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World of performing arts

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World of performing arts
News and reviews of the performing arts – ballet, contemporary dance, opera, theatre, musicals and more – in and around Hong Kong and beyond.
Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan will start as the San Francisco Symphony’s music director in 2027. She is the first woman appointed to the role in the orchestra’s 115-year history. Photo: Cody Pickens
Performing arts in Hong Kong

‘I am hungry’: Elim Chan on taking the lead at the San Francisco Symphony

The Hong Kong-born conductor shares why she’s excited to lead the ‘velvety, warm’ SFS and how San Francisco feels ‘a bit like’ her home city.

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Performing arts in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Shakespeare festival offers fresh takes on the Bard’s classics

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Hong Kong-born Elim Chan becomes first woman to lead San Francisco Symphony

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Performing arts in Hong Kong

East meets West in melodic concert blending the suona with the organ

Organist Eric Chan will make his Hong Kong debut in a programme that marries the Western pipe organ with the suona, a Chinese woodwind.

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Organist Eric Chan (second left) and suona players Guo Yazhi (left) and Chrysoberyl Chan (right) are joined by Kerry Stevens, chairman of the Auckland Town Hall Organ, before a performance at the New Zealand venue under Chan’s “Pipe Organ Through East and West” programme in May 2026. Photo: courtesy of Eric Chan
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Soprano-pianist Rachel Fenlon wows in dexterous Hong Kong debut

Fenlon was the epitome of coordination in a near-flawless self-accompanied performance of Schubert’s Winterreise at Hong Kong City Hall.

William Shakespeare

A female Hamlet, a BMW-driving Hamlet: how Shakespeare’s play is having a moment

Fresh, vibrant and inclusive, new Hamlet productions are part of a wave of interest in the Shakespearean tragedy seen from stages to TikTok.

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Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | East meets West as Opera Hong Kong’s Carmen takes place in 1970s Hong Kong

Opera Hong Kong’s bold Hong Kong-set Carmen reimagines Bizet’s classic with triad gangsters, Cantonese lines and electrifying performances.

Marie Gautrot (centre) as Carmen in Opera Hong Kong’s fourth production of Georges Bizet’s masterpiece, at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, in Tsim Sha Tsui, on May 7, 2026. Photo: Opera Hong Kong
South Korean celebrities

Pioneering South Korean soprano Sumi Jo joins K-pop label, sings with Exo’s Suho

Sumi Jo opens up on great moments in her 40-year career, her new album Continuum, and why she signed with K-pop label SM Entertainment.

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What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this Mother’s Day weekend, May 8-10

From an artisan Mother’s Day market to food, fashion and music, check out our recommendations for things to do around the city this weekend.

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Performing arts in Hong Kong

HK Phil’s compressed Ring cycle recording is Wagner made accessible

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s recording of Wagner: The Ring – An Orchestral Adventure is a symphonic narrative of just over an hour.

Tarmo Peltokoski conducts the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra’s Deutsche Grammophon recording of Henk de Vlieger’s Wagner: The Ring – An Orchestral Adventure compresses Wagner’s Ring cycle from 16 hours to just over an hour. Photo: courtesy of Universal Music Group
LGBTQ

Drag Race royalty Manila Luzon on Asian representation and challenging taboos

The RuPaul’s Drag Race ‘OG’ opens up on representing Filipino drag, hosting reality show Drag Den, and appearing on Worst Cooks in America.

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American drag queen Manila Luzon performs at Fa Gai in Central, Hong Kong. She reflects on her career, Asian representation in drag, pushing boundaries on television, and giving others a platform through the reality TV show Drag Den. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Yo-Yo Ma, Gustavo Dudamel among stars of HK Phil’s 2026-27 season

Nobuyuki Tsujii and Eric Lu also feature in a top line-up for Tarmo Peltokoski’s first season as the Hong Kong Philharmonic’s music director.

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Incredible works of Wu Guanzhong reimagined in Hong Kong dance crossover

Featuring music by Cantopop star Ivana Wong, the Hong Kong Dance Company’s new cross-disciplinary production explores Wu’s visual language.

Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Find classical music and opera boring? Hong Kong production aims to change that

A new production aims to make classical music accessible and engaging by fusing opera, contemporary dance, theatre and media art.

