Co-created by the Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo and China Performing Arts Agency
Music Theatre: A Fusion of Nanyin and Jazz
Nanyin originated in the late Qing Dynasty and was a popular music and narrative singing art form in the Guangdong region, Hong Kong included. Jazz, on the other hand, also emerged at around the same time. However, despite their eastern and western origins, nanyin and jazz are authentic folk arts that express human emotions through music and singing.
In 1014, a couple implanted a chip sometime ago, erasing a shared unpleasant memory and replacing it with a fictional happy memory. Today, an unpleasant event is about to occur again. How will the couple face it? Technology is enticing, but can outward happiness suppress the deepest human emotions? Perhaps only time can tell!
In this production, we will witness how Hong Kong and mainland Chinese artists spanning multiple generations use these genres to express about humanity’s aspirations and doubts for the future.
The premiere of the production will take place on 14 October, hence the title 1014!
Tang Shu-wing
Artistic Director/ Director/ Dramaturg/ Co-producer
Theatre director and educator, Founder and Artistic Director of Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio and former Dean of the School of Drama of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), Tang Shu-wing is regarded as one of the most influential theatre directors in Hong Kong. Graduated from the Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris with a Master Degree in Theatre Studies, he also received actor training at l‘Ecole de la Belle de Mai. He used to go to India to experience spiritual formation. His multi-cultural background very often blends both traditional and contemporary elements in his works, including drama, non-verbal theatre, dance and opera. His works are more than 60, and the more famous ones such as Titus Andronicus, Titus Andronicus 2.0, Macbeth, Detention and Thunderstorm and King Lear have been staged in many international arts festivals. “Minimalist aesthetics and the Body” that Tang advocated has become a brand of contemporary theatre in Hong Kong.
In 2014, he established “Physical Theatre Youth Training Programme”, which has become an important platform for nurturing the young. In 2019, the Studio is named an “Eminent Arts Group” by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. His major awards include the Medal of Honour by the HKSAR, the Award for Outstanding Contribution in Arts by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Honorary Doctorate by the HKAPA, Hong Kong Arts Centre’s Honorary Fellowship, Honorary Fellow of Lingnan University, Three times Best Director in the Hong Kong Drama Awards, the Director of the Year in IATC (HK) Critics Awards 2021, l’Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, Excellence Award by the Undercloud Festival of Romania and “Arts & Culture” Award of the Grand Prix France Hong Kong 2022.
Yuen Siu-fai
Nanyin Music Director and Soloist
Veteran Cantonese opera performer and artist, Yuen Siu-fai began his artistic career at seven and studied under renowned Cantonese opera master Mak Bing-wing. He has also extensively studied nanyin of Cantonese opera singing, making him one of the few versatile artists who can perform across different genres of Chinese opera. Yuen has dedicated himself to Cantonese opera education and preservation. He frequently gives lectures, participates in academic conferences, and delivers talks at universities and secondary schools.
Yuen has received numerous awards and accolades for his outstanding achievements. He has been honoured with the Hong Kong Artist of the Year Award (1991), Artistic Achievement Award (2003) and Outstanding Artistic Contribution Award (2015) by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. He received the BH Honorary Medal from the Hong Kong Government in 1991. In 2012, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Education University of Hong Kong. In 2014, he received the Bronze Bauhinia Star from the Hong Kong SAR Government.
Currently, Yuen serves as an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Music at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is also the Artistic Director of the One Table Two Chairs Charity Foundation, a member of Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong Ltd., China Theatre Association and the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association. He acts as a museum expert adviser on Cantonese Opera for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, a consultant to Xiqu and Intangible Cultural Heritage Centre at the Education University of Hong Kong and the Chief Examiner for the Cantonese Opera Grading Examination, jointly organised by the Hong Kong Association of Cantonese Opera Scholars and London College of Music, University of West London.
Yuen has authored books such Yuen Siu-fai: Abandoning School to Learn Opera: Disciples Are Not Necessarily Sons, Endless Inheritance: Basic Knowledge of Cantonese Opera, No Regrets in This Life and No Regrets: Paying Homage to Qutou.
Cui Bosi
Lighting Designer
Cui is employed at the Beijing People's Art Theatre as a first-grade stage art designer specialising in lighting. She serves as the Secretary-General of the Lighting Professional Committee of the China Stage Art Society, a member of the Expert Committee of the Film and Television Lighting Association of the China Lighting Society, and the Secretary-General of the Stage Art Professional Committee of the Beijing Playwrights Association (Secretary-General of the Beijing Dance and Art Association). She is also a guest professor at Tianjin Media University.
She has studied at the Stage Art Department of the Central Academy of Drama and obtained a bachelor’s and master’s degree. In 2013, she was selected for the Ministry of Culture’s “Senior Theatre Management Talent Training Scholarship Programme of China National Centre for the Performing Arts” and went to the Royal Opera House in the United Kingdom for further studies.
