Hong Kong Ballet Board of Governors is delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Septime Webre as the new Artistic Director of Hong Kong Ballet.
Mr Webre will succeed Ms Madeleine Onne, who has led the company since 2009. Leading the ballet company into its 2017/18 season, Mr Webre will commence his term officially in July 2017 and the first production under his leadership will be the season-opening Don Quixote in August.
Mr Webre previously served as the Artistic Director of the Washington Ballet in DC from 1999 to 2016, stewarding a period of unprecedented artistic and institutional growth for the organisation.
During his 17 years tenure at the Washington Ballet, an array of exciting artistic initiatives was launched while close partnerships were forged with many colleague arts institutions in the D.C. area.
As its school grew from 325 students to 1,500, a range of impactful community engagement programs were also founded on his watch.
Currently he is and will remain Artistic Director of Washington DC-based Halcyon, which launched a new interdisciplinary performance and dialogue series ‘Halcyon Stage’ in 2017 and a creativity festival in the Summer of 2018.
An internationally renowned choreographer, Mr Webre has created many works which appear in the repertoires of ballet companies including Pacific Northwest Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Colorado Ballet, Ballet West, Atlanta Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Austin, Ballet Memphis, Milwaukee Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, amongst many others.
Of the appointment Mr Webre said, “Hong Kong Ballet has a long legacy both as an international powerhouse and as one of Asia’s boldest and most vibrant ballet companies. It is an honour to be leading such an exciting organization and I look forward to partnering with its superb artists, visionary board and outstanding staff, as we grow the company’s local impact as well as its global reputation.”
Mr Webre will take up residency in Hong Kong starting July 2017 when his Artistic Directorship of Hong Kong Ballet begins. Hong Kong Ballet’s 2017/18 Season was announced in mid May. Highlights include the Asian premiere of Le Corsaire (November 2017) and Christopher Wheeldon’s Rush (May 2018) as well as its first European Tour since 2009 (March 2018).