West meets East at music concert

Tenor Warren Mok Wah-yeun performs at the Concert of Popular Music at Macao Tower on Wednesday as part of the cultural exchange event in the Second Beijing Macao Cooperation and Exchange Symposium. Parker Zheng / China Daily

Nuno Alves, a Macao resident, was highly impressed to hear Fantasia Para Macau, a traditional Macao tune, played on the liuqin, a Chinese four-stringed instrument that resembles a mandolin.

"It is interesting and quite surprising to see that sophisticated music can be played on an instrument with only four strings," said Alves, an architect.

He often attends concerts and shows but it was the first time he listened to Western music played on a traditional Chinese instrument.

"I love the show, and I would expect this kind of performance to come to Macao more often," he said.

The show, Concert of Popular Music, is the first Chinese folk music concert performed jointly by Beijing Dance Drama & Opera and the Macao Chinese Orchestra, as part of a cultural exchange event at the Second Beijing Macao Cooperation and Exchange Symposium.

Held in Macao Tower on Wednesday, the concert featured performances by more than 60 singers and players of Chinese and Western instruments.

The program reflected the typical culture of the two cities, said Wang Zhu, deputy director and spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Cultural Bureau, which organized the concert.

Warren Mok Wah-yeun, a Hong Kong tenor who has performed in many international festivals, performed Ode to Beijing for Macao audiences.

Music is an important part of cultural exchanges, said Wang. "And Chinese folk music is what Beijing and Macao have in common. We would like to present the common element that both sides share on the same stage to Macao audiences."

Wang said more such exchanges will take place between the two orchestras.

Zhao Lihua, the dean of Beijing Dance Drama &Opera, said the company has been preparing for the concert for more than six months.

"The cooperation is a learning process for us," Zhao said.

"We hope more music and culture activities will be organized between the two sides."