43rd Macao Young Musicians Competition concluded successfully Ieong U Fan awarded the “Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize”
The Special Prizes awards ceremony of the 43rd Macao Young Musicians Competition, organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym), was held on 26 February at the Cultural Affairs Bureau Building. The “Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize” was awarded to Ieong U Fan, and the “Best Performance in Intermediate Category” prize was awarded to Ngai Ieok Ham. The Vice President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Cheang Kai Meng, and the Head of the Department of Performing Arts Development, Kuok Mio U, presented the awards, respectively.
The award winners Ieong U Fan, aged 13, and Ngai Ieok Ham, aged 11, won the “Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize” and the “Best Performance in Intermediate Category” prize, respectively. Both of them expressed gratitude to their teachers and parents for their guidance and support. Their diligent effort and intense preparation for the competition ultimately won them the grand prizes and received widespread recognition.
The winner of this edition’s “Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize”, Ieong U Fan, learned piano since the age of 5 under the mentors Odilia Ip and I-Ian Long, and obtained the LRSM diploma in music performance from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In recent years, he achieved outstanding results in many piano competitions, including the third prize (first and second prizes vacant) of the “Chinese Composition Junior Category” at the 18th Shanghai International Youth Piano Competition National Finals, as well as the third prize of the Piano Concerto Category and the first prize in the Chinese Composers Piano Work (Advanced) Category and Piano Four-hands (Advanced) Category in this edition of the Macao Young Musicians Competition.
This year’s Competition attracted the active participation of over 600 participants. The Competition was held in 2025, during which a total of 26 competitions were held in 15 categories and a total of 375 awards were presented.
The Macao Young Musicians Competition aims to promote the development of classical music in Macao, providing a performance platform and learning opportunities for young local musicians, and encouraging them to gradually embark on a professional music career.
Further information about the Competition dedicated to the categories of Chinese and Western instruments scheduled to be in 2026 will be announced on the website of the Macao Young Musicians Competition (www.icm.gov.mo/cjmm) in due course.
