Hong Kong Arts Festival

HARRISONPARROTT PROJECTS APPEAR AT HONG KONG ARTS FESTIVAL ONLINE SERIES

15/3/2021

This year the 49th Hong Kong Arts Festival presents a series of online and in-venue programmes. As part of this, HarrisonParrott is delighted to have worked with the Festival to present two online productions. 

A Hong Kong Arts Festival commission exclusively recorded for their ​‘No Limits’ series, the Netherlands Chamber Choir present Forgotten– a moving production with choir and actor (Arjan Ederveen) portraying the heartbreaking deterioration of someone suffering from dementia. Dementia is the most common cause of death in the Netherlands. Through a programme of music by Brahms, Saariaho, Kokoras and Lidholm, we are asked: where does the mind end and the universe begin? This is a journey through the furthest reaches of the dementia sufferer’s mind, on waves of music.

Forgotten streams between 8 – 31 March 2021.

Netherlands Chamber Choir
Netherlands Chamber Choir © Foppe Schut

“One of the strenghts of Tido Visser, managing director of the Netherlands Chamber Choir, is his ability to create powerful programmes that defy the boundaries of the genre. The amazingly singing chamber choir is not only original, but also highly relevant.”

NRC

On 31 March 2021, the Netherlands Chamber Choir’s Artistic Director Tido Visser joins 2021 ​‘No Limits’ Roundtable Discussion on the subject of Arts and Well-being: Healthy Body and Mind for People with Different Abilities. Bringing together a group of local and overseas practitioners from the fields of Arts and Health, this Roundtable discussion explores how the Arts can contribute to the general good health and well-being of people with different abilities in society. The panellists share the best practices in using the Arts to empower possibilities for all regardless of their ability, contributing to a healthy body and mind.

Netherlands Chamber Choir
Netherlands Chamber Choir © Kasimir Szekeres

We also worked with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, their Chief Conductor Elim Chan and star cellist Sol Gabetta who present a programme recorded at the Orchestra’s home venue, the Queen Elisabeth Hall. Repertoire includes: 

Mahler: ​‘Blumine’ from Symphony no. 1
Shostakovich: cello concerto no.1
Beethoven: Symphony no.1

The concert streams between 16 – 19 April 2021.

Antwerp Symphony Orchestra
Antwerp Symphony Orchestra © Jesse Willems

Ms Tisa Ho, Executive Director of the HKAF, highlights the Festival’s tagline this year – Separate Together which ​“describes one of the most magical and meaningful aspects of great art — how each of us responds to a performance in our own unique way, bringing to that response our personal histories, education, values and concerns. And yet, when it all comes together in a great performance, the art can bring us all together, to be moved, excited and uplifted, all in the same moment, across time and space, and cultures, highlighting our shared humanity.”

This is an ethos which we very much share and we hope that the people of Hong Kong enjoy these distinctive, world-leading artistic collaborations.