Inaugural Freespace Jazz Fest Brought Musical Delight To The City With A Full Weekend Of Performances And Events – concerts, workshops, film screenings, jam sessions, weekend market, jazz-infused dance performances and more!
The West Kowloon Cultural District (the District)’s inaugural Freespace Jazz Fest – a new annual event providing a dynamic platform for Hong Kongers and visitors to experience and be inspired by jazz music, ran from 9 to 10 Nov 2019 in the indoor and outdoor performance venues at Freespace and in the Art Park. With an impressive lineup of jazz from Hong Kong and around the world, the music fest offered both ticketed and free programmes for nearly 14,000 visitors to enjoy.
Photos credit: West Kowloon Cultural District Authority
Photos credit: West Kowloon Cultural District Authority
The inaugural festival featured international jazz luminaries including Grammy Award Winner Robert Glasper Trio, UK’s GoGo Penguin, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra featuring Hubert Laws and House of Waters, as well as established and emerging talents from Hong Kong, including Eugene Pao, Ted Lo, Angelita Li, Alan Kwan and Tjoe Man-cheung. The festival also staged special performances by Asian Collective, a new ensemble established by Freespace that marked a pioneering collaboration between five eminent jazz musicians from across Asia.
Photos credit: West Kowloon Cultural District Authority
The two-day festival included a wide range of activities covering Jazz for Kids, film screenings, meet the artists sessions, jazz workshops, jam sessions for professional musicians, jazz photography exhibition, and a weekend market offering a great mix of handicraft booths and art stalls. The diverse programme also featured jazz-infused dance performances by Freespace programme partner Hong Kong Ballet with their popular The Great Gatsby set to a fantastic jazz score, and a series of exciting site-specific pop-ups along the waterfront promenade.
Photos credit: West Kowloon Cultural District Authority
The festival offered a unique cultural experience presenting a strong mix of local and international talent. Through performances, workshops and educational initiatives, the festival delivered something for audiences of all ages and backgrounds and launched a premiere, new, multi-genre, multi-faceted experience for the appreciation of jazz.
Photos credit: West Kowloon Cultural District Authority
Alison Friedman, Acting Executive Director, Performing Arts and Artistic Director, Performing Arts, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA), said, “Jazz is both local and global, the perfect music genre to launch Freespace’s flagship new annual programme. This year’s Freespace Jazz Fest showcased just how jazz matched Hong Kong’s identity – proudly rooted in local sounds and culture, while also embracing, incorporating and transforming global influences into something totally new. This is the power and majesty of jazz music. We are thrilled to feature local and international jazz greats and rising stars in our inaugural festival at Freespace, Hong Kong’s new centre of contemporary performance.”
Photos credit: West Kowloon Cultural District Authority
”Jazz is one of the richest and most diverse musical genres,” said Kung Chi Shing, Artistic Associate (Music), Performing Arts, WKCDA. “Because it encompasses a broad spectrum of styles and musical languages, it can be enjoyed and appreciated by audiences of different ages and tastes. Freespace Jazz Fest is more than a musical event. It also serves as the District’s incubator, where musicians and composers can meet, inspire each other and create new compositions in a dynamic process of collaboration and exchange. We are thrilled that creative talent from across the world will be taking the stage at Freespace Jazz Fest, creating boundary-pushing collaborations and promoting bold new ways of seeing and experiencing jazz performance.”
Click here to visit West Kowloon Cultural District Authority’s website.