Students from the Cantonese Opera Academy will perform the Cantonese opera Legend of the White Snake in July.

The academy's opera students including Leung Sum-yee, Wan Pak-kei, Ng Tsz-ching, Leung Fei-tung and Jackie Leung as well as musical accompaniment and Chinese percussion students will perform in the show.

The performance will be staged at 7.30pm on July 13 at the Ko Shan Theatre.

Click here or call 2268 7367 for details.

The Shijiazhuang Sixian Opera Troupe of Hebei will perform for the Chinese Opera Festival 2013 at Hong Kong City Hall.

Artists including masters Bian Shusen, Zhang Helin and An Luchang will perform operatic exerpts, plus The Empty Seal Box and The White Gauze Robe on July 16, 17 and 18.

Audience members can also participate in Artists on Their Art: The Provenance of Sixian Opera and Its Uniqueness in Performance and Vocal Style and Sixian Opera of Hebei - Actions Speak the Heart exhibitions.

Click here for programme details.

Ethnic Mongolians who were born and raised in nomad families make up the Horqin Ensemble from Inner Mongolia. They learned to sing and play folk music instruments from their parents and fellow folk artists from an early age. They later enrolled in professional music institutes to hone their skills.

Horqin, in eastern Inner Mongolia, is known as the Land of Folksongs. Each ensemble member is able to sing while playing instruments. They have also acquired the unique Mongolian throat-singing style known as “khoomi”.

When performing “khoomi”, a singer can sing two pitches simultaneously, with a fundamental bass note and the melody sung in higher notes. Pitch is manipulated through a combination of lip and throat movements, and moving the tongue or jaw. In 2009, "khoomi" was inscribed onto the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organisation Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Ensemble member Baoyin, the percussionist, said some people might think “khoomi” is merely singing in a husky voice, but it is much more. Unique to Mongolians, it is a technical singing method that activates the vocal organ in ways most people have never done, he said.

One of the traditional Mongolian instruments is called a "morin kuur", or horse-head fiddle. It is a cello-like instrument with a horse head carved on its scroll. A sad legend describes its origins: A shepherd grieving for his dead horse used its remains to make the original two-string fiddle.

As the story goes, he used the horse’s leg bone as the fiddle’s neck, its skull as the soundbox with its skin mounted on it, hair from its tail as strings, and the bridle as the bow. The instrument produces an expansive, sorrowful and soulful sound.

Baoyin’s innovative goat-skin drumset - mounted with a wooden block and tambourine - adds a contemporary sound to traditional Mongolian ethnic music. He can beat on any of its surfaces to make the sound of a Mongolian horse running across the plains more vivid.

The ensemble’s love of music and their homeland is trumpeted in their performance. The Leisure & Cultural Services Department recently invited them to perform in Hong Kong, and share their experience with local students. They also perform frequently throughout China and abroad to share and promote Mongolian music and culture.

Visit the Leisure & Cultural Services Department’s website or download the “My Culture” mobile application to keep abreast of other engaging ethnic performances.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition showcasing 100 winning pictures from the 2012 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition opens on June 1 at the Hong Kong Science Museum.

The competition, in its 48th year, is co-organised by the Natural History Museum in London and BBC Worldwide. It is an internationally recognised competition displaying the very best in innovative nature photography.

Selected from more than 48,000 images taken by amateur and professional photographers from 98 countries, these striking images are chosen for their aesthetic qualities and also for their extraordinary, often technically amazing and shocking, reflections of events in nature.

The photographs will be displayed using duratrans with backlit images, adding an outstanding cinematic dimension to the dramatic wildlife stills.

The exhibition is divided into eight sections, including the Wildlife Photographer of the Year which is a title given to the photographer whose picture is chosen as the most striking and memorable of all the entries.

There is also a special category for photographers aged 17 or under and the winner is given the title the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

The exhibition runs until September 1. Click here for details.

A new phase of the Arts Fun Fair at Kowloon Park starts on June 2, the Leisure & Cultural Services Department announced today.

Handicrafts including pottery, carving and dough models, and arts services such as painting, calligraphy and silhouette cutting will be featured at 30 stalls in the park's loggia. 

The fair will open every Sunday and public holiday from 1pm to 7pm until May 31 of next year.

