24^th MACAO INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL

The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government presents the 24^th Macao International Music Festival (MIMF) from October 3^rd to November 7^th, 2010.

Each year the Macao International Music Festival brings internationally renowned artists from all over the world to Macao. Over the course of its decades-long history, the MIMF has gradually evolved into the major musical event in the territory, seeking to promote a balanced range of performances in order to reflect the diversity and uniqueness of Macao. It also strives to enrich the cultural life of the region while meeting the expectations and aspirations of the community.

This year’s festival boasts a diverse schedule embracing Western and Chinese opera, symphonic, choral and chamber music and performances in the contemporary, folk, pop, fusion and jazz genres, offering the public yet another dynamic encounter between East and West. Twenty-two diverse programmes – from Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovakia, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, the USA, Chile, Australia, Hong Kong, Macao and Mainland China – bathe Macao's stages in both ancient and modern sonic colours.

Inaugurating this 24^th edition of the MIMF is the GÜRZENICH-ORCHESTRA COLOGNE (3/10, Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium, 8pm), a nearly two-century-old German ensemble now touring Asia with Chief Conductor Markus Stenz at the helm. The Festival’s offering of symphonic music then proceeds with a concert titled ROMANTIC - THE MACAO ORCHESTRA AND JIAN WANG (9/10, Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium, 8pm). The distinguished cellist Jian Wang makes a repeat visit to Macao, this time performing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, the last solo concerto from the famed Bohemian composer, written in 1894-95 while he was in New York. Born and raised in China, Jian Wang was discovered at an early age by Isaac Stern, whose encouragement and support paved the way for Jian Wang’s travel to the United States. In 1985 he entered the Yale School of Music, where he studied with renowned cellist Aldo Parisot. From then on, his career has gone from strength to strength.

The year 2010 marks the 200^th birthday of one of history’s most notable pianists and composers, Fryderyk Chopin. To celebrate this event, the 24^th MIMF hosts the internationally acclaimed young Chinese pianist YUNDI LI in recital (4/10, Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium, 8pm). The youngest winner of the prestigious International Chopin Competition, Li was the first pianist in 15 years to be awarded the coveted prize and is the first ever Chinese musician so honoured. Li astonishes the world with his fluid approach to the piano and his masterful interpretation of Chopin, his best loved composer.

CANTONESE OPERA (Yueju) occupies a special place in this year’s MIMF. In 2009 it was officially inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This unique and mesmerising Chinese performing art combines Mandarin operatic extravaganza and Cantonese dialect to render a rich array of stories that provide a cultural bond among Cantonese speakers all over the world. This year, the MIMF invites top stars from the Hong Kong opera scene to bring to life two of the most moving love stories of the Yueju repertoire, THE PURPLE HAIRPIN and THE MOON PAVILION (16, 17/10, Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium, 8pm).

This year, the MIMF features for the first time a Baroque Western opera, DIDO AND AENEAS, an OPERA IN 3 ACTS BY HENRY PURCELL (15-17/10, Dom Pedro V Theatre, 3pm [17/10], 8pm). Lasting little more than an hour, this brilliant work by the greatest English composer of his time, encompasses a broad range of expressive music, from a high-spirited sailor’s dance to one of the most touching operatic arias, Dido’s lament “When I am laid in Earth”. An exciting new production not to be missed!

The rich classical and contemporary chamber music programme of the 24^th MIMF begins with a concert by the HENSCHEL QUARTET(5/10, Dom Pedro V Theatre, 8pm). One of today’s leading string quartets, the Henschel Quartet have been leading an impressive international career and receiving constant critical acclaim. On October 8^th comes a performance from the THE BERGEN WOODWIND QUINTET (Dom Pedro V Theatre, 8pm), a well-known chamber music ensemble based in Bergen, Norway. For years it has been among the leading groups in Scandinavia, performing to great acclaim the world over. On October 24^th, the MUNICH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA will charm the public at the Macao Cultural Centre Small Auditorium (8pm). Under the artistic leadership of Alexander Liebreich since 2006, the ensemble has made wilful programming its trademark and has received international recognition for it. The next day, the American based YING QUARTET presents a contemporary music concert (25/10, Dom Pedro V Theatre, 8pm). Now in its second decade, the Ying Quartet has established itself as an ensemble of the highest musical qualifications on its tours across the United States and abroad. On October 26^th, CELLO PROJECT – ECKART RUNGE AND JACQUES AMMON (Dom Pedro V Theatre, 8pm) will thrill the audience with their high level of creativity, evident in both their original arrangements and their distinctive choice of repertoire. October 27^th brings yet another contemporary music programme, as the AMERICAN BRASS QUINTET performs at the Macao Cultural Centre’s Small Auditorium (8pm). Hailed as “the high priests of brass” by Newsweek and “of all the brass quintets, the most distinguished” by the American Record Guide, the ABQ, founded in 1960, has clearly defined itself among the elite chamber music ensembles of our time. Completing the extensive chamber music programme of the Festival, multi-award-winning pianist OLIVER TRIENDL joins the SINE NOMINE STRING QUARTET for a magnificent concert at the Dom Pedro V Theatre (2/11, 8pm). Founded in 1975 in Lausanne, Switzerland, the Sine Nomine Quartet – whose name is Latin for “No Name”, symbolising the devotion of these artists to the composers whose music they perform – has existed in its present formation since 1982. In their nearly two decades of playing together, the members have developed a remarkable, finely tuned sensitivity to each other’s musical thinking.

