Festivals
Started in 1973, the Hong Kong Arts Festival is a month-long major international arts festival held in February/March every year. Overseas and local artists are featured in many music, theatre, dance, popular entertainment, film and exhibition programmes. Traditionally, a well-known foreign orchestra is invited to perform in concerts and an opera production is staged. In the past, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra etc. were invited. Opera productions staged include Tosca, The Marriage of Figaro, TAN Dun's Marco Polo and so on. Famous soloists such as Jose Carerras, James Galway and so on have performed in the festival in the past as well.
Besides the Hong Kong Arts Festival, some companies have organized mini-series of recitals featuring distinguished soloists such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Yo-Yo Ma, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Issac Stern, etc.