22nd Macao International Music Festival October 5 – November 2, 2008

The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government presents the 22nd Macao International Music Festival (MIMF) from October 5th to November 2nd, 2008. 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, it has gradually evolved into the major musical event in the territory. The MIMF seeks 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 programme embraces opera, symphonic, choral and chamber music, as well as contemporary, folk, pop and jazz music. Also offered is yet another dynamic encounter between East and West. Headlining and opening the programme of the 22nd MIMF is a British orchestra with worldwide renown. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) has been for more than half a century "Britain's national orchestra" and has upheld the vision of its founder, Sir Thomas Beecham, bringing world-class performances of the greatest music ever written to a growing public, both at home and on its many tours across the globe. On their maiden voyage to Macao, the musicians of the RPO are led by renowned Principal Guest Conductor Leonard Slatkin (5/10, at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium, 8pm). The symphonic programme of the festival proceeds with celebrated British conductor Bramwell Tovey, who returns to Macao to conduct the third largest symphony orchestra in Canada, of which he is now Music Director. The Grammy Award-winning (2008) Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (14/10, MCC-GA, 8pm) is joined by Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn, who at the age of 28 is one of the most compelling artists on the international concert circuit. Still more international artists travel to the MSAR this year, presenting an MIMF edition rich in diversity. Seventeen programmes of traditional, classical, pop, jazz and new music from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Portugal, the USA, Canada, Australia and Mainland China bathe Macao's stages in both ancient and experimental sonic colours. Europe comes into view as a quintet, a quartet and a trio celebrate the classical chamber music tradition at Dom Pedro V Theatre. The much lauded Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet (7/10, Dom Pedro V Theatre, 8pm) is the first permanently established wind quintet affiliated with the famous German orchestra. The group continues to astonish audiences worldwide with its range of expression, tonal spectrum and conceptual unity, succeeding in virtually the entire range of the wind quintet literature. The no less celebrated Haydn Quartet returns to Macao (25/10, Dom Pedro V Theatre, 8pm) to delight the public with a programme featuring one of the Austrian composer’s masterpieces for four string players. The ensemble is destined to perform the entire cycle of Haydn's 69 string quartets in Vienna in 2009, for a special concert series celebrating the composer’s bicentennial. On October 8th (Dom Pedro V Theatre, 8pm) Trio Apollon ignites an emotional fuse leading to their native Germany, performing masterworks of the German Romantic repertoire. The trio has won over the hearts of audiences worldwide with performances at New York's Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, Tokyo's Suntory Hall and venues in London and Paris. On the jazz front, the festival's offering is rich and varied. The unique sound of Kolsimcha the World Quintet (9/10, Mount Fortress, 8pm) has captivated and enthralled demanding audiences at New York's Carnegie Hall and London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, as well as those at the most renowned jazz, classical and world music festivals on three continents. Through their original musical language, the Swiss quintet shares enthusiasm and virtuosity, generating a concert atmosphere unlike any other. The sound of jazz soars from Mount Fortress once again played by the Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra (19/10, 8pm). This big band from the USA has captivated listeners around the world with its unique blend of South American grooves, Argentine folk songs, the passion of tango and jazz improvisation. Mr. Giraudo, in the tradition of such composers as Duke Ellington and Carla Bley, highlights the unique talents of each band member, masterfully weaving together both pre-composed and improvised elements. World music is a must in the MIMF, and this year the genre is represented by Portuguese multi-instrumentalist and Latin Grammy Award-winner Júlio Pereira (24/10, Dom Pedro V Theatre, 8pm). This major figure in the world of late 20th-century Portuguese music strives to incorporate the sounds of his native land into the aesthetic currents that have characterised a varied succession of “contemporaneities” on the international scene. His oeuvre is devoted to reviving performance on nearly-lost traditional instruments, and he works toward a synthesis of traditional sounds with new and ever-changing acoustic possibilities. The festival’s programme would not be complete without Chinese Folk Music (26/10, Mount Fortress, 8pm). For the Dong and the Miao/Hmong minority groups, dwelling in remote villages in