This year’s Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) will feature over 1,400 outstanding international and local artists in 118 performances. The Festival will run from 19 February to 20 March 2016.

Launched in 1973, the HKAF is a major annual international celebration of the performing arts and one of the region’s premier cultural events. “Once again, we have a truly fabulous line-up for the 44th HKAF, including classics that celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, premières and commissions that are in and of today, as well as series of exciting activities that complement our experiences beyond great performances.” said Ronald Arculli, Chairman of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, a non-profit organisation.

Here are some of this year’s highlights:

Opera. Performances both Western and Chinese operas revolve around the idea of “what comes after”. Teatro Regio Torino’s sumptuous staging of Verdi’s epic Simon Boccanegra comes to Hong Kong with an international cast and chorus, led by Verdi specialist Roberto Abbado.

Music. Some of the greatest choral masterpieces will be performed. Named Musical America’s 2015 “Conductor of the Year”, Gianandrea Noseda leads his Italian forces from the Teatro Regio Torino in two concerts, performing such works as Verdi’s Messa da Requiem and Prokofiev’s “Alexander Nevsky” cantata. Another choral highlight is the threetime Grammy Award-winning Rundfunkchor Berlin. On the home front, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra continues with its tenth episode of Music about China. To tie in with the theme of Chinese Music without Bounds, their concert features some milestone work of Chinese orchestral music.