Friday, October 17
The Macau International Music Festival continues at 8pm in St Dominic’s Church as the Macao Orchestra collaborates with the Ars Noval Vocal Ensemble from Hungary in an all Mozart programme: The Symphony No 40 in G minor; Ave Verum Corpus, K 618, Exsultate Jubilate, K 165 (K 158b) and Regina Coeli in B-flat major, K 127. Admission is free, obtain tickets from macauticket.net. For more details see icm.gov.mo/fimm, or call 2380 5083.
Saturday, October 18
 The American Amy Marshall Dance Company is staging four dances from their repertoire in Macau: Fire of the Dove depicts Joan Arc’s trial, Unharvested is about love and untimely loss, Homeland describes a man’s journey away from his family and Duet is a study of a musical score’s intricacies completeing the programme is the newly commissioned piece Tides of Change about memories around Macau it’s choreographed by Marshall and features two dancers from Macau. The performance starts at 8pm in Macao Cultural Centre Small Auditorium. Tickets are $120 from icm.gov.mo or macauticket.net.
Tian Jianping’s The Golden Lotus Flower is a piece commissioned by the Macao Chinese Orchestra and the international music festival that, along with excerpts from Guan Naizhong’s The Bewitching Braid, receives a world premiere at the festival. The concert also features the traditional High Moon, a pipa concerto Playing in Jest and the dizi concerto Out on the Empty Mountain. Finally, the orchestra will play Peng Xiuwen’s Terracotta Warriors Fantasia to close the night. The performance will be at Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium at 8pm. Tickets are MOP$200, $150 and $100 at macauticket.net. For more info, icm.gov.mo/fimm, or call 2380 5083.
Sunday, October 19
The American Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra will be jazzing up Mount Fortress at 8pm. The group, with Sofia Tosello as the special guest vocalist, will perform a blend of South American grooves, Argentine folk songs, tango and jazz improvisations including Sammy Nestico’s Straight Ahead; Thad Jones’ Three and One; Los Hermanos Díaz’s Chacerera del 55... The orchestra will be led by bassist and composer Giraudo in this free outdoor performance. Tickets from macauticket.net. For more info see icm.gov.mo/fimm, or call 2380 5083.
 Tuesday, October 21
Hungary has a broad musical history and over 800 choirs and one of their ensembles is giving a free show in St Dominic’s Church at 8pm. The Ars Nova Vocal Ensemble will sing works from the millennia-old heritage of Hungarian choral music including Cantantibus Organis by Franz Liszt and the Te Deum of Sándor Sík by Zoltán Kodály and also some Hungarian contemporary choral music, including György Selmeczi’s Mass No. 5, György Orbán’s Amor sanctus, Ave verum corpus, Salve Regina, Chiaro (Dante), Timor et tremor, Daemon irrepit callidus, Psalmus 126 and Nunc dimittis. Tickets can be obtained from macauticket.net. For more, icm.gov.mo/fimm, or call 2380 5083.
Thursday, October 23
The Hannover Girls’ Choir, hailing from Mädchenchor Hannover, is one of the best-known youth choirs in Germany. To go with the feminine spirit, the ladies will sing at Our Lady of Fátima Church at 8pm. The programme conducted by Prof Gudrun Schröfel includes songs by Chiara Margarita Cozzolani (Laudate Pueri), Dieterich Buxtehude (In Dulci Jubilo), Maria Xaveria Perucona (Gaude Plaude), Gioacchino Rossini (La Speranza/La Carità/La Fède), Johann Sebastian Bach (Mein Gläubiges Herze) and more. Admission is free, obtain tickets from macauticket.net. For more see icm.gov.mo/fimm, or call 2380 5083.
October 23 to 26
The world’s golfers converge on the SAR to contest the Macau Open at the Macau Golf and Country Club, located on the cliffs above the beautiful Hác Sá Beach. There will also be a Pro-Am day on the 22nd for amateurs to play with the professionals. Contact Macau Sport Development Board at +853 2858 0762 to participate in the event, or refer to www.sport.gov.mo for details.
