Cantata -2019

Fr Jijo and Team organizes Cantata -2019

The International Choral Singing Festival of  Macau, named Cantata Macau is coming out with its 4th edition from Nov. 8-10, 2019 in Macau. This year the festival will feature competitions between reputed choirs from Asia with a Grand Prix award of 50000 MOP. The festival will open at 2 PM on 8th November in Fatima Church and conclude by 7.30 on 11thNovember at Saint Paul School Auditorium.

File Picture of  Cantata 2018

The Festival is organized by Saint Augustine’s Choir, Macau with their Spiritual Director, Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF. Running on the 4th consecutive year, the festival is now sponsored by different Government agencies of Macau, viz., the Tourism and Cultural Departments and The Macau Foundation.

FR. Jijo Kandamkulathy

The idea of the choral festival germinated with a need to re-signify Macau as a place of spiritual heritage rather than as a haven of gamblers. The gambling industry does not represent the people living here. Gambling, rather entertains the people who visit this place. What would truly represent Macao would be its spiritual heritage with long tradition of Catholic faith here. With the talent at hand, and the Catholic World Heritage sites here, the organizers found choral singing would truly represent Macau’s Catholic past and its true spiritual nature.

The festival has now become a platform for people from different cultures to meet and share their music experiences. This is an enriching experience for the participants themselves. The attendance of schools in the event has increased over the years indicating the educational value of such international events everywhere.

This year, 17 acclaimed choirs in the international choral circuit from 8 different countries will participate in the event. The joint symphony of the festival participated by all the choirs will be conducted by the maestro from Macao, Mr. Barrie Briones.

This has become an event awaited by the connoisseurs of music in Macao. 

“Although I did not quite understand the meaning, the heart rending Philipino song ‘Anak,’ stood out in rendition and performance (last year). I noticed that some Philipinoes sitting near me sobbed loudly during the performance of the song. Eventually, I learned from others that the song depicted the heart-melting story of the parents lamenting for a son lost to drug addiction. That was a song with social relevance as well,” said Mrs. Judy, one of the guests last year.

With Bishop Stephen Lee, Bishop of Macau in 2018

“The choirs also brought in the mood of Christmas in early December itself. Aptly, they added some world famous carol songs to the event. We were smoothly elevated to the Christmas mood. I did not realize how the song accompanied us home us until, I heard my little son hum the tune over and over again,” said another participant last year.

One of the highlights of this year is the electronic booking system. Those who want to participate in the event can scan the QR code and register their attendance online. The festival also features a competition named the most popular choir. The guests can vote for the best choir in their judgement by on their own mobiles and an award will be given to the choir that earns the highest votes.