Some of her notable works include stage plays such as Human World, Happy Encounter, Centennial of Zhengyang Gate (dance drama), Forget River Styx (musical), Chengdu Family Letter (traditional art musical), Secret Battle of Chishui River (drama), Model Prison (drama), and Light of Atlantis (musical). In 2015, her personal lighting design works were selected for the 3rd China Stage Art Exhibition’s invitational exhibition “Top Ten Young Lighting Designers”, and she received an honorary award. She has written and published several articles, including The Infinite Power of Light, Brilliance Behind the Scenes, and After the Storm.
In 2019, she participated in the 70th anniversary celebration of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and received a commemorative award. In recent years, she has organised events such as the “2019 World Lighting Designer Congress,” the 4th China Stage Art Exhibition’s Lighting Art Exhibition: Building the Future of Light, the Beijing Centennial Stage Art Exhibition, and the Retrospective of Great Plays: Stage Art Fine Exhibition.
Hui Chun-pong, Jim
Playwright
Graduated from the School of Drama of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2013, he is now a playwright, professional actor and stand-up comedian.
His playwright works include: Vacant Possession, The Bucket and Twists and Turns by Hong Kong Repertory Theatre; Parting is Never Easy by Windmill Grass Theatre; Final Call: 929G by Boom Theatre x Rainy Apple Theatre; The Darkness Comes to Light, Lost in Austin and Tung Yau Café by Actors’ Family; Temporarily Unknown by Three As One Theatre; One Compensation for the Last: Hong Kong (Tentative) Inmate of the Death Penalty by Plum Theatre.
His stage performances include: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and The Garden Party by Theatre Horizon; Kassandra by On & On Theatre Workshop; The Scholar and the Executioner and The Black and the Blue of a Man by The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He was awarded the “IATC (HK) Drama Critic’s Award 2018” for The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, and nominated for the “9th Hong Kong Small Theatre Award for Outstanding Male Actor” for Kassandra.
He has also appeared in ViuTV’s Sparks, Into the Wild and King of Live, as well as a stand-up comedy show, STAND Up for LOVE by Deep Ploughing.
Daniel Chu
Music Director/ Composer
Daniel Chu is a Hong Kong-born pianist, composer, arranger, record producer, music director, and scholar. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Berklee College of Music at the young age of 20, earning a Bachelor of Music degree. During his time in Boston, he studied under pianists such as George Russell Jr., Tim Ray, and Kenny Werner and songwriters such as Sarah Brindell, Jimmy Kachulis, and Pat Pattison. Daniel received prestigious accolades, including the Berklee Achievement Scholarship and Berklee Shining Star Award.
In 2024, Daniel completed his Master of Philosophy degree in Music, specialising in ethnomusicology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Throughout his graduate studies, he had the opportunity to learn from ethnomusicologists such as Frederick Lau and Yu Siu Wah. Daniel’s thesis, titled Digging the Hong Kong Jazz Scene: Past, Present, and People, is a groundbreaking scholarly work that explores the history, contemporary development, and musical lives of the Hong Kong jazz scene. Professor Adam Kielman has praised the thesis as “a tremendous accomplishment, and an important contribution to jazz scholarship and to the Hong Kong jazz scene itself.”
A defining aspect of Daniel’s artistic identity lies in the synergy he creates. His music celebrates diverse world cultures, musical traditions, and playing techniques. His experience with free improvisation and the formal architecture of music gives him a unique outlook that encompasses classical, jazz, pop, soul, gospel, folk, and experimental.
Ashley Lin
Jazz Soloist
Ashley Lin is a rising actress and singer-songwriter based in Hong Kong. At 24 years old, Ashley has decided to pursue a full-time career in performing arts, after completing her undergraduate degree in architecture at the University of Hong Kong.
Young as she may be, Ashley is definitely not a stranger in front of the camera. Ashley has starred in movies and tv series alike since she was 16, including Septet produced by Johnnie To and Find Your Voice produced by Andy Lau. More recently, Ashley was cast as the female lead in two drama series Rope a Dope and Sparks produced by ViuTV.
Ashley has been active in the local music scene since 2018. Her music has appeared in commercials for brands such as Chanel, Fendi, Tods, and Ralph Lauren, as well as the Cannes festival feature film, Septet. In recent years, Ashley has taken a special interest in contemporary jazz. A multi-talented songwriter and lyricist, Ashley’s most recent lyrical works include Strangers and Dandelion, written in collaboration with local jazz musician Kurtis Li. Ashley has performed in live houses all over Hong Kong and has participated in the West Kowloon Freespace Jazz festival.
While HKPAX Full Pass holders can reserve complimentary tickets for International Showcases and Expo Programmes through their online account, our shows are also open to HKPAX Day Pass/Student Pass holders and members of the public via ticket sales. Tickets for these performances are now available at the link below.
- Approximately 75 minutes in duration.
- Free seating.
- You are recommended to arrive 15 minutes before the event starts. No admission for latecomers.
- Programmes are subject to change without prior notice. HKPAX reserves the right to make the final decision regarding the arrangements.