Student Corner

Macao Orchestra Delivered Perfect Performance at MPI

To enhance the undergraduates’ interest in music and enrich their campus life, Macao Orchestra delivered the first university concert in the 2017-18 concert season at Macao Polytechnic Institute in mid-November. The concert was entitled “The Realm of Sibelius”. Hundreds of professors and undergraduates attended this concert. Under the baton of Mr. Francis Kan, Macao Orchestra gave a superb rendition of the works of Jean Sibelius, a renowned 20th-century Finnish composer, transforming the auditorium into a foreign place and transposing the audience to the realm of relaxing orchestral sound. Between each piece of music, Mr. Kan interacted with the audience and illuminated the meanings of the compositions, hence arousing their interest in, and deepening their understanding of, the classical music.

Dedicating itself to promoting the art of music among the public, Macao Orchestra delivers more than 70 performances in each concert season. In the current season, Macao Orchestra selected for the university audience the orchestral music by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957), the most important Finnish composer, and the selections included “The Swan of Tuonela”, “Valse Triste” and “Andante Festivo”, featuring lyrical and rustling strings, transparent woodwinds, towering brass and distantly atmospheric timpani. Marvelling at the exquisite and eloquent execution by the musicians and enlightened by the lively and interactive explanation by the learned conductor, the audience was presented with a show that was refreshing, inspiring and beneficial in so many ways that a journey to northern Europe cannot offer. Members of the audience opined afterwards that the concert fostered in them a better musical understanding and a greater appreciation of the acoustic world.

The MPI Student Affairs Office, which assisted in organising this concert, stated that the Institute has, as always, encouraged the growth of talents in arts and facilitated the development of the local creative industry. As such, the support of MPI for Macao Orchestra has been relentlessly continuous and the Institute would like to express its heartfelt gratitude for bringing to MPI such a brilliant concert, through which hopefully the undergraduates could further expand their interest in classical music, enrich their colourful campus life, enhance their ability to appreciate the inner beauty, and thereby would become all-round talents capable of contributing to the betterment of Macao in the future.