia Pacific” on the basis of our local business development. Through the close collaboration with ICBC and other ICBC institutions within the Asia Pacific region, ICBC (Asia) is actively participating in high-quality projects related to the “Belt and Road” initiative and supporting customers “Going-Global”, At the same time, ICBC (Asia) is aggressively promoting international and integrated business development, we are dedicated to providing the best financial services and solutions to our customers.”
The Hong Kong Arts Festival is a premier cultural event in Asia. The 45th Hong Kong Arts Festival features more than 1,700 outstanding artists from Hong Kong and overseas, presenting 129 wonderful performances for audiences in Hong Kong.