Interview by William Chan
The Macau Band Directors Association (MBDA) will mark its 30th anniversary with a concert featuring three French guest soloists and a broad cross-section of local wind musicians at The Parisian Theatre of The Parisian Macao integrated resort on November 7.
Presented under the Sands China Performing Arts Programme, the concert will begin at 8:00 p.m. and is organised by the MBDA in conjunction with Sands China Ltd.
The programme will bring together the Macau Youth Symphonic Band’s Groups A, B and C, as well as Macau Continuo Winds.* The French sibling wind players Baptiste Amet (clarinet), Guillaume Amet (trombone), and Diane Amet (horn) will join the local musicians as guest soloists, adding three contrasting colours to the anniversary performance.
The concert will also feature young musicians recognised at the Macao Young Musicians Competition, including prize-winning ensembles in woodwind chamber music, percussion and brass. Their participation will underline the association’s continuing focus on nurturing emerging local talent.
For conductor and chairman of the association, Leong Pui Long, the anniversary concert is not simply a retrospective event but an opportunity to show how the association’s work has developed across generations. Founded in 1996, the MBDA began with a relatively modest aim: to bring together people who wanted to play wind music and to create a more organised platform for exchanges and performances, Leong told the Post in an exclusive interview last week at their rehearsal room.
“Initially, we did not have many grand ambitions. We simply wanted to see whether we could bring a group of people together to play music,” Leong said. Before the association was established, its founders had already been involved in school teaching and in bringing overseas ensembles to Macau. Establishing an association, he explained, made it easier to coordinate activities and gave visiting musicians a more dependable local partner.
Association President and Conductor Leung Kin Hang, who was interviewed alongside Leong, said that the concert also reflects a long-standing hope: for musicians to remain connected to music after leaving school. Students may graduate, find jobs and start families, but an ensemble can provide a way for them to return to rehearsals and performances.
The MBDA’s Youth Symphonic Band groups represent different stages of learning, while newer adult and alumni initiatives create opportunities beyond the school years.
“It is a pity when people who once played simply stop because life becomes busy,” Leung said. He hopes Macau can gradually develop a stronger alumni and adult band culture, allowing former students to continue performing and eventually support the next generation.
Both conductors acknowledge that Macau’s small population, limited a professional market and shortage of suitable venues make it difficult to build the wider ecosystem found in larger cities. The challenge, Leong said, is no longer merely whether an activity can be organised, but how it can be raised to a higher level and reach a wider audience.
The anniversary concert therefore carries a practical message as well as a celebratory one. By placing young competition winners, school musicians, continuing adult players and international soloists on the same programme, the MBDA is presenting music as a continuing path rather than a temporary school experience. “Thirty years after its founding, the association is still looking for ways to help more people encounter wind music – and to ensure that the next generation has somewhere to begin,” they said.
Admission is free, with free seating. The French players will also host a recital at the Chapel of Santa Rosa de Lima English Secondary School on November 8. Enquiries about tickets can be made on 6686 6332 or 2825 2825.
*Previous interview with the Macau Continuo Winds:
www.macaupostdaily.com/news/25353
Macau Band Directors Association (MBDA) chairman Leong Pui Long (left) and president Leung Kin Hang pose after Sunday’s interview at the association’s rehearsal room. – Photo: William Chan
These photos taken earlier this month shows members of the Macau Youth Symphonic Band rehearsing at the association’s rehearsal room on Avenida do Almirante Lacerda. – Photos provided by MBDA