Mo Lai Yan-chi (left) directs a rehearsal session for The Diary, a new music-theatre production from Hong Kong’s Anima Ensemble that combines opera, contemporary dance, theatre and media art. Photo: Anima Ensemble
Obituaries

‘Bad boy of classical music’, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, dies at 81

Former child prodigy Michael Tilson Thomas led many of the world’s top orchestras, including 25 years with the San Francisco Symphony.

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in Sibelius’s Symphony No 2 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on March 24, 2015. The renowned conductor has died at the age of 81. Photo: Los Angeles Times/TNS
Music

A stroke paralysed pianist’s right hand. Now he wows crowds with just his left

Inspired by his music teacher, South Korean pianist Lee Hun now plays left-hand music only after a stroke paralysed his entire right side.

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How Japan’s kabuki theatre legacies are kept in the family

In the traditional Japanese art form, which featured in the Oscar-nominated Kokuho, names and skills are passed down through generations.

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Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Hong Kong Ballet brilliantly dances to Beyond, Queen and Depeche Mode

Hong Kong Ballet’s ‘Glam Rock’ triple bill was a feast of popular music and dance that showcased its dancers’ versatility.

Dancers perform Andonis Foniadakis’ Strangelove, part of Hong Kong Ballet’s “Glam Rock” programme at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, in April 2026. Photo: Conrad Dy-Liacco
Sexual harassment and assault

‘A system of slavery’: ex-geisha apprentice on the dark side of the tradition

Kiyoha Kiritaka says she left Kyoto’s geisha world after experiencing sexual harassment, physical and verbal abuse, and more.

Art

A legendary opera singer on playing the ‘bad boy’ on stage

Bryn Terfel’s journey as one of opera’s most commanding voices, from singing at King Charles’ coronation to Verbier Festival’s inaugural China edition.

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim, 22, wows the Hong Kong Arts Festival

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields put on a spirited performance with South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim and guest conductor Wilson Ng.

Pianist Yunchan Lim with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields orchestra at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall during the Hong Kong Arts Festival on Saturday. Photo: HKAF

At 82, Monty Python’s Eric Idle is not slowing down

Eric Idle discusses Spamalot’s return to LA, his love for comedy and why being part of the Monty Python troupe ‘doesn’t make you brothers’.

Eric Idle in 2022, during the filming for the Graham Norton Show at BBC Studioworks 6 Television Centre, Wood Lane, London. TNS
Sadiq Khan

The world’s burning but ‘people just want to dance’, says Sadler’s Wells co-CEO

How do you make a cultural district out of a dumping ground for fridges? Ask the artistic director of Sadler’s Wells theatre in London.

US, Israel war on Iran

Will the UAE’s art industry be a casualty of the Iran war? Experts weigh in

Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation programming adviser Toufic Maatouk shares why the Iran war doesn’t worry him. But not everyone agrees.

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Chinese opera troupe’s retelling of ancient love story ends with a ‘brilliant’ surprise

At the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the new work ‘Red Wedding Bed’, based on the Liyuan opera classic, retells the tale of Chen San and Wu Niang.

A scene from “Red Wedding Bed”, Fujian Province Liyuan Opera Inheritance Centre’s retelling of the Southern Song dynasty Chinese tale “Chen San and Wu Niang”, but with a different ending. Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Arts Festival
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | No heroes, no villains: a finely shaded Eugene Onegin in Hong Kong

National Theatre Brno’s Eugene Onegin at the Hong Kong Arts Festival centred on Tatyana and featured lush music and a minimalist set.

Curtain call by the National Theatre Brno after its performance of Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin at the 2026 Hong Kong Arts Festival on March 21. Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Arts Festival
Music

Nicholas Tse, EXO among top music and art events coming up in Greater Bay Area

Jane Zhang concert, Art Week Shenzhen and French musical Don Juan also coming to Shenzhen, Macau and Guangzhou in March, April and May 2026.

Comedians and comedy

Making jokes in Hong Kong is a serious business

From TakeOut Comedy Club to Backstage Comedy and open mic nights, Hong Kong’s stand-up scene is growing, thanks to some dedicated producers.

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