The 36th Macao International Music Festival draws inspiration from a line in Giacomo Puccini’s opera, Tosca. Its theme, “And the Stars Shine”, likens its featured artists to a bright constellation in the night sky. These artists represent musical traditions from around the world, each offering their audience a rare and innovative musical dialogue.
The festival opened on 4 October with a grand performance of Tosca staged by Russia’s illustrious Mariinsky Theatre in partnership with the Macao and Mariinsky Orchestras, under the formidable Valery Gergiev’s baton. The programme also includes US jazz legends Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis, a multimedia reimagining of that much-loved seasonal classic The Nutcracker and many more performances. However, its highlights may be two novel collaborations merging ancient Chinese instruments with unexpected companions.
In the lead up to the festival, Macao magazine spoke with prominent figures behind these cross-cultural projects: DoosTrio’s five-time Grammy-nominated Chinese pipa player Wu Man and Tsung Yeh, currently conductor emeritus of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra.
Old friends from the ancient Silk Road
DoosTrio is a supergroup that has created a whole new sound for itself; a blend of Wu’s pipa with the Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor’s kamancheh and the tabla drums of India’s Sandeep Das. While these longtime friends have made music together for over 25 years, DoosTrio has only existed since 2023, when the group embarked on a successful tour around the US. Wu explains that every single one of the DoosTrio’s performances are unique, because she, Kalhor and Das all thrive on improvisation.
“Each of us will add melodies and scales from our cultures,” says Wu, who at age 61 has been playing the pipa for more than half a century. “For myself, I want to play melodies with strong Chinese characteristics, such as ‘Jasmine Flower’, a folk song from my hometown of Hangzhou.”
She also explains that the word doos represents love in Persian, reflecting the trio’s shared passion for traditional music. While their musical backgrounds are different, the three artists find that playing their respective instruments together unleashes the complementary natures of their cultures. “Around 2,000 years ago, the pipa came through Central Asia and Persia to the Central Plains of China; it is like an old friend to these regions,” Wu says. “In ancient times, [our instruments] came from the same root, and it means a lot to us to perform them and our traditional music together.”
Her lute-like pipa resembles an elongated pear, and plucking its strings creates a bright, lively tone. Kalhor’s soulful kamancheh has a round body, a long neck and a bow. Das’ tabla, meanwhile, consists of a pair of hand drums with a wide tonal range perfect for intricate rhythms. In unison, they create an exciting soundscape running the gamut of human emotion.
Wu describes the pipa as highly versatile, with iterations found all the way along the ancient Silk Road. “Over the years, performing alongside artists from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and India … I feel like I’m exploring the ancient languages of the pipa.” Wu believes her instrument takes on a different personality depending on the context in which she plays it.
“In my hometown, it gives you a strong Jiangnan flair,” the veteran musician says. “For example, when used for the popular tune ‘The Moon over the River on a Spring Night’, the pipa fills your imagination with the full moon high up in the night sky. But when it works with the Iranian kamancheh, it gives you something else entirely.”
Macao was able to experience DoosTrio’s Asian debut on 13 October, at the historic Dom Pedro V Theatre.
Wu is also leading an improvisation workshop while in the city, offering local musicians the opportunity to explore the pipa’s diverse personas. “The pipa has had its roots in Chinese music for around 2,000 years,” she says. “Today, it is still here, meaning it has its lasting value. This is not only a Chinese instrument, but also a world instrument.”
‘Fiesta Nights in Macao’
Drawing the festival to a graceful close on 4 November, at the Londoner Theatre, is another cross-cultural collaboration – this one between the famed Portuguese fado singer Mariza and the Macao Chinese Orchestra. The concert will be conducted by Tsung Yeh, the Shanghai-born maestro known for his ability to bridge Eastern and Western musical traditions. Yeh, 74, was the world’s first conductor to simultaneously direct both a Western symphony orchestra and a Chinese orchestra: the Singapore Chinese Orchestra and the South Bend Symphony Orchestra, in the US.
During Yeh’s time with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra, a tenure spanning from 1988 to 2016, the conductor worked with famous country singers like Emmylou Harris and Barbara Mandrell. And he sees similarities between the fado genre and country music’s respective propensities for storytelling. “I can find some of Mariza’s singing relates to certain American country singers,” he notes.
Yeh sees crossover between fado and traditional Chinese music, too. Aside from their folk roots, he says the styles share a deep sentimentality: “I don’t want to use the word ‘grief’, but there is a bit of sadness in it.” Yeh adds that some Chinese traditional instruments, including the erhu, pipa and guzheng, bring a melancholic quality to music that feels perfectly suited to fado, which is known for its mournful themes.
During his two decades leading the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Yeh worked with local pop musicians like Kit Chan and Dick Lee, blending their contemporary styles with traditional Chinese instrumentalism. That’s also the vibe he’s bringing to the International Music Festival.
“For this East-meet-West show, I hope to bring Chinese plucked-string instruments and Mariza’s music – including the guitar – together, melding them into one,” Yeh says. But he wants to highlight the genres’ differences, too. “All music needs drama, and if you only meld them together, that’s not good enough – it helps if you also have a conflict,” he elaborates. “Then, if you treat the conflict well, it will make people feel a sense of excitement.” Yeh would like his Macao audience to expect a “happy surprise” come November, stemming from the seldom-experienced collision of traditional Portuguese and Chinese musical styles.
Yeh’s collaboration with Mariza will follow a 10-minute piece by British composer Eric Watson, titled “Fiesta Nights in Macao”. According to Yeh, Watson’s composition lets the audience hear “the rich characteristics of Macao, such as the sounds of mah-jong.”
The maestro sees the Macao International Music Festival as an opportunity to showcase the city’s distinctive musical identity. “I hope to develop work that carries Macao flair,” he says. In Yeh’s view, that flair is best expressed with fusion of Cantonese and southern European styles, using traditional Chinese plucked-string instruments and guitars.
Macao’s status as a cultural melting pot is on full display during its International Music Festival. Musicians from around the world converge in the city, offering audiences an opportunity to experience a wide range of musical styles throughout October and into November. This year’s programme promises to be a celebration of Macao’s rich heritage as well as its dynamic, outward-looking future.