The department has also set up fun fairs at Hong Kong Park and Victoria Park.

'Arts Corner' at Hong Kong Park is set up in the outdoor area near the Flagstaff House Museum of Teaware, and is open from noon to 6pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays until December 31.

Another arts area at Victoria Park's South Pavilion Plaza is open from 10am to 6pm on Sundays and public holidays until March 31 next year.

Call the management of Kowloon Park on 2724 3344, Hong Kong Park on 2521 5041, or Victoria Park on 2890 5824 for enquiries.

Chief Secretary Carrie Lam today officiated at a kick-off ceremony of  Radio Television Hong Kong’s annual youth project ‘Solar Project 2013’, which is a major event for the “Hong Kong: Our Home” Campaign under the ‘Hip Hong Kong’ Working Group.

At the ceremony, Mrs Lam presented certificates of appreciation to the production team of the 'Hong Kong: Our Home' Campaign theme song Sail On, including singers Jacky Cheung and Eason Chan, composer Eric Kwok, and lyricist Abrahim Chan.

She hoped the song can inspire the Hong Kong spirit of perseverance in people.

The tune also symbolises the city moving forward, innovating and growing while keeping sight of its core values.

Another highlight of the ceremony was the showing of a video clip of “Hong Kong: Our Home – Youth Dreams”, which brought out the spirit of mutual help and care for making a better Hong Kong.

The Tianjin Peking Opera Theatre will perform at the Cultural Centre in June, bringing top actors and artists to the city.

Performers include "wusheng" (military male role) actors Wang Ping and Zhang Youlin, along with Deng Muwei of the Qiu Shengrong "painted face" school, for Dingjun Mountain, Yangping Pass.

Other cast members include Wang Yan, who will perform in Crossing the Ravine, and Huang Qifeng, who will perform in Zhong Kui Marrying His Younger Sister Off.

Top painted face artist Shang Changrong and military comic Shi Xiaoliang will perform The Incident on Lianhuan Mountain in full armour.

The performances will be staged at the Cultural Centre on June 28, 29 and 30.

Tickets from $100 to $400 are available at URBTIX.

Click here for details.

DanceArt Hong Kong will perform its latest production In Search of Hui Sin in June.

The post-modern dance interpretation of an ancient folktale explores the intricate relationship between man, beast and demon.

Scriptwriter and director Ho Ying-fung has collaborated with artistic director of DanceArt Hong Kong Francis Leung, independent artist Kung Chi-shing, veteran dancer Su Shu, and other cross-discipline artists on the production.

The performance is presented by the Leisure & Cultural Services Department.

Show times are 8pm on June 21 and 22 at the Hong Kong Arts Centre.

Tickets are available at URBTIX.

Click here for details.

The International Children's Film Carnival will be held in July and August at the Film Archive, and the Science and Space Museums from July 5 to August 11.

Fourteen feature films from Denmark, Spain, Finland, Germany, Japan, Latvia, the Czech Republic, India, the Netherlands, the UK, the US, and Taiwan will be screened.

Ten short films from around the world, including Latvia, Germany, Sweden, Singapore, Korea, Russia, the US and the UK will be shown.

The films include My African Adventure, The Blue Tiger, and Stanley Ka Dabba, along with classic musicals The Sound of Music and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Most of the films have Chinese and English subtitles.

Tickets are $55 at URBTIX.

Click here for details.

New media music and creative director GayBird will perform CouCou on Mars with Japanese singer-songwriter UA in June.

Part of the Boundless Multimedia Series, the concert uses interfacing and sensor technology, real-time light and sound triggers, mechatronics, stage installation and video visuals to explore a futuristic vision of Mars as an alternative to life on Earth.

GayBird, whose real name is Leung Kei-cheuk, studied music composition and electro-acoustic music at the Academy for Performing Arts. His earlier award-winning project Digital Hug was critically acclaimed, having been shown in Macau, Sao Paulo, Taipei, Kaohsiung and Paris.

UA, or Kaori Hasegawa, is a singer-songwriter from Japan, whose popular songs include Passion, Sad Johnny and Milk Tea.

The concert will be staged at 8pm on June 14 and 15, and at 4pm on June 16, at City Hall.

Tickets are available at URBTIX. Click here for details, or call 2268 7323.

