Lesley Wells
The recently-established Macau Music Arts Space (MMAS) held its first concert, titled “Music-Culture Journeys – Christmas and New Year Carnival,” at 10 Fantasia’s garden yesterday drawing a few hundred music lovers to the space to enjoy an afternoon of music, art, Filipino, Indonesian, Korean, Portuguese and local delicacies, wine, local beer and coffee.
A local handmade soap company was also there to promote the benefits of all natural products to those with skin problems.
The garden at 10 Fantasia in S. Lázaro district at any one time during the three-hour event had about 200 people sipping wine, beer and coffee and eating a variety of gastronomic delights while appreciating music by the MMAS Ensemble, Philippine and Korean church choirs and Portuguese fado, and there was also a section where poet Jessie Ng Iat I’s Chinese poems had music added played by violinist Anthony Cheong Wai Leong and keyboard player Abby Chao Ka In.
Before their set began Ng told The Macau Post Daily, “I write poetry and for this concert music was added to my poems. It is the first time that my poems have been mixed with pop music.
“2020 has been a bad year for everybody because of the pandemic so we are using poetry and music to heal the soul of the community.”
At the end of the set the audience demanded an encore which Cheong and Chao were happy to perform.
The sponsors of yesterday’s event were Charlestrong Coffee Company Limited, Macau Beer, Soap Paradise, Vinomac Ltd and Mei Dan.
Local brewery insists on social responsibility
The Macau Post Daily spoke to the co-chairman of Macau Beer, Charles M. Choy, during the concert. Choy said, “Beer is a universal product, it has been produced for over 7,000 years, firstly in Mesopotamia, it is a universal language if a city has its own beer, but it is not easy for a city to own a beer.”
He went on to say: “We are a brand with a social responsibility and we work with the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) and many other government departments as well as being deeply rooted in the Greater Bay Area.
“We have a factory in the Zhuhai Hi-tech Zone. We are making Macau Beer a designation beer, being Macau’s premier beer brand. We pride ourselves on supporting the local arts and music scene.”
Choy concluded: “We are selling a product, dreams, an image and flavour.”
‘Skin problems cleared up fast’
Suzan Leong, owner of Soap Paradise, told The Macau Post Daily at the concert yesterday that all her handmade soaps are made with natural products like jojoba and evening primrose oils. She also has workshops every weekend in a unit behind Rue do Campo.
Leong, who declined to give full name, said that she used to have a “really bad skin problem” and found that using natural products helped so she developed a range of natural products selling under the name Key to Natural.
Leong said, “While I use Soap Paradise to teach people, Key to Natural is a retail outlet I am opening probably in mid-January to help people with skin problems. The Key to Natural shop will be in the road leading to the big church [Cathedral] in Macau.”
Drinks with friends under the trees
Wesley Chan Kin Chong, the vice-president and secretary general of co-organiser St Lazarus Church District 10 Fantasia, told The Macau Post Daily, “We hope in the future to have more artistes, in the [10 Fantasia] building we have any style of art promotion and exhibitions but in the garden we would like to hold an event every month. There are not many places in Macau where one can drink a coffee, a beer or a glass of wine under the trees. It is a very comfortable feeling. This event has many cultures joining together, it is great fun and this is Macau”, Chan added.
Attendance better than expected
Cheong and Echo Chan Keng Hong set up MMAS two months ago to provide a music performance and practice location so that there is a space and platform to promote local musicians, and they decided to hold yesterday’s event. Speaking to The Macau Post Daily, Echo Chan said, “The whole afternoon has been so exciting, there must be over 200 people here now, but throughout the afternoon I am guessing there have been more than 500 coming and going.”
“We are planning more concerts as many of our guests today [yesterday] have said that they want more local events, it was an original experience for them”.
“It has been great being able to mix our music journey with other cultures and businesses so that everyone can talk with the international community here. It is great for everyone to get to know the international communities in the city and show that Macau is family”, Echo Chan added.
Cheong told The Macau Post Daily, “I am very happy [with the turnout], many people have come and I can see that they are enjoying our arrangements.”
The evening ended with Echo Chan playing the keyboards in what she said was not on the programme but that she wanted to thank the sponsors and guests and dedicated the piece to the country and the city, her home.
As the guests started to leave one said, “The music was so beautiful it made me cry.”
The Korean Church Choir and musicians perform at the Macau Music Arts Space (MMAS) concert entitled “Music-Culture Journeys – Christmas and New Year Carnival,” at 10 Fantasia’s garden yesterday.
Anthony Cheong Wai Leong (left) and Echo Chan Keng Hong pose at 10 Fantasia’s garden yesterday at the end of the Macau Music Arts Space (MMAS) concert entitled “Music-Culture Journeys – Christmas and New Year Carnival.” Photo: Lesley Wells
