The 37th Macao International Music Festival (MIMF) will run from 3 October to 8 November with the theme “Vocal Waves.” The programme features 12 headline performances and 14 outreach activities designed to promote exchange between Eastern and Western traditions, according to statements from the Cultural Affairs Bureau (known by its Portuguese initials IC).
This year’s festival marks both the 120th anniversary of the birth of composer Xian Xinghai and the 80th anniversary of China’s defeat of Japan in World War II, with commemorative concerts including River of Legacy by the Macao Chinese Orchestra and The Yellow River by the Macao Orchestra with pianist Cheong Hoi Leong.
The festival will open with Bizet’s Carmen, co-produced with Opernhaus Zürich and Opéra Comique, featuring the Macao Orchestra, the China National Symphony Orchestra Chorus and the Macao Youth Choir.
Other performances include Russian pianist Mikhail Pletnev performing Rachmaninoff’s four piano concertos with the Rachmaninoff International Orchestra, fado singer Cuca Roseta with the Macao Chinese Orchestra, and Pas de Deux for Toes and Fingers featuring Bolshoi ballerina Svetlana Zakharova and violinist Vadim Repin.
Violinist Daniel Hope will join the Gstaad Festival Orchestra for Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Max Richter’s reimagined version, while baritone Thomas Hampson will present songs by Mahler. The English Concert and Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir will also perform works spanning Handel to Arvo Pärt.
[See more: Late Macao composer Xian Xinghai commemorated with donations from Kazakhstan]
The festival’s outreach programme will feature pre-show talks, backstage tours, workshops, film screenings and interactive sessions.
Highlights include a talk titled “Unravelling Carmen,” where the audience will be guided through the opera’s musical and dramatic genius, as well as a backstage tour of the production. The internationally acclaimed sheng soloist and composer Wu Wei, meanwhile, will run an improvisation workshop.
Film lovers can attend Music on the Big Screen: Cinematheque Passion, a series of screenings designed to deepen understanding of music and its cultural contexts.
Tickets for film screenings go on sale from 10 am on 13 September, while registration for workshops and tours opens 12 September via the Macao One Account. More details are available here.
