Macau Baptist College has marked its 70th anniversary with a fresh departure from tradition. Forgoing a conventional celebration, the school chose instead to host a concert themed “Rowing Forward, For the Love of the Motherland” (黃河志 祖國心), featuring the majestic Yellow River Cantata as its centrepiece.
The concert was held at the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM) in Nape on April 21.
Interviewed last month, school principal Wong Chi Kong said that the Yellow River, as the “mother river” of the Chinese nation, symbolises an unceasing spirit of self-improvement. Through the stirring power of music, he hopes to enable students to deeply appreciate the country’s historical weight through their own active participation.
Wong noted in the written interview that as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) accelerates its integrated development, and Macau aligns itself with the nation’s overall strategic goals, schools must take up the responsibility of national education.
According to Wong, the concert’s theme carries profound hopes for the students’ national sentiment, cultural confidence, and global outlook. It aims first to forge a resilient national character inspired by the spirit of the Yellow River; second, to build upon Macau’s unique strengths to solidify a sense of national identity rooted in their shared heritage; and third, to remain grounded in Chinese culture while cultivating an open, globally minded perspective that embraces diverse cultures.
The anniversary preparations also coincided with the 120th anniversary of the birth of the renowned “people’s musician”, Xian Xinghai.
Wong Oi Peng, the school’s vice-principal, pointed out that the deliberate choice of Xian’s repertoire was intended to give students a genuine understanding of his fervent patriotic spirit and sense of national mission.
She said that the selected pieces span various periods of the composer’s life, enabling students to trace his complete journey: from his return to China after studying in Paris, to his involvement in the War of Resistance against Japan in Yan’an, and finally to his untimely death in a foreign land – the Soviet Union.
Guided by the school’s philosophy, “cultivating character through music”, Wong Oi Peng said, students were led first to understand the composer as a person, then to perform the music, and finally to reflect on the era. “When students discover that a previous generation also experienced difficulties and uncertainty while youths, yet chose to dedicate their talents to serving society, a contemporary resonance naturally emerges”, Wong Oi Peng said.
The concert’s chief conductor, Oswaldo Veiga Jardim, admitted in the interview that leading the orchestra meant overcoming significant challenges. The ensemble performed the first movement of the National Liberation symphony, a piece Xian completed while ill and displaced in Moscow. Jardim noted that the masterpiece demonstrates Xian’s ambition to fuse Chinese folk melodies with the academic rigour of Western classical music. As there is no established performance tradition or recording to refer to, Jardim and the school’s music teachers had to painstakingly arrange individual instrumental parts based on the only publicly available score, a 1955 Soviet edition.
The Yellow River Cantata presented a different kind of challenge for the Brazilian conductor. Jardim read extensively, consulted choir conductors from Guangzhou, and adopted a bold “cross-lingual interpretation”. He retained the original Mandarin (Putonghua) for the choruses to preserve emotional authenticity, while rendering the soprano and baritone solos, alongside the recitations, bilingually in Chinese and English. This approach successfully broke down language barriers, fulfilling Xian’s long-held wish to bring Chinese compositions to the international stage.
Lio Weng Cheng, a Form 6 student and violinist, found the chromatic passages in National Liberation the most difficult, requiring intense concentration. She believes the Yellow River Cantata serves as a poignant reminder to today’s youth to remember past sufferings, cherish peace, and find the courage to shoulder the responsibilities of their era.
Cheng Chon In, also a Form 6 student and choir member, said his favourite movement was “Defend the Yellow River”, noting that the ingenious use of alternating voices filled him with vigour. He remarked that performing a classic wartime work in Mandarin requires a solemnity and teamwork completely different to singing pop music. Immersed in the performance, Cheng said he truly understood that love for one’s country is not an empty slogan, concluding that studying diligently is the best way to carry forward the spirit of previous generations.
Undated file photo of Oswaldo Veiga Jardim, chief conductor of the Macau Baptist College (MBC) 70th anniversary concert at the Macau Cultural Centre in Nape.
Macau Baptist College Principal Wong Chi Kong (second from left), Vice Principal Wong Oi Peng (left) and other representatives pose at Macau Cultural Centre in Nape on April 21.
