Author: Macao Orchestra

The Macao Orchestra (OM), under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, is devoted to organizing different types concerts every concert season, sending blessings to all social groups through music. The Orchestra held the concerts “Love Music‧Love Devotion” at Hospital Conde S. Januário, Sir Robert Ho Tung Library and the Coloane Prison in June, contributing to the community with its musical performances and sharing the world of music with the public.

On 14 June, OM held a flash mob concert at Hospital Conde S. Januário, playing melodious music and cheering up the medical staff and the patients. On 29 June, the Orchestra performed Mozart’s string quartets at the Sir Robert Ho Tung Library, showcasing the beauty of classical music, attracting many readers and listeners. On 30 June, the Orchestra also visited the Coloane Prison where it held two string concerts for the prisoners.

By organising the concerts “Love Music‧Love Devotion”, OM aims to convey its care and blessings to the community, offering opportunities for all social groups to enrich their own cultural qualities.

The Macao Orchestra (OM, from the Portuguese acronym), under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, presents the concert “When Music Speaks”, part of the concert series “Music for All”, on Saturday, 8 July, at 8pm, at the Dom Pedro V Theatre. World-renowned conductor Lü Jia, OM’s Music Director and Principal Conductor, will meet music fans face-to-face and elaborate on chamber music of Mozart and Mendelssohn. Admission to the concert is free.

In this concert, the OM under Lü Jia performs excerpts of Mozart’s Serenade No. 10 in B-flat Major, “Gran partita”, which features clear and crisp instrumental solos and an extraordinary resonance in the orchestra sections, thereby captivating the audience’s attention. Furthermore, excerpts of the melodic and romantic String Octet in E-flat Major by Mendelssohn will bring the evening to a close. During the concert, conductor Lü Jia will share secrets of music pieces and instruments with the audience. The Orchestra will also make demonstrations, promoting a more dynamic interaction with the public. The conductor will also share his conducting experiences, allowing music fans to have a better understanding about orchestras and classical music from different perspectives. This concert will allow the audience to get to know more about chamber music, offering an opportunity for them to unveil the secrets of classical music in different ways.

Admission to the concert “When Music Speaks” is free. Interested parties can register through tel. no. 2853 0782, during office hours, or follow OM’s official WeChat account. Reserved tickets must be collected from 19 to 30 June at the Cultural Affairs Bureau Building, during office hours. Tickets are limited and those interested should make their reservations as soon as possible. For more information about the concert, please visit OM’s webpage at www.icm.gov.mo.

The Macao Orchestra (OM, from the Portuguese acronym) under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, presented the concert “Piano Encounter – Meet Louis Again”, part of the Orchestra’s Maestros with Charisma series, on Saturday, 10 June, at 8pm, at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium. Two renowned musicians in the music circles, Hungarian conductor Gilbert Varga and Swiss-Chinese pianist Louis Schwizgebel, were invited to perform with the OM, offering the public a high-quality concert.

The concert’s programme included Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, which pianist Louis Schwizgebel recorded last year with the BBC Symphonic Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Overturn to The Fair Melusina and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 in D major. Mendelssohn’s Overturn to The Fair Melusina describes a medieval French legend and opened the evening with its beautiful melodies. In turn, Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor reflected the splendour and sophistication of French music and its tradition of witty humour. Finally, Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 in D Major brought subtle feelings of tranquillity. Acclaimed Hungarian conductor Gilbert Varga used his meticulous and refined conducting technique to present the three musical pieces in a brilliant and vivid way.

In tandem with this concert, OM organised the sharing session “Music hour with Louis Schwizgebel” on 9 June, at the Macao Cultural Centre Conference Room, where the pianist Louis Schwizgebel shared with music aficionados the perseverance and devotion behind his career, allowing the public to benefit of musical aspects.

Additionally, OM will present the concert “Weekend Music Party – Memory of Youth” on Saturday, 24 June, at 4pm, at the Dom Pedro V Theatre, certainly a concert music fans must not miss. After the concert, the Macao film Our Seventeen will be screened, recalling the audience memories of youth and the pursuit of music dreams in their youth. All interested parties can join the film appreciation session held on the same day by presenting the ticket of the concert “Weekend Music Party – Memory of Youth”. Tickets for the concert “Weekend Music Party –Memory of Youth” are available at the Macao Ticketing Network at the price of MOP120 and MOP100, with various discount packages available. Ticketing hotline: 2855 5555. For details and enquiries about the programme, please visit Macao Orchestra’s website at www.icm.gov.mo/om.

