The 34^th Macao International Music Festival (MIMF), organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym), was inaugurated on 25 September. The opening ceremony was held at 7:40pm on the same day in the lobby of the Macao Cultural Centre, and was officiated by the President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Leong Wai Man; the Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes; the Deputy Director of the Department of Publicity and Culture of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR, Tian Xiaoping; the Chairman of the Executive Committee of Teledifusão de Macau, S.A., Lo Song Man; the President of Sands China Ltd., Dr. Wilfred Wong; the Assistant to Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Corporate Quality Division of Air Macau Company Limited, Wen Dexin; and the General Manager of Banking Center of the Bank of China Macau Branch, Leong Sai Kun.

Themed “Song of Tomorrow”, this edition of the MIMF brings together the melodies of joy, love and hope to create a kaleidoscopic spiritual world, inspiring the public to move forward with music and welcome a bright future. In the opening performance Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg, the brand-new cross-disciplinary team allows the audience to experience the beauty of the combination of music and theatre, recreating the world of fantasy written by playwright Henrik Ibsen and composer Edvard Grieg.

On 2 October, in the concert Variations of Jade – The Journey of Tang Poetry, bass-baritone Shenyang, known for his diverse singing styles, will team up with pianist Zhang Yiming and local actor Wong Pak Hou, offering the audience a feast of Tang poetry-inspired songs. In the 19^th century, many Western sinologists and poets translated Tang poetry into other languages. Among them is Die chinesische Flöte, a poetry collection published by German poet Hans Bethge in 1907 that is one of the important publications for translations and adaptations of Tang poetry, and inspired many great composers such as Mahler, Webern and Penderecki to compose moving music. The concert will feature a number of musical pieces from Die chinesische Flöte.

In addition, Li Xiaochuan, hailed as “a leading light on the Chinese jazz scene”, will collaborate with several jazz players from Mainland China to offer a repertoire of widely acclaimed jazz pieces in Macao. In the concert by the Cantonese Music Assembly, young performers of Chinese music from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will present well-known Cantonese music and the premiere of the Cantonese music composition Sunset Clouds in Autumn in Macao, presenting an image of Cantonese music with Lingnan culture, showing the innovation throughout the transmission of Cantonese music.

This edition of the Festival will also launch an online prize game, with the first phase of the game to be rolled out on the MIMF page on Facebook from today until 27 September (Tuesday). Participants will stand a chance to win two round-trip economy class tickets from Macao to any destination operated by Air Macau and tickets for the performance Variations of Jade – The Journey of Tang Poetry. For details, please refer to the respective page on Facebook.

Various discounts are on offer at this year’s MIMF. The maximum indoor capacity for this edition of the MIMF programmes is limited to 75%. In line with the anti-epidemic guidelines issued by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of the Health Bureau, members of the public must present one of the following documents before entering the venue: proof of completion of the whole course of the COVID-19 primary vaccination series (which includes two doses of the inactivated vaccine or the mRNA vaccine) at least 14 days prior, or a negative nucleic acid test result issued within 48 hours (self-paid). Those who fail to provide the aforementioned documentation are not allowed to enter the venue and their tickets will not be refunded. In addition, audience members must wear their own face mask, undergo body temperature checks, present a valid “Venue QR Code” (also known as “Venue Code”) and the “Macao Health Code” of the day, and follow the relevant anti-epidemic measures and crowd control measures on-site. Those with a fever or respiratory symptoms are not allowed to enter the venue.

For more information about the programmes and offers, please visit the Festival’s webpage at www.icm.gov.mo/fimm or the respective page on Facebook (“Macao International Music Festival”). For enquiries, please contact IC through tel. no. 8399 6699 during office hours. 24-hour ticketing hotlines: 2855 5555 (Macao), 2380 5083 (Hong Kong) and 139 2691 1111 (Mainland China). Ticketing website: www.macauticket.com.