The “38^th Macao Young Musicians Competition”, organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, was successfully concluded and the awards ceremony was held on 7 February, in which the Special Prizes were presented to the winners. This year’s “Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize” was awarded to Wang Iat Fan Tony. The President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Mok Ian Ian, the Head of the Department of Performing Arts Development, Iu Wai Man, and the Head of the Division of Performing Arts, Chou Wai In presented the awards.

The Special Prizes Competition was extraordinary, as all participants gave their best performance. The Grand Champion at the elementary level of the Grand Special Final was Ye Chong (Classic Guitar), the Grand First Runner-up was Kong Wai Ka Ashley (Guzheng), and the Grand Second Runner-up was Wong Tsan Ying (Yangqin). In the intermediate level, the Grand Champion was Ieong Hou (Chinese Percussion), the Grand First Runner-up was Pao Lok Ian (Cello), and the Grand Second Runner-up was Cheong Tin Ut (Violin). In the advanced level, the Grand Champion (i.e. Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize) was Wang Iat Fan Tony (Violin), the Grand First Runner-up was Ip Iok (Clarinet), and the Grand Second Runner-up was Ou Hoi Kuan (Saxophone). The ensemble of chamber music for string instruments formed by Chio Chin Hou, Ha Iek, Cheong Tin Ut and Ng Sok Kun won the Best Ensemble Performance Prize.

The winner of this year’s “Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize”, Wang Iat Fan, aged 12, comes from a family of violinists and has studied with his parents from the age of 4. He won several awards in the 34^th and 36^th Macao Young Musicians Competition and won the First Prize in the category of String Concerto (Advanced Level) and Second Prize in the category of Violin (Advanced Level) in this year’s Competition. During the Special Prizes Competition, he performed the most difficult concerto in its entirety with a rich sense of rhythm, which was unanimously praised by the judges.

Due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus pandemic, the 38^th Macao Young Musicians Competitionwas successfully held in August 2020 in the form of a video recording. 67 competitions in 62 categories were held during this period, and the Special Prizes Competition was held on 19 December 2020.The result of the Competition was announced on theMacao Young Musicians Competition website at www.icm.gov.mo/cjmm.