More music, less festival

Alexandra Lages

The programme for the 24th Macau International Music Festival (MIMF) was announced last week and together with the Macau Arts Festival, this event is acclaimed as one of the highlights of Macau and even this part of China.
It impresses me how despite Macau’s tiny size it manages to host an event of this dimension. The MIMF is an opportunity to bring musicians from all over the world to Macau so that for more than one month, local people can enjoy an agenda full of cultural activities.
In May, I attended several performances of the Macau Arts Festival and I was expecting to do so again at the coming MIMF. But after studying the programme, I won’t.
Compared to last year’s programme, despite the addition of one more performance, the festival is less diversified. Last year, in an interview with Macau Daily Times, the event’s artistic director since 2000, Warren Mok, said that the festival policy is to offer a diversified programme but keep a classical base.
“The introduction of new music styles and programmes is what makes it more interesting,” he pointed out.
Last year, the festival brought jazz, hip hop, world music and fusion music. Instead, the 24th MIMF joins the celebrations of the 200th birthday of the famous pianist and composer Chopin, which increased the number of classical concerto programmes.
As a result, it mainly features symphonic, choral and chamber music. There are only two fusion music concerts, a pop music with local band Soler, a Chinese Folk Music and a Jazz orchestra – not enough from my point of view.
Apart from Soler, China’s Queen of hi-fi Lily Chen will join the Macau Chinese Orchestra. Same as last year.
Firstly, the duo Soler is already well known by the local public. Second, why is Lily Chen being invited again if she has already performed here in last year’s festival?
The MIMF should be an opportunity to show local people new and fresh things, so they can strengthen their cultural understanding.
When asked why MIMF programme this year is mainly classical, president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, which is the organiser, explained that most local people like classical music. While that may be a fair assumption, I think that in the spirit of the festival, the organisation should make a bigger effort to feature more a innovative programme. Let’s keep the classical basis, but show us more alternative performances.
I have listened several times to people saying that local people have to open their horizons and know the outside world better. Music is educational and it can be a means to reach that.
It looks like the organisation is repeating the same mistakes as every year, the MIMF gets criticised.
Last year, a local citizen told MDT that the programmes are more and more looking at the Chinese Culture and turning less to the international movement, making the event less cosmopolitan. Others say the festival still has not found its own identity.
Furthermore, there is the budget issue. The 24th MIMF budget increased MOP 2 million to MOP 27 million.
“With such a high budget [MOP 25 million in 2009] it was expected that the MIMF would be the highlight of the cultural activities of Macau, including another kind of repertoire and artists,” local conductor Oswaldo Veiga Jardim said last year.
Last but not least, I am pleased that one outdoor venue was added this year. Apart from the Mount Fortress, Nam Van Lake also will be included on the venues list again.