The “39th Macao Young Musicians Competition”, organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, was successfully concluded. The awards ceremony was held recently, in which four Special Prizes were presented to the winners. This year’s “Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize” was awarded to Choi Long Cheng. 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.
Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic, this edition of the Competition adopted the “online assessment of recorded performances and announcement of competition results”. The Competition was held from 11 to 27 July at the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies, in which a total of 31 competitions in 17 categories were held. This year’s Competition received an enthusiastic response from the public, with the participation of over 1,400 people, recording almost a two-fold increase compared with the last edition also dedicated to the piano category. The winners (individual or in groups) from each of the 17 categories competed for the four Special Prizes, namely “Best Ensemble Performance”, “Best Performance in Elementary Category”, “Best Performance in Intermediate Category”, and the “Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize”. In the end, the “Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize” was awarded to Choi Long Cheng, the prize for “Best Performance in Intermediate Category” was awarded to Shi Hoi Ho Focus, the prize for “Best Performance in Elementary Category” was awarded to Cheong Chi Ioi Alisha, and the prize for “Best Ensemble Performance” was awarded to Gao U Hoi and Si Tou Pui Ieng. The results of the Competition were announced on the Macao Young Musicians Competition website at www.icm.gov.mo/cjmm.
The winner of this year’s “Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize”, Choi Long Cheng, aged 16, learned piano with Professor Wong Hio Cheng since the age of 4 and won several awards during her studies. She was the First Prize winner in eight categories and was awarded “Best Performance in Intermediate Category” and “Best Ensemble Performance” in past editions of the Macao Young Musicians Competition. In addition to her outstanding performance in the competition, Choi Long Cheng also has extensive performance experience. She gave a piano recital at the age of 13, and was invited to perform in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United States and Russia, among others. Her performances were highly acclaimed by many Chinese and foreign pianists. In addition to the “Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize”, Choi Long Cheng was the First Prize winner of the Solo Advance Category and of the Piano Concerto Category in the Competition.
