28th Macao International Music Festival Grand Opening

Date of publication: 06/10/2014
Type: Macau International Music Festival

The opening ceremony for the 28th Macao International Music Festival (MIMF), organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym), was held at the Macao Cultural Centre lobby, next to the Grand Auditorium, on October 3, at 7.10pm. “Norma – Opera in 2 Acts by Vincenzo Bellini” marks the Festival’s grand opening, kicking off the event. The MIMF offers a great diversity of attractive shows, including opera, musicals, large-scale symphony music and chamber music performances, among others, which come together in a magnificent cultural and musical event. Ticket sales for this edition of the Festival have enjoyed great success and the continued use of World Heritage Sites as performance stages offers a sumptuous annual musical banquet to local residents and musical arts lovers from neighbouring regions.

Present in the opening ceremony were President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government, Dr. Ung Vai Meng, Director of the Macao S.A.R. Government Tourist Office, Ms. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, President of the Macao Foundation, Mr. Wu Zhiliang, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Education and Culture of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao S.A.R,. Ms. Xu Ting, Vice President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government, Dr. Leung Hio Ming, Consultants to the Macao International Music Festival, Mr. Warren Mok, Mr. Yang Yandi, and Mr. Cao Yiji, Members of the Cultural Consultative Committee, Mr. Vitor Ng, Ms. Tong Mui Siu, Mr. Dai Ding Cheng, Member of the Macao Orchestra Consultative Committee, Mr. Che Chi Wai and Prof. Kevin Thompson.

The MIMF programme is carefully designed each year in order to offer music fans a splendid and diversified event, relying on great professionals and first class productions. This year, Italian Teatro Regio Torino, an institution that proudly carries centuries of theatrical experience, opens the Festival with “Norma – Opera in 2 Acts by Vincenzo Bellini”, gathering extraordinary opera singers and actors under the baton of Macao Orchestra’s Conductor and Music Director, Lü Jia, and including performances by the Coro Lirico Siciliano and the Macao Orchestra. This opera, premiered in 1831, is considered Bellini’s masterpiece, boasting a dramatic plot, beautiful melodies and refined orchestral music.

Following the opening show, the Coro Lirico Siciliano takes to St. Dominic’s Church stage, on October 8, to interpret Gioachino Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle. Mount Fortress, a World Heritage Site, welcomes concerts by the Dominic Miller Band and the Aaron Goldberg Trio, on October 9 and 11, respectively, giving the audience a true open-air feast for the senses. Seating for these two concerts is not assigned and audience members should arrive in good time to the venue.

Additionally, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, enjoying a long history as well as a rich production experience, presents two intermezzos by Giovanni Battista Martini, Il Don Chisciotte, from October 9 to 11, and Il Maestro di Musica, from October 10 to 12, two satires to the ills of the world, offering a unique operatic experience at the Dom Pedro V Theatre.

Tickets for the Festival have been highly sought after and are now available only in limited numbers. Interested members of the public should purchase their tickets as briefly as possible. Tickets for the 28th MIMF are on sale at all Macau Ticketing Network outlets. For more information, please access IC’s website at www.icm.gov.mo/fimm. Ticketing hotline (available 24 hours): 2855 5555.