Sacred Music Festival aims for cooperation with local artists

From left, the deputy director of the Alliance Francaise, Sam Lei, a Macau Orchestra representative, Wong Ka, Xavier Garnier and Lio Kuok Man

Organized by the Alliance Francaise de Macao for the first time, the Sacred Music Festival aims “both to valorize the heritage of Macau”, enlivening some of its monuments with musical concerts, namely churches, and to “cooperate with local artists”, said Mr Xavier Garnie, director of Alliance Francaise de Macao, in his opening speech yesterday at Sofitel Ponte 16.
In its first edition, the festival has partnered with the Macau Orchestra and “Dolce Voce”, a local choir under the leadership of Maria Vanessa Leão, to create a blend of voices with a different flavor in a new choral experience.
The festival opening concert (tomorrow, 7 p.m.) will feature the Macau Orchestra, conducted especially by Lio Kuok Man, a Macau born conductor who is currently living and working in the US. It will feature a performance from  Sébastien Fournier, a countertenor from Lyon, France. Both men were already in Macau for the “French May” and  for the Sacred Music Festival they will be performing with the baroque ensemble “Sprezzatura”.
This will be the first of three concerts on the program that will fill both St Dominic’s Church and St Joseph’s Church (for the second concert).
For the second concert, “Sprezzatura” will partner with local choir “Dolce Voce” (Nov. 9, 7 p.m.).
For the closing of the Festival, on Nov. 12, the “Sprezzatura” will perform once more at St Dominic’s Church, this time alone.
Taking advantage of the presence of several festival guests, the organizer has also set up master classes in order to provide local artists with an opportunity to learn from the masters.
“I am very happy to be back in my home town for the first edition of this meaningful festival. Macau has a lot of entertainment but we definitely need more art and culture, and doing this in these beautiful locations will be something to clinch our soul”, Mr Lio said.
The conductor also expressed his happiness and pride to be working with the Macau Orchestra for the first time, mentioning that it was “the first orchestra I have heard about in my life”. Renato Marques