Gov’t to bolster arts sector
July 21, 2014
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Chief Secretary Carrie Lam
It is my honour to attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Youth Orchestra Rehearsal Camp, which is the 24th edition of the camp, for a second successive year.
I would like to welcome and congratulate the 110 gifted young musicians who come from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It is the largest number recorded in the history of the Asian Youth Orchestra. Each orchestra member was selected through a very competitive audition process that drew from more than 800 candidates. I am delighted to learn that 15 of them are from Hong Kong, which is a notable number given the population of our city. Members of the Asian Youth Orchestra, whatever their nationality, are great ambassadors of Hong Kong, celebrating in their performances the cultural life of the city.
Over the last 24 years, the Asian Youth Orchestra has been devoted to nurturing young musicians across Asia. This summer rehearsal camp serves as a great platform for another remarkable cultural and social exchange. It is our pleasure that the Asian Youth Orchestra regards Hong Kong as the home of an arts project that unites Asia in celebration of musical talent and friendship.
With the vision of developing Hong Kong as an international arts and cultural metropolis, the Hong Kong SAR Government is committed to fostering a robust arts sector, providing strong support to arts organisations through various funding schemes. This year, the Asian Youth Orchestra has established an educational partnership with the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Under the partnership, the Asian Youth Orchestra becomes the "Orchestra-in-Residence" at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, offering high level orchestral training to Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts students. Thanks to the Project Grant of the Arts Capacity Development Funding Scheme, this "Orchestra-in-Residence" project has been rolled out successfully. I trust that the Asian Youth Orchestra will continue to play a leading and vital role in promoting arts and culture in Hong Kong the same way it has done for the past 24 years.
I would like to take this opportunity to express again my sincere thanks to the organisers of the Asian Youth Orchestra. I wish the Asian Youth Orchestra 2014 Rehearsal Camp & Tour a great success.
Chief Secretary Carrie Lam gave this speech at the Asian Youth Orchestra Rehearsal Camp opening ceremony.
