Music Festival reduces budget for this year’s edition
Leung Hio Ming (center)
The 31st Macao International Music Festival (MIMF) will be held from September 29 to October 30, with a lower budget of MOP30 million, Mop8 million less than the last three years, when the budget stood unchanged at MOP38 million.
Taking the theme of “Rising Stars” this year, musicians and ensembles from countries and regions including Italy, South Africa, Germany, Russia, United States, Austria, Portugal, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau will offer 17 programmes across 20 performances.
The festival will kick off with a production of Umberto Girodano’s four-act opera ‘Andrea Chénier’ by Teatro Regio di Torino, marking the 150th anniversary of Girodano’s birth.
Contemporary conductor Andris Nelsons will lead the renowned Vienna Philharmonic in the interpretation of Beethoven, Strauss and Wagner’s classics for the closing concerts, showcasing Austro-German essence and delicate Viennese music.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) said that a number of “international rising stars” have been invited for this edition, including award-winning South Korean chamber ensemble Novus String Quartet, which will present maestros’ works by Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Ravel, among other composers.
Young pianist Lukas Geniušas, who won the second prize at both the International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition and the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition, will present masterpieces by Chopin, Ravel and Prokofiev.
In a press conference yesterday, IC president Leung Hio Ming said, “As for the festival in Macau, it’s been ongoing for 30 years. Each year we have an opera, we hope not to repeat the opera pieces. We hope through this, we can introduce more opera pieces to the public.”
He also explained that the reason behind the lower budget was due to reduced advertising costs, as they have mainly advertised through online platforms.
According to organizers, the MIMF is a platform for local singers to participate in the programmes, although it has yet to feature any from the territory. Four instrumentalists from Macau will join this year’s festival.
Local production ‘A Dream of Fragrancy’ premiered at last year’s festival to critical acclaim. This year, local artists will partner world-renowned singers again to bring a new one-act opera, ‘A Fragrant Dream’, to the MIMF stage.
In turn, the ‘Bravo Macao!’ concert series will feature performances by violinist Lo Cheng Io, pianist Suiong Wong, harpist Leong Cheok Wun and cellist Ho Chun.
Additionally, ‘The Erhu Family’ gathers three generations of erhu interpreters from the same family, namely Chen Yaoxing, Chen Jun and Chen Yimiao, fusing western musical instruments and elements.
Hong Kong singer William So will also present popular classics with the Macao Chinese Orchestra.
Meanwhile, the festival’s Outreach Programme features 19 activities in six categories, including talks, pre-show talks, backstage tours, master classes, workshops and community activities.
Pianist Geniušas was invited to conduct a master class for this edition of the MIMF. Germany-based Japanese vibraphonist and composer Masayoshi Fujita, also known as “el fog”, and American jazz star Jazzmeia Horn will host workshops and meet local musicians.
The festival also offers a music therapy workshop and percussion instrument workshop for families, where there will also be meeting and exchange opportunities with music fans.
Tickets will be on sale from August 6 at Macau Ticketing Network outlets.
IC taking steps to ensure recruitment fairness
Leung Hio Ming, president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), has stated that the IC will terminate the contracts of workers whom it had recruited through a controversial system over the past few years. The majority of these workers will see their employment with the bureau terminated by the end of the month.
Of the 90 employees recruited under the controversial rules, 23 will continue to work temporarily, he said. “At most, they will work for one year, these people are basically the designers, or project leaders for important events, such as the international music festival,” Leung said.
“IC, after all, is a entity which provides cultural services to the residents. Regardless of what we do, we can’t affect our cultural services to the residents, we can only adjust our job.”
The president also promised that the IC will ensure fairness in its future recruitment and noted that it is currently organizing examinations to hire new employees in the arts sector.
“We have already emphasized repeatedly, after the CCAC report, that we must hire people through an open and fair rule. I hope that we can be fair in our future recruitment regardless,” Leung clarified.
Leung also revealed that they are cooperating with the University of Macau in a bid to create more spaces for local music groups.
He said the bureau plans to set up a black box for drama artists, and is looking to establish an acting center at the upcoming urban zone A.
