The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) recently held the 40th Macao Young Musicians Competition, with an award ceremony hosted on Friday at the Cultural Affairs Bureau in Praça do Tap Seac to present “Special Prizes” to winners, the bureau said in a statement earlier this week.
The statement noted that about 1,000 locals participated in the competition, an increase of around 60 percent compared to the previous edition. The statement added that last year’s competition was divided into 73 categories, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact, the “performances were recorded by the participants and assessed remotely by the judges”.
Each category winner (individual or group) then competed for 10 Special Prizes, for which the “Special Prizes Competition” was held at the University of Macau’s (UM) University Hall from December 10-11.
The winner of this year’s “Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize” or the Grand Champion in the advanced level was 17-year-old Form 6 student Ieong Hou (Solo Chinese Percussion). She was first exposed to music when she was six years old and was drawn to Chinese percussion music, according to the statement.
The statement added that she has participated in a string of performances by the school orchestra, the Macao Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the School of Music of the Macao Conservatory, as well as winning prizes in various music competitions.
Ieong was also the first prize winner of both the Percussion category and of the Solo Chinese Percussion category in the advanced levels, the statement said.
The Grand Champion in the elementary level was Harris Chan Tsz Him (Violin), the Grand First Runner-up was Fan Io Meng (Saxophone) and the Grand Second Runner-up was Wong Lai Hin (Yangqin), the statement added.
According to the statement, in the intermediate level, the Grand Champion was Ashley Kong Wai Ka (Guzheng), the Grand First-Runner up was Lao Mei Wai (Saxophone) and the Grand Second Runner-up was Issac Ho Nok Hin (Cello).
In the advanced level, the Grand First Runner-up was Cheng Son Him (Bassoon), while the Grand Second Runner-up was Lao Ut Long (Tuba). The ensemble of chamber music for string instruments formed by Si Tou Pui Ieng, Kristen Kong Wai Kio and Chan Pui Hei won the “Best Ensemble Performance Prize”, the statement noted.
This handout photo taken and provided by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) on Monday shows the winners of Special Prizes, including “Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize” winner Ieong Hou (sixth from right), and the presenter of the prizes, IC Acting Vice President Cheang Kai Meng (centre), posing in the vestibule of the IC headquarters in Praça do Tap Seac.