The Macao Orchestra (OM), under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, presented the concert “Children’s Day Concert – The Adventure of DoReMi” on 3 June, at 2:30pm and 5pm, at the Macau Tower Auditorium. Students from Escola Cáritas de Macau accompanied by parents, were specially invited for the concerts to closely experience the art of music. The concerts attracted many children and parents, offering a lively and cheerful atmosphere and providing the children an opportunity to experience classical music.

The “Children’s Day Concert – The Adventure of DoReMi” is an educational concert held by the Macao Orchestra. This year, OM accompanied the original play “The Adventure of DoReMi” in collaboration with the Little Mountain Arts Association, the first local art organisation mainly dedicated to the development of parent-child oriented stage arts, whose lively performance accompanied by dynamic interactions between the Assistant Conductor Francis Kan and the audience, encouraged the creative imagination of both children and parents, bursting into applause and laughter throughout the concerts. The concerts not only offered a wonderful weekend to the children and parents, but also brought the musical inspiration to the children.

The Macao Orchestra also invited students from Escola Cáritas de Macau and their parents to enjoy the concerts, sharing the endless artistic and spiritual beauty of music. The principal expressed his gratitude for OM’s arrangement and believes it was a precious opportunity for the students, hoping they can learn from different areas.

In addition, the Macao Orchestra is offering the children another experience in exploring classical music by presenting the concert “Music in Library: Happy Reading, Enjoy Music”, on Saturday, 17 June, at 5:15pm, at the Taipa Library. The concert will feature a flute and oboe duet, aiming to share the enchanting sounds of the instruments with children and music lovers. Admission is free. All interested parties are welcome to participate. For details and programme inquiries, please contact OM through tel. no. 2853 0782 during office hours or visit the Macao Orchestra website: www.icm.gov.mo/om.

The Macao Orchestra (OM, from the Portuguese acronym), under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, will present the concert “Weekend Music Party – Memory of Youth” on Saturday, 24 June, at 4pm, at the Dom Pedro V Theatre. Tickets are now available at the Macau Ticketing Network.

The concert “Weekend Music Party – Memory of Youth” will present the theme songs and ending songs of popular films and TV shows specially selected by OM, allowing the public to reminisce about old memories of youth and experience the classic characters, dialogues and scores of the films. The concert will feature a number of Chinese and foreign classic songs, such as Triumph in the Skies, Really love you, Red Sun, Close to You, and Big Big World, among others. These familiar songs will recall the audience the precious and unforgettable memories of their youth.

After the concert, the Macao film Our Seventeen, by local director Emily Chan performed by Pang Veng Sam, Angela Yuen, King Wu, Kyle Li, Mary Ma and Kate Leong, will be screened at the same venue at 7:30pm, recalling the audience memories of youth and the pursuit of music dreams in their youth. Interested parties can join the film appreciation session held on the same day by presenting the ticket of the concert “Weekend Music Party – Memory of Youth”, and spend a wonderful weekend in pursuing their dreams.

Tickets for the concert “Weekend Music Party –Memory of Youth” are priced at MOP120 and MOP100. Ticketing hotline: 2855 5555. For details and enquiries about the programme, please contact OM through tel. no. 2853 0782 or visit Macao Orchestra’s website at www.om-macau.org.

The concert “Resonance through Space-Time”, integrated in the 28^th Macao Arts Festival, organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, was successfully held on 23 May at The Venetian Theatre. The Macao Orchestra (OM, from the Portuguese acronym) joined hands with young Spanish conductor Jose Luis Gomez and Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulovic, offering the public an evening of classical rock music. The concert was supported by The Venetian Macao and was extremely well received by the public.

