PICNIC IN THE CEMETERY
24, 25 and 26/5｜Friday, Saturday and Sunday｜8pm
Live Music Association Studio
Tickets: MOP 100
Artistic and Musical Director: Njo Kong Kie
Producer: Kuong Wa Fun
Production Manager: Tang Siu Pong
Music Co-ordinator: Loi Nok Man
Photographer: Ao Ieong Weng Fong
Production: Point View Art Association
Perhaps best described by the phrase “Old World in the New World”, Picnic in the Cemetery is a work devised by local composer Njo Kong Kie featuring excerpts from his album of the same name plus new compositions written especially for this event. The music is performed by The Folga Project, a quartet featuring Njo on piano plus violin, cello and guitar. The music is at once modern, romantic, captivating and evocative, skilfully interweaving classical sensibilities with contemporary impulses.
Njo’s music has been used in productions by several contemporary dance companies including Nederlands Dans Theater, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Ballet BC, the Silesian Dance Theatre and the Singapore Dance Theatre. The composer, who continues to reside in Canada, wrote these musical pieces during his long tenure as pianist and music director with Montreal’s celebrated contemporary dance company La La La Human Steps.
Njo established the new Folga Project this year. “Folga” is a Portuguese word meaning “day off”, and the uniquely Macanese colloquial expression folga gaang refers to an extra work shift assigned to personnel of the disciplinary forces on their day off. The tongue-in-cheek name for The Folga Project comes from the fact that Njo, although now based in Canada, is spending most of his days off in Macao working in various artistic collaborations.
“These playful and heartfelt ditties are a pleasure to behold and satisfying in a way that lighter fare often is not.”
– Wholenote magazine
Duration: approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes, no interval
