I should have posted this earlier. Today is the last day to vote for Street Music Series, organized by Hong Kong Arts Centre, and orchestrated by local musician Kung Chi Shing, so that it can get funding to sustain.
This really illustrates well Hong Kong’s unfriendly environment under which Hong Kong’s musicians and artists have to survive. Among other things, they are not given public space for performance, and they have been fighting so hard for it. In the July 1 march, an artist has this request: set up a performance street.
Kung has worked with Hong Kong Arts Centre to produce Street Music Series for three years now, with three-hour street music at the front of the Centre (a small space) once a month. To sustain this, the project has to get funding from Li Ka Shing Foundation, the foundation set up by the city’s richest man. It means that it has to compete with many other projects through an online voting system and those having obtaining the highest number of votes will get funded. Please vote here. (Unfortunately the project content is in Chinese only and to vote you have to register first. Not easy.)
I have visited the Street Music Series two times. Very much impressed by the diversity of music and the fact that many local musicians are so much passionate about music and have produced some great music despite all the odds. They deserve to be heard and we deserve a public space to hear them.
Below is a photo from last month’s Street Music Series, featuring Head Clowns with Zoe von Hess playing Ukulele, and Joseph von Hess playing Clarinet
