The 27th Macao International Music Festival (MIMF), organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macao, will be held from October 2nd to November 3rd 2013. The Festival has many extended programs, including Jazz-It-Up! Workshops co-organized with Jazz Club de Macau and Macao Jazz Promotion Association. Limited vacancies of the workshops are open for application from today (August 1st) to August 6th, at the lobby of the Cultural Affairs Bureau on the Tap Seac Square. The previous year's jazz programme Ain't That Swinging in Mount Fortress! successfully brought together local jazz musicians for a joint performance extravaganza, offering opportunities to local jazz musicians to learn from visiting jazz masters. The event received an enthusiastic response and garnered critical acclaim. Taking the chance of this year's Festival and continuing to cultivate more local jazz talents, the Festival has invited the renowned European jazz band Iberian Jazz All Stars to Macao. They will not only perform in the Macao International Music Festival in October, but also serve as instructors for the Jazz-It-Up! Workshops. The Jazz-it-up! Workshops run from August 8th to 31st and from October 5th to 11th and are divided into three levels, Mini Jazz, Beginning Level, and Advanced Level. The medium of delivery is English and Cantonese interpretation will be provided. Prospective students of the Beginning and Advanced Level Courses are required to attend an audition to be held on August 8th. Those of the Beginning Level should prepare a piece of music between one to three minutes; while candidates to the Advanced Level should perform two standard jazz pieces of different styles within a certain length of time. Outstanding students of the Advanced Level may be selected to become a part of the Macao Big Band for a joint performance with the Iberian Jazz All Stars in a concert in October, within the framework of the 27th MIMF. The application form and guidelines for Jazz-it-up! Workshops the can be downloaded from http://www.icm.gov.mo/fimm; applications should be delivered at the lobby of the Cultural Affairs Bureau's Building, located on the Tap Seac Square. For more information please call 8399 6609 or 8399 6622.
