In a ceremony today presided over by Antonello de Riu, Consul-General of Italy in Hong Kong and Macau, operatic tenor and Opera Hong Kong’s Artistic Director Warren Mok received the title of “Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy”, conferred by the Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

De Riu said the title was awarded in recognition of Mok’s “artistic career as an opera singer and producer”:

As an opera singer, he has made an outstanding contribution to spreading and nourishing the knowledge and interest in Italian opera not only in Hong Kong and Macao, but also in mainland China, where he has been … tasked with the promotion and development of Western Opera.

Mr de Riu went on to note that Opera Hong Kong’s productions, started with Tosca in 2015, have been central to Bellissima Italia, the annual festival of Italian culture and lifestyle, since its inception.