Cantonese Opera has long been lauded as a unique art form that blends Chinese legends, music and drama into a vibrant performance style. A spectacle of colorful costumes, extravagant sets and exceptional style of singing infused with symbolic meaning and universal human values, Cantonese Opera is also celebrated for its educational benefits: nurturing aesthetics, fostering language appreciation, enhancing intellectual competencies and most importantly, cultivating one’s cultural intelligence. Recognizing the multi-fold impacts of Cantonese Opera on a young person’s holistic development, the Foundation is proud to partner with the West Kowloon Cultural District (“WKCD”) to present the inaugural learning program The D. H. Chen Foundation – West Kowloon Tea House Student Matinees at the Xiqu Centre, the first arts venue to be opened in the District.

A three-year learning initiative that will engage 16,000 secondary school students and teachers, the Student Matinees aim to be a gateway for young people to explore Chinese values, arts and history through accessible and relatable Cantonese Opera. Exclusively tailor-made for local students by the WKCD artistic team together with local Cantonese opera veterans, the performances will combine classics and modern works accompanied by live narration and commentary. Besides the performances, students and teachers will also explore how different architectural features of the Xiqu Centre manifest traditional Chinese culture at a guided tour. And to support them to connect classroom teaching and learning to the performances and vice versa, teachers’ training workshops and differentiated learning packs are offered.

With a strong focus in fostering young people’s cultural intelligence through authentic and innovative experiential learning, the Foundation hopes the Tea House Matinees will enable our students to embrace and be inspired by the essence and wisdom of Chinese culture. For more info of the Student Matinees, please visit https://www.westkowloon.hk/en/studentmatinees.