This extraordinary concert was filled with a lively atmosphere throughout the evening that enthralled the public. Conductor Jose Luis Gomez collaborated with Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulovic to perform a number of works and arrangements by French composer Maurice Ravel. The opening piece, Alborada del Gracioso, is the fourth piece of the Piano Suite Miroirs (Mirrors), and it is the liveliest of its pieces. The ensemble chose to interpret the orchestral piece adapted by Ravel, which exudes a completely different emotion than that of the original piano version, with the suite presenting a more clear-cut humorous and satirical image of the jester. This was followed by the rhapsody concerto Tzigane, originally composed as a violin solo and which was masterfully played by Nemanja Radulovic, whose brilliant technique can be compared to that of Paganini. The piece for violin and orchestra Poème, by Ernest Chausson, started off with a mysterious and slow introduction accompanied by the delicate and repeated sounds of the orchestra, followed by a soft violin solo, building up the rhythm, slowing down once more and reaching an emotional climax before a soft ending. Ravel’s orchestral adaption of the piece Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky brought the concert to a successful end.

OM will also present the romantic concert “Piano Encounter – Meet Louis Again” on Saturday, 10 June, at 8pm, at the Macao Cultural Centre, led by internationally acclaimed conductor Gilbert Varga with the collaboration of young pianist Louis Schwizgebel. Tickets for the concert are priced at MOP250, MOP200 and MOP150, with various discount packages available. Ticketing hotline: 2855 5555. For details and enquiries about the programme, please contact OM through tel. no. 2853 0782, during office hours, or visit the OM’s webpage at www.icm.gov.mo/om.

The Macao Orchestra (OM, from the Portuguese acronym), under the Cultural Affairs Bureau, presented the concert “The Future of Classical Music” on 13 May, at the University Hall of the University of Macao, in which music aficionados and students were directed by the Orchestra’s Assistant Conductor Francis Kan. Numerous students and music lovers attended the concert, thereby sharing a wonderful evening.

        OM has always been committed to provide a performance platform and art resources, thereby, offering opportunities and a cooperation space to all music lovers. In the concert, OM presented several musical pieces with a patriotic stance and love for the homeland, such as Vltava from Má Vlast by Bedřich Smetana, Pavane by Gabriel Fauré, Holberg Suite by Edvard Grieg and the Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A Major by George Enescu, among others. The concert opened with Má Vlast which depicts country scenery filled with Czech characteristics; followed by the refined chamber music piece Pavane, a piece in which the interaction between the string instruments left the audience enraptured; in turn, Grieg’s Holberg Suite, recreating the classical French baroque style, allowed the audience to feel the intense contrast between splendorous and solemn moments through the quick rhythm of the performance; finally, the Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A Major, brimming with a Romanian nationalist enthusiasm, brought joyful and intense moments to the stage, bringing the concert to a climatic end. In addition to OM, several university and youth orchestras and ensembles participated in this concert. The students expressed that performing with a professional orchestra had been an unforgettable experience and that it was an opportunity for them to improve their musical level and gain practical experience.

        OM will present the concert “Music in Library: Happy Reading, Enjoy Music” on Saturday, 27 May, at 5:15pm, at the Taipa Library, in which OM’s cellist Zhang Taiyang and double bassist Chen Chao will share music with the children and music lovers. All interested parties are welcome to attend. For details and enquiries about the programme, please contact OM through tel. no. 2853 0782, during office hours, or visit OM’s webpage at www.icm.gov.mo/om.

The Macao Orchestra (OM, from the Portuguese acronym) under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, under the baton of the Orchestra’s Assistant Conductor Francis Kan, will join hands with local musicians to present the concert “The Future of Classical Music” on Saturday, 13 May, at 8pm, at the University Hall of the University of Macau. Admission is free.

The OM provides a performance platform for young musicians to fulfil their dreams. Every year, OM performs jointly with young music students and music lovers, allowing them to showcase their talent. Under the baton of conductor Francis Kan, this year OM will present Vltava from Má Vlast by Smetana, Pavane by Fauré, Holberg Suite by Grieg and Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 by Enescu. The programme of the concert fully demonstrates the strength of the musicians. Performing groups also include The University of Macau String Orchestra, The University of Macau Symphonic Band, Macau Strings Association, Macau Band Directors Association, The Student Philharmonic Orchestra of the Macao Conservatory, students of the Bachelor of Arts in Music course from the Macao Polytechnic Institute and two local young music talents, Chan Hoi Kei and Elisa Chon Teng.