Friday, October 24
Júlio Pereira, a multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer of 30 years standing will be playing traditional Portuguese instruments such as the Mediterranean mandolin, the Portuguese guitar and the Celtic bouzouki. An important figure in Portuguese music, Pereira revives the nearly lost sounds of traditional instruments and creates new acoustic possibilities with them. The programme entitled Geografias will include Castelo Ancião, Nefretit, Na Lua, Sr Arcanjo, Faro Luso, Santa Moura, Miradouro... The performance takes place at the Dom Pedro V Theatre at 8pm. Tickets are MOP$200, $150, $100. Book at macauticket.net. For more details - icm.gov.mo/fimm, or call 2380 5083.
Saturday, October 25
The Haydn Quartet from Austria – two violins, a viola and a cello – is in Macau for a concert at Dom Pedro V Theatre at 8pm. The group is based in the Esterházy Castle, in Eisenstadt, where Haydn himself lived and composed for over 30 years. The Quartet’s programme for this concert includes Haydn’s String Quartet in G major, op. 77/1, Hob III: 81; Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K 456; Arvo Pärt’s Psalm for String Quartet and Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No 15 in G major, D 887, op posth 161. Tickets are MOP$200, 150 and 100 from macauticket.net. For more details, icm.gov.mo/fimm, or call 2380 5083.
Sunday, October 26
The folk music of the Dong and the Miao/Hmong minority groups has existed since pre-literate society and has been passed orally from generation to generation. In a Chinese Folk Music Concert presented by the music festival, musicians from these groups will play traditional instruments such as the lusheng, and also sing polyphonic choral dage (literally meaning big songs), pipa songs, river songs and narrative ballads. The free performance will take place at Mount Fortress, tickets from macauticket.net. For more details, icm.gov.mo/fimm, or call 2380 5083.
Tuesday, October 28
Two Australian brothers, Slava and Leornard Grigoryan have played as a duo around the world, playing standard repertoire for classical guitar as well as cross-over contemporary compositions. The recital at the Dom Pedro V Theatre starts at 8pm with a programme that includes 8th variation from Variations on a Theme of Chopin by Frederico Mompou, Andaluza by Manuel de Falla, Evening Dance by Andrew York, Jongo by Bellinati and more. Tickets of MOP$200, 150 and 100 are on sale at macauticket.net. For more details, refer to icm.gov.mo/fimm, or call 2380 5083. |
There’s a saying in Chinese that if you want to know the most authentic face of a city, go visit its marketplace. 
centre, is the biggest in Macau. It retains the character of Macau in direct contrast to the burgeoning fantasy and pseudo world around it. And it’s less than a minute from a Senado Square full of tourist gawking at the new Macau. However, the Municipal itself is a fascinating attraction – especially the food court on the 3rd floor, which sells the type of traditional cooked food many enjoyed by locals, and many tourists when they come to Macau.Although the environment could be described as messy, the tasty food, with ingredients straight from the market below and freshly prepared, easily makes up for it. Originally many of the small food stalls were outdoors on the Rua Mercadores - but when the seven storey market opened in 1996 the government forced them relocate.
The food on offer is varied but there’s a strong ‘Macau’ taste among the mix of Chinese and Portuguese cuisines. Café Seng Kei’s clay pot coffee is a good example. The owner has devised a novel way to make coffee (MOP$5.50) in clay pots, which gives it a ‘Chinese’ flavour. The coffee zest is not as strong as some Western coffee but the texture is very smooth. The café also offers red bean ice, fruit punch and pineapple squash (all MOP$$6) – it is a handy drinking station to complement the food stalls nearby. As for eateries, the Comidas Ping Kei serves a great variety of fried rice dishes at reasonable prices. The steamed rice pork chop (MOP$21) comes with a lobster sauce is a Macau favourite – the sauce, borrowed from the Portuguese, can be found in many eateries in Macau