DIE SINGPHONIKER are six musical personalities who constantly reinvent themselves and complement and inspire one another in order to achieve outstanding performances (7/10, Dom Pedro V Theatre, 8pm). Their distinctive authenticity, devotion to music and joy in singing are carried over directly to their audiences. It is intriguing how they combine ensemble spirit and artistic individuality to form a homogeneous sound of the highest quality. Die Singphoniker have established themselves among the leading specialists for vocal chamber music, particularly that of the Romantic era. On October 28^th, even more voices will soar. Fine tuned by choirmaster Pavol Procházka, the singers of the SLOVAK NATIONAL THEATRE CHORUS (St. Dominic’s Church, 8pm) perform a diverse programme of sacred music.

Early music is also part of the 24^th MIMF programme. Directed by musician, researcher and self-taught Portuguese guitarist Pedro Caldeira Cabral, the Portuguese ensemble CONCERTO ATLÂNTICO(10/10, St. Dominic’s Church, 8pm) is comprised of musicians specialising in the interpretation of 15^th and 16^th-century repertoire. In their O Gloriosa Domina concert (dedicated to the Virgin Mary), the ensemble’s historic instruments hail from the musical cultures of various lands including China. The group has performed to international acclaim, using period instruments and authentic practices honouring ancient music’s most expressive qualities.

As always, THE MACAO CHINESE ORCHESTRA takes the stage in the company of an invited guest. This year they again honour China’s celebrated singer TERESA TENG in a concert commemorating the 15^th anniversary of the artist’s death (23/11, Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium, 8pm). Lily Chen, widely hailed both by the music community and the public for her fresh, sweet and mellow voice and pure and honest style, will pay tribute to Teresa Teng and cast a spell yet again on all of Macao's Cantopop lovers.

The 24^th MIMF also features fusion music. On October 30^th, in what promises to be a wild concert, Haitian-American Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) and members of his touring ensemble, DBR & THE MISSION, will perform tracks from his newest release, Woodbox Beats & Balladry, which brilliantly echoes DBR’s eclecticism, fusing elements of classical minimalism, dance club beats, traditional ballads and thick distorted noise (Nam Van Lake, 8pm). DBR continues to establish himself as one of today’s most relevant artists on the contemporary classical music scene. On November 1^st, the stage at Nam Van Lake will host Blasted Mechanism, a Portuguese electro-rock band famed for its highly theatrical live shows involving elaborate costumes as a backdrop to their music. Dressed extravagantly in alien-like, tribal, futuristic attire, Blasted Mechanism prove both visually outstanding and melodically sumptuous, combining revolutionary technology with ancestral soundscapes, while blending qualities of alternative rock, electronic music, reggae, dub and folk to create a truly unique musical style.

On October 31^st, acclaimed local rock band SOLER, formed by twin brothers Julio and Dino Acconci, is performing with the Italian OMNIART ENSEMBLE (Mount Fortress, 8pm). Unlike many of today’s artists, who resemble fabricated idols, Soler compose and write all their own music and are renowned for the quality of their live performances.

On the jazz front, the 24^th MIMF presents the unique sound of the JAZZ ORCHESTRA OF THE CONCERTGEBOUW (29/10, Mount Fortress, 8pm). The secret behind this versatile big band’s success lies in its 18 members, currently the most talented jazz musicians in the Netherlands, and in its founder and leader, Henk Meutgeert, who has written and arranged countless compositions for this ensemble. In its fourteen years of existence, the JOC has attracted the attention of and performed with a wide variety of guest soloists, among them Lee Konitz, Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis and Dee Dee Bridgewater, who have no doubt contributed even further to the rising fame of the Orchestra.

The 24^th MIMF’s programme would not be complete without Chinese Folk Music. Building on the success of last year’s performance by the Inner Mongolia Youth Glee Club, the Festival has invited the INNER MONGOLIA YOUTH CHOIR (22/11, Macao Cultural Centre Small Auditorium, 8pm), the next generation of vocal virtuosi from this northern Chinese province. Led by renowned conductor Yalun Gerile and following in the footsteps of their multi-award-winning adult counterparts, they will set the stage ablaze with a gripping performance of choral song and dance to the sound of the morin khuur (horse head fiddle), the yatga (zither) and other distinctive Mongolian instruments.

Giuseppe Verdi’s opera IL TROVATORE,, produced by the MIMF and OPERA AUSTRALIA, brings this autumn’s musical festivities to a close, offering what is sure to be one of the major highlights on this year’s programme. Il Trovatore runs for three consecutive nights (5-7/11, Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium, 8pm). Maestro Lü Jia conducts the Macao Orchestra, and an energetic cast sings in this four-act opera from the pen of an unmatched musical genius.

The MIMF has invested renewed effort to provide workshops, talks and other activities to accompany its events with the aim of stimulating public interest in the arts.

Tickets for the 24^th Macao International Music Festival go on sale at 10am on August 1^st, 2010, at all Kong Seng Ticketing outlets. Telephone and online bookings will be available from 1pm onwards. A variety of discount plans will be offered. Publicity materials available at the ticket counters can provide more detailed information about the programme.

For more information related to the 24^th MIMF, please visit the website of the Cultural Affairs Bureau at: www.icm.gov.mo/fimm

Hotline: (853) 8399 6699
The 24^th Macao International Music Festival has the kind support of the Macao Government Tourist Office.