Organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym), the 35^th Macao International Music Festival (MIMF) will present a series of outstanding programmes to bring the public closer to music. In addition, the event features 14 outreach activities, including talks, pre-show talks, backstage tours, “Meet-the-Artist” sessions, workshops, community activities, charity session and film screenings, spreading music into communities.

In the “Meet-the-Artist” sessions, contemporary leading guqin player Chen Leiji and renowned jazz singer Stacey Kent, who has garnered platinum and gold records several times, are invited to share with music aficionados the beauty of guqin music and unique insights into jazz and literature, respectively. In the talk “Joyful Sentiments – The Ins and Outs of The Barber of Seville”, veteran musician Lu Tai-Wei will lead the audience to analyse the unique glamour of the opera The Barber of Seville. In addition, senior music critic Hung Sze Hang will select several keywords from the programme María de Buenos Aires and elaborate the fantastical yet surreal cross-disciplinary creation in a simple yet in-depth way. Several workshops are also included in the MIMF, such as the “Tango Workshop”, “Naturally 7 Vocal Play Workshop”, and “STEAM - DIY E-Piano Family Workshop”, allowing participants to experience various ways of interpreting music through different types of music demonstrations. Besides, a number of pre-show talks and backstage tours will be available for the audience to have an in-depth understanding and get close to diverse aspects of music, so as to enhance their artistic appreciation.

This edition of the MIMF continues to reach out to the community, offering charity session of the opera The Barber of Seville for schools and social welfare organisations, allowing all walks of life to have an opportunity to enjoy the world-class performances at close range and broaden their artistic horizons. The “Community Activity: Flowing with Music” features a roving showcase that combines musical and theatrical elements. A total of 12 sessions, with three themes, will take the audience on a magical music journey.

In addition, in order to strengthen the publicity of the Macao International Music Festival and increase the interaction between communities, a total of 10 sessions of Mobile Music Salon themed around The Barber of Seville will be held at Macao Cultural Centre Square, Carmo Fair, Taipa, and Leisure Area at Edf. Lok Yeung Fa Yuen in Fai Chi Kei during the Festival. The event will be combined with live music performances and thematic hair styling service, providing residents and tourists artistic and cultural experience from a new perspective. Participants will receive discount coupons for ticket purchases for the MIMF.

Registration for the outreach activities can be made from 10am on 4 September (Monday). For more information on the activities of the 35^th MIMF Outreach Programme, please refer to the respective booklet or visit the Festival’s webpage at www.icm.gov.mo/fimm and the respective page on Facebook (“Macao International Music Festival”). Admission to most activities is free but seats are limited. Interested parties can register through the “Activity Application” of the Macao One Account (activity.mo.gov.mo/activity-h5/activity-list-web). For enquiries, please contact IC through tel. no. 8399 6872 during office hours or email outreach@icm.gov.mo.

Schedule of Mobile Music Salon