Popular British artist Peter Suart will perform his one-man theatre piece Melencolia  at the Arts Centre on July 12 and 13.

The show explores historical, philosophic and religious issues through speech, gestures, projections and music.

Melencolia is one of the programmes in the Boundless Multimedia Series presented by the Leisure & Cultural Services Department. It will be performed in English, German, Latin and Cantonese at 8pm both nights.

Tickets are available at URBTIX.

Click here for programme details.

The Space Museum’s latest Omnimax show takes audiences on a journey beneath the waves to visit new and exciting worlds.

The show Last Reef – Cities Beneath the Sea will be screened from tomorrow until October 31. It will feature amazing corals and wonderful creatures living on the coral reefs, while reflecting on the importance of conserving our ocean resources.

The 38-minute show will be screened daily at 3.50pm and 7.20pm at the museum's Stanley Ho Space Theatre, with an additional screening at 12.20pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

Tickets are available at the museum’s box office and at URBTIX outlets for $24 and $32. Full-time students, senior citizens aged 60 or above and people with disabilities are eligible for a half-price concession. Click here for details.

With their fantastic colors and fanciful wings, butterflies are one of nature’s most enticing creatures for photographers and insect lovers.

"The Flying Beauties" exhibition is now open at Hong Kong Wetland Park, featuring the most common butterfly species in Hong Kong and specimens from around the world. Visitors can learn more about butterfly anatomy, life cycle, survival strategies and courtship behaviour. The park will host related activities, aimed at enhancing awareness of butterfly conservation.

Wetland Park Manager (Education & Community Services) Josephine Cheng said Wetland Park's Butterfly Garden offers an ideal habitat for butterflies and is a great spot for butterfly watching. The park has abundant nectar and larval food plants, and recorded 157 species – about 60% of the total number of butterfly species in Hong Kong. Showcases also offer visitors a rare opportunity to get close-up and observe caterpillars feeding on young leaves.

Survival strategies

More than 500 specimens help illustrate a butterfly’s life cycle in the park’s scenic models, including living, eating and mating habits.

To avoid predators such as birds, butterflies have special strategies.

“Some butterflies can pretend to be some similar but poisonous species, with colorful patterns on their wings, to avoid having their predators eat them, while some other species pretend to be a leaf so that they can hide themselves in the natural environment,” Miss Cheng said.

Special events

Wetland Park is presenting the exhibition from April to October 28. Butterfly specialists will share their knowledge and tips, including techniques for identifying and photographing them, in lectures to be held during the exhibition period. Speakers will also share worldwide hotspots for butterfly watching and the importance of butterfly conservation.

Guided tours will teach participants about common species in Hong Kong. The park is also organising a photo collection activity, playgroups and a butterfly cotton bag-making class. For details, visit the park’s website.

The Hong Kong Film Critics Society has selected six feature films to be shown at the Film Archive and the Science Museum, showcasing pioneers and style-setters in cinematic narrative history.

The films cover three different perspectives on film narrative. 'Mystery & Truth' features director Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Avventura (1960) and Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974).

'Memoirs & Portraits' features director Hou Hsiao-hsien's Good Men, Good Women (1995) and Julien Duvivier's Dance Programme (1937).

'New Waves: New Ways of Storytelling' will show Kuroki Kazuo's Silence Has No Wings (1966) and Jacques Rivette's Celine & Julie Go Boating (1974).

The six classics will be shown from May 11 to July 20 at the Cinema of the Hong Kong Film Archive and the Lecture Hall of the Hong Kong Science Museum.

All films will be shown in 35mm with Chinese and English subtitles. Tickets priced at $55 and $80 are available at URBTIX.

Click here for details.

The Hong Kong Film Archive and the Fortune Star Media Limited have opened an exhibition on the famous studio Golden Harvest, offering an overview of its development, and a look back at the golden age of Hong Kong cinema.

A pioneering Hong Kong film studio for over 30 years, it has produced and financed more than 600 films, and nurtured superstars and directors like Bruce Lee, John Woo, Jackie Chan and others.

The exhibition hall has been converted to a cinema, showcasing classic scenes, photos, posters and other items from the famous studio.

At the exhibition's entrance, lobby cards – small promotional posters – of Golden Harvest classics are highlighted by ‘Now Showing’ displays, using scenes of action or romance to attract viewers.

