As a private patron of the Aix Festival for many years and lover of baroque opera, KT Wong Foundation founder Lady Linda Davies has enjoyed many happy seasons in the wonderful setting of Aix. Therefore it is a double pleasure for her to be able to combine a personal passion with a national celebration between China and France in 2014.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France the KT Wong Foundation has developed a program of events specifically designed to recognise the historic ties between the two countries. The highlight of our season is of course our partnership with the Aix Festival 2014.
Our collaboration encompasses not only the sponsorship of Ariodante and Trauernacht but also the filming of two of the great directors working at Aix this summer; the development of new internships programmes between Aix and China; and to bring the Aix Festival to China in the autumn.
Having brought the first ever production of Parsifal to China last year, the Foundation is proud to be able to present the screening of Elektra the production directed by the late, great Patrice Chereau as part of the Richard Strauss Centenary celebrations at the Beijing Music Festival in October.
The Foundation covers many art forms and we have commissioned visual artists, directors, and composers to work in all artistic disciplines. As a Handel enthusiast and as trustee of the Handel Institute, Lady Davies’ first personal passion will always lie with the music of Handel and in particular Ariodante. She has to thank the perspicacity of Bernard Foccroulle for bringing the brilliant Richard Jones to direct this most complex but seeringly beautiful of Handel’s operas to Aix.