GEG Chinese Music Promotion Scheme
Scheme Background
Following on the GEG Arts & Culture Initiative when the Foundation launched its first cultural exhibition as one of the highlight event during Art Macao 2019 – “GRACE KELLY – from Hollywood to Monaco: Artists Tributes”, the Foundation is taking a further step into promotional efforts in the performing arts sector.
Scheme Partners
Macao Chinese Orchestra
Hulu Culture Promotion Association
The Macao Chinese Orchestra
The Macao Chinese Orchestra was established in 1987 as a professional orchestra managed under the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government. In addition to performing concerts, MCO is also tasked to develop a wider audience following in Chinese music, and it had actively participated in the Macao International Music Festival, Macao Arts Festival and, in 2019, performed concerts as part of Art Macao. It has also been strengthening and nurturing small and medium-sized arts groups and young musicians with an aim to promote local Chinese music development, including performances put on at World Heritage Sites, and various public parks and venues, etc., hoping to continue to expand its audience base.
Macao Chinese Orchestra’s Facebook Page:
Scheme Implementation
Promotion of Chinese Music and Audience Development
It is the Foundation’s interest in promoting Chinese Music in Macau and, in particular, audience development focused on young people. This is what led the Foundation to launch the “GEG Chinese Music Promotion Scheme”, joining the Macao Chinese Orchestra as "Special Art Patron" for its 2020-21 season. Chinese music is generally less popular than western music, given limited exposure to it in our daily lives. It is, however, an important part of Chinese culture that should be popularised and cultivated, especially amongst young people given their unfamiliarity with Chinese music.
The Concert & Extension Programme Series
The GEG Chinese Music Promotion Scheme will be launched during the 2020-21 season of the Macao Chinese Orchestra, with three select performances when the orchestra will perform at the Broadway Theatre, Galaxy Macau. Furthermore, “extension programmes” attached to three other concerts will also be held, with the support of Hulu Culture Promotion Association, the Foundation’s collaborator on the GEG Intangible Cultural Heritage Scheme. Through this collaboration, the Foundation hopes to help with developing and nurturing an audience base in Chinese music in Macau, with the ultimate aim to promote and popularise Chinese music especially for the younger audience.
GEG Chinese Music Concert Series, Broadway Macau
The following three concerts from their 2020-21 season will be performed at Broadway Theatre:
- 14 November 2020: Enchanting Tunes from the Screen 《影視好聲音》
8 p.m. – easy music popularised in movies and television serials;
- 30 January 2021: Xian Drum Music 《西安鼓樂》 - POSTPONED - RE-SCHEDULED DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED...
4 p.m. – an intangible cultural heritage from Xian with drum music and dance; and
- 6 June 2021: Musical Magic Wand Prequel 《中樂魔法棒前傳》
4 p.m. – a popular event for all members of a family to enjoy together.
GEG Chinese Music Concert Extension Series on Intangible Cultural Heritage
In addition to the three concerts to be performed at the Broadway Theatre, Hulu Culture Promotion Association will participate in co-organising extension programmes for certain of the orchestra’s concerts during their 2020-21 season, to provide a richer offering of activities in addition to the performances themselves. A selection of three concerts where the repertoire relates to intangible cultural heritage has therefore been included in the GEG Chinese Music Promotion Scheme:
- 31 October 2020: (Mandarin House)
Taoist Music 《道教科儀音樂》
– ceremonial music of Taoism, with the expression of spiritual beliefs through music enables followers of Taoism to enhance their path to enlightenment;
- 30 January 2021: (Broadway Theatre) - POSTPONED - RE-SCHEDULED DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED...
Xi'an Drum Music 《西安鼓樂》
– regional Chinese ritual music genre featuring a type of wind and percussion ensemble named for its place of origin, Xi'an, in Shaanxi Province; and
- 17 April 2021: (Mandarin House)
Naamyam 《南音說唱 》
– a unique local narrative singing tradition.
These extension programmes will be open free to the public.