Guizhou Province has given rise to a truly remarkable musical tradition, which harkens back to a pre-literate society where history and culture were passed orally from generation to generation and every aspect of life was expressed in song. As always, the Macao Chinese Orchestra takes the stage in the company of an invited guest. This year they honour Hong Kong’s celebrated martial arts hero and pop star Adam Cheng with a musical stroll down the Festival's red carpet (10-12/10, MCC-GA, 8pm). Adam Cheng has spent the last thirty years leaping back and forth from the screen to the stage, switching between the roles of iconic wushu master and romantic Cantopop singer. Adam’s dreamy, soft voice, together with his charisma and perpetual smile, have charmed a multitude of fans since his first taste of success during the 1970s. The second appearance of the Macao Chinese Orchestra (18/10, MCC-GA, 8pm) is truly a one-of-a-kind concert, offering the public a “Golden Lotus Flower” from Macao Psalms and excerpts from The Bewitching Braid, two world premieres commissioned by the Cultural Affairs Bureau from renowned Chinese composers Tang Jianping and Guan Naizhong. The orchestra pays homage as well to such ancient instruments as the pipa and dizi, on a voyage into the sounds of Chinese tradition. The Macao Orchestra, in turn, invites the distinguished Hungarian Ars Nova Vocal Ensemble (17/10, St. Dominic’s Church, 8pm) for an all-Mozart programme celebrating some of the most appreciated sacred music from the Austrian genius. Ars Nova was founded in 1990 by Katalin Kiss, its Artistic Director, and has enjoyed considerable success in various contests, winning the First Prize at the Rhodes International Choir Competition in Greece in 2005. The 14-voice ensemble returns to the applause of audiences on October 21st (St. Dominic’s Church, 8pm) to reveal the mysteries of Hungarian choral music from the 19th and 20th centuries, enriched by an interlude featuring modern settings of the Prayers of St. Francis of Assisi written by non-Hungarian composers. Still more voices soar in the MIMF. The second day of the Festival brings a concert by the St. Florian Boys’ Choir (6/10, St. Joseph’s Seminary Church, 8pm), a group that boasts a nearly one-thousand-year-old tradition. This internationally acclaimed chorus was, in the old days, responsible for providing church music for the Convent of St. Florian in Austria, and from its ranks have come such musicians of note as Anton Bruckner. Conductor Franz Farnberger steers the St. Florian Boys’ Choir over musical waves, dropping anchor in the deep waters of the Austrian tradition. Some two weeks later Macao audiences hear from the Hannover Girls’ Choir (23/10, Our Lady of Fátima Church, 8pm), one of the best known youth choruses in Germany. The Choir commands a broad range of music and styles, with a focus on contemporary choral works, and has contributed to the development of the repertoire for youth and women’s choirs by commissioning a number of new works. This year’s programme marks the return of the guitar to the festival. Brothers Slava and Leonard Grigoryan, born in Kazakhstan and raised in Australia, emerged in the past decade as two of the world’s most original classical guitarists. Together, they possess effortless virtuosity and brilliant musicianship in standard repertoire for the classical guitar, crossover material and contemporary compositions – an eclectic blend of musical styles well-represented on their MIMF concert programme (28/10, Dom Pedro V Theatre, 8pm). A trio of operas produced by Macao veterans Opéra de Nice closes the MIMF in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Giacomo Puccini’s birth. Il Trittico remains on the scene for three nights (31/10-2/11, MCC-GA, 7:30pm). Finnish conductor Jari Hämäläinen returns to conduct the Macao Orchestra after last year’s success with Rigoletto. An energetic cast sings this trio of one-act operas from the pen of a Puccini brimming with emotion. The great Italian composer was adamant that his triptych – Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi – be performed as a set, and he was always infuriated whenever they were separated. This year, for Puccini's birthday, Macao honours his wish. The MIMF has invested renewed effort to provide workshops and conferences to accompany its events with the aim of stimulating public interest in the arts. As in previous editions of the MIMF, some of the performing groups' rehearsals will be open to the public. Tickets for the 22nd Macao International Music Festival go on sale at 10am on July 27th, 2008, at all Kong Seng Ticketing outlets. Telephone and online bookings will be available from 2pm 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 22nd MIMF, please visit the website of the Cultural Affairs Bureau at: www.icm.gov.mo/fimm which will be available from 5pm onwards on July 18th.
E-mail: fimm@icm.gov.mo
Information: (853) 2855 5555 Macao (852) 2380 5083 Hong Kong ( 86) 139 269 11111 Pearl River Delta Region Online Reservations: www.macauticket.net Hotline: (853) 8399 6699
The 22nd Macao International Music Festival has the kind support of the Macao Government Tourist Office.