Admission to the concert “The Future of Classical Music” is free. A limited number of tickets is still available. Interested parties can reserve tickets through tel. no. 2853 0782 during office hours. For programme enquiries, please visit the Macao Orchestra’s website at www.icm.gov.mo/om

The 28^th Macao Arts Festival, organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, takes “Heterotopia” as theme and offers a wide array of performances, among which the Macao Orchestra concert “Resonance through Space-Time”, scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 23 May, at 8pm, at The Venetian Theatre. Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulovic will join hands with the young Spanish conductor Jose Luis Gomez to take fans on a musical journey through time. This concert is supported by The Venetian Macao. All interested parties are welcome to purchase their tickets.

Venezuelan-born Spanish conductor Jose Luis Gomez was catapulted to international attention when he won First Prize at the International Sir Georg Solti Conductor’s Competition in Frankfurt in September 2010, following a unanimous decision from the jury. In turn, the charismatic Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulović, winner of “Best Instrumental Soloist of the Year” at the 2014 Victoires de la Musique Classique, in France, conquered the classical music world through his combination of thrilling virtuosity and depth of expression, both in the recording studio and on the concert stage. This is the first time both musicians perform in Macau and join hands with the Macao Orchestra to offer the public performances of Chausson’s piece for violin and orchestra Poème, Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso and Tzigane, Rhapsodie de Concert, as well of Ravel’s arrangement of Mussorgsky’s orchestral suite Pictures at an Exhibition. This is certainly an extraordinary concert not to be missed.

Tickets for “Resonance through Space-Time” are available for sale at the Cotai Ticketing Box Office and Macau Ticketing Network sales counters at the prices of HKD/MOP300 (A Reserve), HKD/MOP200 (B Reserve) and HKD/MOP100 (C Reserve). Tickets may also be purchased through the webpage www.cotaiticketing.com or tel. nos. +853 2882 8818 (Macao), +852 6333 6660 (Hong Kong), the toll free reservation hotline 4001 206 618 (China) as well as through the Macau Ticketing Network webpage www.macauticket.com, or tel. no. 2855 5555 or personally in designated ticket sales points.

For more information about the programmes, ticket purchase and other discounts, please check the 28^th Macao Arts Festival Booklet; the booklet PDF version can be downloaded at www.icm.gov.mo/fam, follow the MAF’s page on Facebook or subscribe to IC’s WeChat account.

The Macao Orchestra (OM, from the Portuguese acronym), under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, presented the concert “Weekend Music Party – Musical Yoga”, part of the special production series, on 22 April, at Dom Pedro V Theatre, presenting a concert dedicated to yoga music for the first time and attracting numerous fans. OM will also present the concert “British Scenery”, part of the Orchestra’s Maestros with Charisma series, on Saturday, 29 April, inviting the public to enjoy an evening at the sound of British music.

The concert “Weekend Music Party – Musical Yoga”, featuring a number of relaxing classical pieces, fused classical music and yoga, allowing the members of the public to find their breathing rhythm in music. Following the concert, an outreach activity entitled “Music Hour – Yoga Workshop” conducted by a professional yoga instructor, was held, offering participants a full body stretching experience. Some of the audience members expressed that the innovative concert and yoga workshop allowed them to relax their body and mind, making it an ideal weekend activity.

In addition, OM will present the concert “British Scenery”, part of the Orchestra’s Maestros with Charisma series, on Saturday, 29 April, at 8pm, at St. Dominic’s Church. World-renowned British conductor Gordon Hunt was specially invited to lead the Orchestra in the performance of Dvořák’s Serenade for Winds in D minor as well as of British composer Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 5 in D Major. It was through his serenades for winds in E Major and in D minor that Dvořák was catapulted from an obscure musician to fame and to being one of the most acclaimed composers of his time. The programme of the concert features the lively Serenade for Winds in D minor, reverberating a deep Czech flavour. The concert also features the elegant and lyrical Symphony No. 5 in D Major by Vaughan Williams. British conductor Gordon Hunt is renowned worldwide, and frequently hosts master classes and cooperates with acclaimed chamber music ensembles. He also holds the position of Principal Oboe at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Philharmonic. As an oboe soloist and a conductor, Hunt has a profound understanding of wind music and is a refined interpreter of British music.

Admission to the concert “British Scenery” is free. Tickets will be distributed at St. Dominic’s Church one hour prior to the performance, on a first-come, first-served basis and are limited to a maximum of two tickets per person. For details and enquiries about the concerts, please contact OM through tel. no. (853) 2853 0782 during office hours or visit the Macao Orchestra webpage at www.om-macau.org.