“We have more channels to get movie information nowadays, but lobby cards were the main channel for the audience to know what the movies were about,” the archive's programmer Cecilia Wong said.

“They are not as popular today as they were in the 70s and 80s, but they have become more valuable with time.”

Blast from the past

Twenty-nine posters, ranging from the 1970s to the 90s, are displayed in a chronological order. Twenty-two of them are relics, which need special care. Early poster were designed in a comic style, often painted by a local comic writer.

“At that time, watching movies was simply for fun and excitement for the general audience, so a poster in a comic style was a way to attract them.”

The studio published the Golden Movie News magazine monthly from 1972 to 1982. The archive has five issues on display, including the first, and those with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan as the cover story.

“We want visitors to turn the pages, read the contents, and see the photos of the movie stars in the old days. So these are not the originals but copies, and we have prepared about 10 copies of each magazine,” Ms Wong said.

Nurturing talent

The studio mentored numerous international superstars and directors, such as Bruce Lee and John Woo, and produced nearly 20 Western films, taking the company to the international stage.

Besides action, comedy and artistic films, Golden Harvest also produced a famous Chinese opera movie called Princess Chang Ping, directed by Woo.

Before he was known for his action films, he honed his skills directing comedies during his 10 years at Golden Harvest, which were all box office hits and met with great acclaim.

He also produced a Chinese wu xia film called Last Hurrah for Chivalry in 1979, said to be a traditional costume version of his later hit A Better Tomorrow.

The film about brotherhood between two heroes was romantic, compared with traditional Chinese wu xia movies, which deal with adventures of martial arts heroes.

"The style is like A Better Tomorrow produced in 1986, which had a profound influence on the Hong Kong film-making industry,” Ms Wong said.

These films will be shown during the exhibition period.

Altogether, 63 Golden Harvest films will be shown, including The Private Eyes (1976), Plain Jane to the Rescue (1982), Way of the Dragon (1972), and Centre Stage (1992).

Tickets for screenings are $40 through URBTIX.

For details, visit this website.

The Science Museum's Science News Corner will present an exhibition on soybean research and breeding from tomorrow until July 31.

The 'Soybean Homecoming' exhibition introduces the findings of Prof Lam Hon-ming, from the Chinese University Faculty of Science School of Life Sciences, and his project team from the Centre for Soybean Research at the university.

China's annual soybean crop accounts for less than 10% of global production, while the United States, Brazil and Argentina account for more than 80%. China has become the world's largest soybean importer.

To foster the study and breeding of soybeans in China, Prof Lam's team are leading a joint soybean genomic project along with researchers from Shenzhen to apply advanced DNA-sequencing technology to reveal wild soybean genomes' biodiversity and unlock the essential genomic data contained in soybeans.

Their ultimate goal is to strengthen research and sustainable cultivation of soybeans in China.

Museum admission is $25.

Click here for details.

Arts critic Chow Fan-fu will give music lecture series in June, sharing his views on musical pieces performed 50 years ago in the opening concerts held at City Hall.

Conducted in Cantonese, the lecture will include Elgar: Enigma Variations, Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'une faune, Stravinsky: The Firebird, Berlioz: Le Carnaval Romain, Beethoven and Mozart.

The lectures , from June 20 to September 5, will be held at 7.30pm at the Space Museum. Tickets are $50 at URBTIX.

Chow Fan Fu is an established arts critic in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Since 1982, Chow has been hosting classical music and cultural programmes on RTHK's Radio 4. He also gives frequent talks on music and culture at tertiary institutions.

Click here for details of the lecture series.

The Space Museum's new Omnimax show To the Arctic will be screened from March 1 to August 31, showing the Arctic Circle and how its wildlife is coping with a worsening environment under the threat of global warming.

The 40-minute show is a story of love, family and survival. Wildlife is threatened by the impact of climate change - polar bears struggle to search for food because of the dwindling sea ice cover.

Viewers will witness the lives of a mother polar bear and her twin cubs, and see how she protects them from fierce enemies.

The show will be screened at 1.30pm, 5pm and 8.30pm daily.

Tickets are $24 and $32 at the museum’s box office and at URBTIX.

Click here for more information.