Eastern unity through the Macao Chinese Orchestra’s 2025–26 season

The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) has launched the Macao Chinese Orchestra’s 2025–26 Concert Season, which opened on Saturday at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium.
This season features a diverse array of musical works centered on the theme “Culture City of East Asia.”

It includes jointly composed pieces by renowned composers Zhao Lin and Luo Maishuo from Mainland China, Kaoru Wada from Japan, and Park Bum-hoon from South Korea, who collectively wrote the opening concert, Eastern Radiance.

During a press conference Friday announcing the new season, Cheang Kai Meng, vice president of the IC, stated, “The Orchestra is committed to its mission of celebrating Macao’s culture by blending Eastern and Western music.”

The season’s closing concert, Millennium Echo, will feature Bianzhong, or chime bells, an ancient Chinese instrument consisting of bronze bells played melodically.
The Macao Chinese Orchestra will collaborate with the Bianzhong National Orchestra of the Hubei Provincial Opera and Dance Drama Theatre to perform both ancient pieces and contemporary works.

Zhang Lie, Music Director and Principal Conductor, disclosed during the press conference that, in celebration of the 26th Anniversary of Macau’s Return to the Motherland, the orchestra will present Morning Star Lilies Forever, a key project of the China National Arts Fund.

This performance, in collaboration with art troupes from Shaanxi and staged at the Ruins of St. Paul’s, will showcase magnificent musical pieces that highlight the vitality of the people of the Yellow Land.

Additionally, the popular concert A Full Moon Night at the Ruins of St. Paul’s 2025 will take place during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The family musical theater production Musical Magic Wand will also return, organizers said. Times Reporter