Reception at 6.30pm
Dinner at 7.30pm
Close at 10.00pm

Food is a powerful instrument in improving cross-cultural understanding. It connects people all over the world, facilitates friendships and allows access to other cultures. Celebrate the Asia Society Hong Kong Center’s third anniversary at its home in Admiralty with a special menu (click to see menu) created by AMMO and inspired by the movie “Chef”. The 2014 film is based on a renowned chef who resigns following a confrontation with a restaurant critic, and goes on to establish a food truck business as he attempts to reclaim his creative promise.

Hear from acclaimed actor Oliver Platt, who starred as the restaurant critic; his brother Adam Platt, a real life distinguished food critic for New York Magazine; and their father and President Emeritus of the Asia Society, Ambassador Nicholas Platt who accompanied President Nixon on the historic 1972 trip to China. In dialogue with S. Alice Mong, Executive Director of the Asia Society Hong Kong Center, the Platts will discuss - among other things - cultural diplomacy, their love of food and their recollections of Asia.

In the spirit of the evening's celebration of cultural exchange, there will a special music performance by the Hong Kong-based RTHK Quartet, founded in 2009 with a view to promoting the genre of chamber music and encouraging the art of chamber music playing in the city. They will be performing classic peices Mozart Divertimento K.136 D major and Brahms Hungarian Dance No.5.

The Ambassador Burton Levin Lecture Series was established in 1995 to honor the Asia Society Hong Kong Center’s founding director, and is intended to facilitate, broaden and enrich dialogue about intra-Asian relations and US-Asian relations.

Speakers

Adam Platt is the chief restaurant critic for New York Magazine. During the course of more than three decades in the magazine business, he has written and worked for a variety of publications, including The New Yorker, Esquire, The New York Observer, and Condé Nast Traveler. Over the years, his food and travel writing has been nominated for many awards, including the James Beard Award for Restaurant Criticism, which he won in 2010. Adam is a graduate of the American School in Japan (High School), the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. He lives in New York City with his wife, Kate, and his two daughters, Penelope and Jane.

After a 34 year Foreign Service career, Nicholas Platt served for 12 years as President of the Asia Society before becoming President Emeritus in 2004. Trained in Chinese, he began his career in Asia as a China Analyst at the US Consulate General in Hong Kong in 1964. In 1972 Nick accompanied President Nixon on the historic trip to Beijing that signaled the resumption of relations between the US and China. He was one of the first members of the US Liaison Office in Beijing when the US established a mission there in 1973. He later served as US Ambassador to Zambia, the Philippines and Pakistan. Nick was educated at Harvard College and Johns Hopkins SAIS.

Oliver Platt is a Tony, Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated actor, whose film work includes Funny Bones, Frost/Nixon, Pieces of April, and Chef. His television work includes Huff, Nip/Tuck, The Big C, The West Wing, and most recently the Golden Globe-nominated series Fargo. Oliver also works as a producer, and his credits include Big Night, starring Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub.

S. Alice Mong became Executive Director of Asia Society Hong Kong Center (ASHK) in 2012, after initially serving as a consultant. She previously worked in New York for almost a decade, as Director of the Museum of Chinese in America, and before that, Executive Director for the Committee of 100, a Chinese-American non-profit membership organization. Alice began her career at the Ohio Department of Development and later became Managing Director of the Hong Kong-based Ohio Office of East and Southeast Asia. She graduated from Ohio State University and received an Executive MBA from the Kellogg - Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. (Moderator)

RTHK Quartet

Selena Choi began learning the violin at the age of five, and with a full Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Scholarship, received her bachelor’s degree in music from the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. A recipient of the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Scholarship for Overseas Studies and the RCM Foundation Scholarship, Selena graduated with a master’s degree from the Royal College of Music, studying with violinist Maciej Rakowski. She has won the Concerto Trial at the Academy three times and performed with the Academy Symphony Orchestra with conductors Alan Cumberland and Alexander Shelly. Her recent prizes include the Royal College of Music Quartet Competition and “Ensemble with Piano” Competition. Selena was semi-finalist of the St. Martin’s Chamber Competition (UK) and finalist of the Cavatina Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition. She has been a member of the RTHK Quartet since 2014. 

John Ma is a violinist and has performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and the Macau Chamber Orchestra. He was Concertmaster of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Academy Symphony Orchestra and the Macau Conservatory Chamber Orchestra. John has also appeared as a soloist at the Macau Chamber Orchestra and the Macau Conservatory Orchestra. He is Music Director and Conductor of the Strings Orchestra for the University of Macau, and coach at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Excel program. In 2007 he won the HKAPA Concerto Competition and performed in the winners’ concert in the Juilliard Master Class and Concerts Series with the HKAPA ASO. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati, Conservatory-College of Music. 

Elvis Chan is Principal Viola with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Violist with the RTHK Quartet. He has shared the stage with eminent players including Raphaël Sévère, Andrew Jennings, Todd Philips, Erling Bengtsson and Cathy Cho, and performed at Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall (Tokyo) and Teatro alla Scala (Milan). As a soloist, Elvis has appeared with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Hong Kong Symphony and Michigan Chamber Orchestra. A passionate educator, Elvis founded the Joint School Symphony Orchestra in 2009, and is Adjunct Lecturer at Baptist University and viola instructor at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and the Asian Youth Orchestra. He received the Earl V. Moore Award and Rosseels Scholarship to study under renowned violist Yizhak Schotten and violinist Andrew Jennings, receiving dual master’s degrees in viola performance and chamber music at The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Laurent Perrin is Assistant Principal Cello with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and teaches at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. A dedicated and inspiring teacher, his students have won prizes locally and abroad. He is a founding member of the RTHK String Quartet. Laurent is an active chamber-music player and has performed in China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Macau, Europe, the US and Canada. He first studied in his native country Luxembourg and subsequently in France, Spain, England (Guildhall School of Music) and Canada (The Banff Centre for the Arts). His cello teachers were Georges Mallach, Lluis Claret and Raphael Wallfish. While studying in London, he won the Dorothy Adams String Quartet Competition. He also worked with Daniil Shafran and took part in Masterclasses with Frans Helmerson, Bernard Greenhouse, Gyorgy Sebok, Monique Deschaussees and Amadeus String Quartets.
 
 

Dinner Sponsor	Wine Sponsor	Airline Sponsor	Hotel Sponsor