The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, established by Government Ordinance in 1984, is a leading tertiary institution for the performing arts in Asia. It provides professional undergraduate education and practice-based postgraduate studies. The study encompasses Chinese Opera, Dance, Drama, Film and Television, Music, and Theatre and Entertainment Arts. Its educational philosophy reflects the cultural diversity of Hong Kong with emphasis on Chinese and Western traditions, and interdisciplinary learning. The Academy awards master’s degree, bachelor honours degree, advanced diploma, diploma and certificate programmes that are accredited by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications. Besides the main campus in Wanchai, Béthanie, the site of the Academy’s Landmark Heritage Campus in Pokfulam, has housed training facilities for the School of Film and Television since 2006. |
Undergraduate Degree and Post-secondary Programmes | The four-year Bachelor Honours Degree programmes provide the opportunity and time for students to develop responsibility for their own learning, as well as to reflect upon and enhance their performance. The aim is that, by limiting workload in major studies, students can engage in reflection and self-directed studies. The number of credits for graduation ranges from 130 minimum to 136 maximum across the Schools of Chinese Opera, Dance, Drama, Film and Television, Music, and Theatre and Entertainment Arts. Graduates are awarded a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) degree, except for those from the School of Music, who are awarded a Bachelor of Music (Honours) degree. |
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) Degree in Chinese Opera | Within this programme, while every emphasis is put on strengthening the various aspects that lead to professional excellence, students will also be given a solid and balanced education. Apart from the continuous enhancement of their proficiency in Chinese and English and the use of information technology they will also benefit from liberal arts studies and both general and in-depth academic courses on Chinese music, Chinese opera, theory of western music and the performing arts, and traditional and modern stage management. |
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) Degree in Dance | The four-year Degree programme is a stimulating, forward-looking, and highly integrated programme that aligns with the highest international standards in dance education and training. By virtue of the School’s three streams, and its east-west educational, cultural and artistic nexus, the programme is unique among dance conservatoires around the world. |
Bachelor of Music (Honours) Degree | The four-year Degree programme is designed primarily for qualified Senior Secondary 3 school leavers who choose to engage in professional music training. It offers students intensive training in musical performance or composition to a professional level. Students will gain an in-depth knowledge of musical history and theory, as well as a wider appreciation of other cultures and art forms. The programme also aims to develop the students’ intellectual, creative and interpretative capabilities, and an awareness of the role of the musician in society. |
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) Degree in Drama | Launched in 2012, the four-year BFA (Honours) Degree in Drama programme is structured to produce professional practitioners with a vision of the arts in society, and a concern for their importance, relevance and development. To a rigorous regimen of practical craft-skills work are added conceptual knowledge of the development of theatre practice, both historical and contemporary, Western and Asian. This is complemented with courses that offer a wider appreciation of the performing arts, liberal arts, humanities and languages. |
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) Degree in Film and Television | This is a four-year programme offering a practical specialist education within a group context. Supporting theoretical studies are also incorporated to allow students to better understand the context within which they are working. |
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) Degree in Theatre and Entertainment Arts | The 4-year degree programme provides a creative, professional and innovative tertiary level training programme for those talented and dedicated students who wish to pursue a selective and intensive education for Western and Chinese performance and related technical/entertainment arts. |
Advanced Diploma Programme | |
The 1-Year Diploma Programmes | |
Certificate in Theatre and Entertainment Arts (Fast Track Vocational) | |
Master of Fine Arts in Dance | |
Master of Fine Arts in Drama | |
Master of Fine Arts in Cinema Production | |
Master of Fine Arts in Theatre and Entertainment Arts | The programme offers educational opportunities to mature, talented, and focused artists who are well beyond the initial throes of exploration and discovery and who seek specialised education in preparation for their professional career. The programme provides the time, the aesthetic and intellectual resources, the production facilities, and the synergistic creative environment to allow students to broaden, deepen, and synthesise their knowledge, skills, and training with a notable degree of excellence and self-confidence. |
Master of Music | The programme equips students for entry into the music profession at a high artistic level. Students gain comprehensive knowledge and experience through participation in a wide range of solo, ensemble, and orchestral performance activities. The flexible curriculum caters for individual interests, enables students to develop an area of performance specialism, and cultivates the cognitive and generic skills to meet the demands of the profession. |
Fast Track Intensive Training Programme | Currently and over the coming years, many job opportunities will be created in the production areas of theatre and the entertainment arts. There will be far more job opportunities than personnel available with the appropriate background or training to fill them. In addressing this short fall, the School has worked with the industry to develop a series of Fast Track enabling programmes. |
Junior Music Programme | The Junior Music Programme at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts is known as one of the most comprehensive programmes of music instruction for talented young people in Hong Kong. It recognizes that musicians must begin to discipline themselves and nurture their talents at an early age. The programme is fully supported by the Academy and provides an atmosphere where artistic gifts and technical skills can flourish. |
Applied Learning Courses |
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