Commissioned and produced by the Hong Kong Arts Festival, chamber opera Heart of Coral is composed by Chan Hing-yan, renowned for fusion of Chinese and Western music, and director Helen Lai who is hailed as “the best dance choreographer in the Chinese-speaking world”. Joining the line-up was conductor Lio Kuokman, winner of the Evgeny Svetlanov Conducting Competition 2014, and Louise Kwong, winner of Internationaler Gesangswettbewerb Ferruccio Tagliavini, in the title role.

Heart of Coral is a poetic and powerful portrait of Xiao Hong, a major female literary figure whose works have transcended the social and political contexts during her lifetime. The play cover Xiao’s significant life events: escape from an arranged marriage, journey with her lover in China, and settling in Hong Kong where she eventually died alone.