A Social Call
The 31st Macao International Music Festival (MIMF), organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, came to a successful close on 30 October with a sold-out and highly acclaimed concert performed by the Vienna Philharmonic. Ticket sales for this edition reached nearly 97%, a highly satisfactory result that relied on the public’s enthusiastic support and participation. In addition, several art critics gave their high praise to this edition’s programmes and released positive reviews, thereby giving even more meaning to the Festival.
This edition of the Festival kicked off with Umberto Giordano’s opera in four acts Andrea Chénier, which was praised by art critics outside Macao for the “excellent vocal technique of the male and female voices” and for its “thrilling arias”, with other critics commending the choreography’s distinguishing features, in particular the performance by students from the Macao Conservatory that proved to be remarkably professional. South African Soweto Gospel Choir filled Mount Fortress, a world heritage site, part of the Jesuit-built St. Paul’s College, with religious and spiritual songs, in a rare performance where singers took to the stage of a historical place, harmoniously combining landscape, people and art. The Vienna Philharmonic brought the 31st MIMF to a close with two consecutive concerts at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium, performing works by great German and Austrian composers. The sold-out concerts “The Golden Peak” and “Timeless Beethoven” left the audience in attendance long-lasting memories. The Philharmonic was keen to take part in the Macao International Music Festival, already boasting 30 years of history, praising the professional organization of the MIMF and its careful planning.
Taking “Rising Stars” as theme, this edition of the MIMF invited several rising starts from international music circles to reveal their talent on the Festival’s stages. These included South-Korean Novus String Quartet, a chamber music ensemble of the new generation, who performed pieces by celebrated composers such as Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Ravel with great emotion; el fog (Masayoshi Fujita), known as the “sound magician”, made use of innovative performing methods to create truly hypnotizing sound landscapes; in turn, American jazz singer Jazzmeia Horn, gifted with a unique voice, performed several themes from her album “A Social Call” and filled Mount Fortress with the energy of jazz music. This year’s Outreach Programme was highly sought after, counting with the participation of over 580 people in several talks, pre-show talks, backstage tours, master classes, workshops and community activities.
In order to offer the public a music festival with an international scope, the Cultural Affairs Bureau currently plans the MIMF’s programme two to three years in advance, allocating ample time to make the necessary arrangements and preparations and thereby ensure the quality of the Festival’s programmes. Next year, the MIMF will be Latin-themed and preparations are already underway in order to continue to offer remarkable performances to the population.
