Opera festival set for Hong Kong

Hong Kong is the place to be for fans of the opera and Chinese performing arts this summer as the 2012 Chinese Opera Festival takes centre stage.

The sophisticated Kunqu style features prominently in this year's event, which runs between June 15 and August 5.

But overall there will be 10 different programmes on show throughout Hong Kong, catering to the tastes of culture vultures on tours to the destination.

Events will be held at Kwai Tsing Theatre; Hong Kong City Hall; Ko Shan Theatre and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre with performances of Beijing, Cantonese, Yue and other regional operas to be enjoyed.

One of the principal ideas for the 2012 festival involves a mentoring programme by the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre, which will teach young actors to perform two classic operas with a view to putting on a final performance.

Chinese opera will be celebrated in many other ways too though, with talks on its history and opera appreciation, themed exhibitions and screenings of related films.