Bravo! Finally a well anticipated, first ever, opera event by 50 children of ages 3 to 19 from two opposite coasts of the Pacific finished with a bang. On July 19th, the Hong Kong and American kids took their bows in front of a sold-out crowd at the Shatin Town Hall Auditorium under thundering applause and cheers. Their enthusiasm and innocence as well as their dedication and hours and hours of hard work came through in dazzling performances to earn well deserved accolades from the audience.
This operatic exchange between young performers from two different continents, Hong Kong’s Sing Fai and America’s Perfect Harmony, is a first ever for Hong Kong. The idea of exchange came after a few Sing Fai kids performed in Los Angeles in 2014 at the invitation of Perfect Harmony. The success of this event relied greatly on the generous support of opera master Yeung Kim Wah and HK ex-councilman Lau Chin-Shek and both of them have our utmost gratitude. We like to thank the chairlady and artistic director of Sing Fai, Ivy Fong Suet Ying for inviting us and her efforts in making it possible. We also want to thank Hong Kong Cantonese Opera Advancement Association for its sponsorship; the parents of the performers; all the workers in front of and behind the stage; and definitely the audience who came to see us that day. This operatic exchange not only strengthened the friendships among the children from different coasts, it also instilled our Perfect Harmony kids a deeper level of understanding of the journey they just started.