HKETO, Brussels supports Hong Kong musical talent at Rome Chamber Music Festival (with photos)

     With the support of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Brussels (HKETO, Brussels), talented young Hong Kong cello player Calvin Wong took part in the 16th Rome Chamber Music Festival, which ran from June 13 to 17 (Rome time). 
      
     Wong was one of 25 young artists chosen to study and perform with festival artists at the beautiful Palazzo Barberini in Rome, Italy this year. A famous example of Baroque architecture, the palazzo is also home to the national gallery of fine arts – the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica. After taking part in public rehearsals from June 13 to 15, Wong performed the Octet in E-flat major Op.20 by Felix Mendelssohn with other musicians on June 16 and 17.

     Founded in 2003, the festival presents a diverse programme of masterworks performed by prominent artists and aspiring music talents over a five-day period.

     This was the sixth time that a young Hong Kong musician was selected for the festival's Young Artist Programme.

     The HKETO, Brussels has always supported and promoted Hong Kong's creative industries and enabled many Hong Kong talents to perform in Europe. The CY Leo Electronic Trio from Hong Kong, comprising a harmonica virtuoso, a pianist and an electronic musician, was invited to perform at this year's Chinese New Year receptions hosted by the HKETO, Brussels in The Hague, Paris and Brussels. The HKETO, Brussels also enabled a Hong Kong art curator to take part at a roundtable event organised at the international contemporary art fair Arco in Madrid, Spain in March. As regards the Hong Kong film industry, the HKETO, Brussels has this year assisted in the showcasing of Hong Kong films at three well known European film festivals, namely the CinemAsia Film Festival in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; the Brussels International Fantasy, Fantastic, Thriller and Science Fiction Film Festival in Belgium; and the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy. The HKETO, Brussels also supported the Hong Kong comic industry's participation at the 46th Angoulême International Comics Festival, France, in January 2019, as well as suporting the Hong Kong Pavilion, jointly organised by the Hong Kong Publishing Federation and the Hong Kong Printers Association, at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2019 held in Italy in April.