31st Macao Arts Festival
“Dialogue Between the East and the West”
Expanding on the GEG Chinese Music Promotion Scheme, the Foundation is pleased that it will be participating in the 31st Macao Arts Festival as venue sponsor for its “Dialogue Between the East and the West” concert on Sunday 9th May 2021. The Macao Chinese Orchestra will be performing at the Broadway Theatre, presenting a concert with music performed with Chinese and Western instruments, “opening an East-West dialogue through the fusion of Chinese and Western music”. More details can be found on the Macao Arts Festival website at https://www.icm.gov.mo/fam/31/en/content/3675
Furthermore, the Foundation will, on Saturday 8th May 2021, invite young people interested in Chinese music to attend a dress rehearsal of the Macao Chinese Orchestra when they will be preparing for the concert the following evening.
Past Events
31st Macao Arts Festival – Dialogue between the East and the West 8-9 May 2021 – Broadway Theatre
As part of the Foundation’s sponsorship of the Macao’s Chinese Orchestra’s concert “Dialogue Between the East and the West” at the 31st Macao Arts Festival on May 9, 2021, the Foundation's "GEG Chinese Music Promotion Scheme" invited local students to a rare “behind-the-scenes” experience with the orchestra.
Over 200 students from 7 local Chinese school orchestras were invited to attend a rehearsal session the day before the actual concert. Both students and teachers treasured the unique experience of exploring how a professional orchestra rehearsed and prepared for a concert.
With Chinese music being an important part of Chinese culture, it is the Foundation’s wish that Chinese Music can be cultivated and popularized, especially amongst young people in Macau.
Chinese Music Concert Series - Enchanting Tunes from the Screen 14 November 2020 – Broadway Theatre
The first of the three-concert series performed by the Macau Chinese Orchestra as part of the GEG Chinese Music Promotion Scheme, was held at the Broadway Theatre on the evening of 14th November 2020.
150 students and teachers from Colégio de Santa Rosa de Lima (Secção Chinesa), being a collaborating school with another of the Foundation’s initiative, were invited to enjoy the evening concert. With Chinese music being an important part of Chinese culture, it is the Foundation’s wish that Chinese Music can be popularised and cultivated, especially amongst young people in Macau.
Extension Programme on Naamyam Music - part of the "Music in World Heritage" Concert Series 17 April 2021 – Mandarin House
Naamyan is performed in the narrative singing tradition in the Cantonese dialect, a form of “spoken word music” inscribed on the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Macau.
As part of its ongoing promotion of Macao’s intangible cultural heritage, The Macao Chinese Orchestra held a Naamyam concert on April 17 featuring Master Au Kuan Cheong, the only master of Naamyam in Hong Kong and Macao. The concert was followed by a talk on Naamyam led by Master Au, an extension programme that is part of the Foundation’s GEG Chinese Music Promotion Scheme. The Foundation’s collaborator on its GEG Intangible Cultural Heritage Scheme, Hulu Culture, coordinated the talk for a packed audience at the Mandarin’s House.
Extension Programme on Taoist Ritual Music - part of the "Music in World Heritage" Concert Series 31 October 2020 – Mandarin House
Taoist music is the ceremonial music of Taoism. Music has long played an integral part in religious ceremonies, and the importance of music in Taoist ceremony is demonstrated by revealing how central beliefs are reflected through elements of music such as instrumentation and rhythm. Expression of spiritual beliefs through music enables followers of Taoism to enhance their path to enlightenment.
As part of the “Music in World Heritage” concert series of the Macao Chinese Orchestra’s 2020-21 season, a well-attended extension programme – a talk on Taoist music hosted by Taoist Priest Ng – was conducted at the Mandarin House. Taoist Priest Ng shared with the audience the history and evolvement of Taoist ritual music, the uniqueness of the music, and efforts through various generations of his family to maintain and preserve this important intangible cultural heritage.
“Macao Taoist Ritual Music” was inscribed by the Macao SAR Government into the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Macao in 2009.
Related Videos
The Announcement of the Macao Chinese Orchestra’s 2020-21 Season
In an effort to promote Chinese music to the general public, and in particular the younger generation, the Foundation initiated the “GEG Chinese Music Promotion Scheme”, joining The Macao Chinese Orchestra for its 2020-21 season as “Special Art Patron” with three concerts performed at the Broadway Theatre, together with a series of extension programmes related to various of its concerts in the upcoming season.