The grand annual musical event “Hong Kong – Vienna Music Festival” organised by the Vienna Boys Choir Music Academy Foundation and sponsored by China First Capital Group Limited (“CFCG” or the “Group”; stock code: 1269), kicked off at the Vienna Boys Choir Concert Hall yesterday evening. The event was graced by prominent guests including officials from political, business, education, cultural and art industries in Austria, China and Hong Kong. Mr. Alex Shiu, Managing Director of First Capital International Finance Limited under CFCG, attended the event on behalf of the Group.
At the opening reception, Mr. Shiu said CFCG is honoured to be the sponsor of the “Hong Kong – Vienna Music Festival”, as it shares the same philosophy of “Valuing education and investing in our future” as the Foundation. The Vienna Boys Choir is one of the best choirs in the world, and through the sponsorship, the Group hopes to support the Choir’s work in music and education, and also bring the spirit of Vienna’s music to Hong Kong, that the city may turn from being an international financial centre into a city that values arts. At the same time, the Group will continue to advance in strong strides on the international education platform.
Various types of music, Western and Chinese, are featured at the “Hong Kong - Vienna Music Festival”, providing outstanding local musicians with a valuable opportunity to perform overseas. The Hong Kong Week was unveiled by ensemble chromoson playing the works of contemporary Hong Kong and Austrian composers. Current students and graduates from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts took part in the performance of “Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde”, the climax of the evening. The programmes in the three days to follow include: Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Marathon, Chinese Music Workshop for All, and the Chinese Night and painting exhibition.
CFCG has strived to identify outstanding education projects with long-term development values in China and overseas. 2016 is a crucial year in the Group’s business transformation. In the first half of this year, it gradually realised the goal of growing notably and rapidly in the market via investing in educational project as its core business, complemented by a diverse yet comprehensive financial services business. Since the start of the second half year, the Group has made two moves: the appointment of Mr. Victor He, former director of international cooperation of New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc., as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Group in July, who is responsible for promoting the Group’s brand worldwide, overseeing mergers and acquisitions of international education businesses, bringing to the Group high-end international education management talent, then in August the Group set up the wholly-owned subsidiary CFCG Investment International (Singapore) PTE. LTD., which shows the determination of the Group to take its brand worldwide. Moving forward, CFCG will continue step up mergers and acquisitions of international education resources, optimize its overseas deployment and bring international quality educational brands and resources to China which has a high demand in education market. The Group will also strive to effectively capture opportunities around the world and turn itself into an international education industry, investment and financing platform.
The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has officially announced the decision together with UNESCO - Austria that the "Vienna Boys Choir" has been added to "UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage list", and applies to the "education and choral tradition.
