Macao : The Cotai Jazz & Blues Festival 2014 came to an energetic and successful close
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Featuring members from The Monreira Project (Mozambique)emerged victorious in the Cotai Jazz & Blues Festival 2014 competition at The Venetian Macao Sunday, receiving the HK$250,000 first place cash prize from Ciaran Carruthers, Senior Vice President and Director of Venetian and Plaza Operations, Sands China Ltd (right).
Sunday night, crowning the winners of itsexciting Jazz & Blues competition,as crowds of enthusiastic revellers enjoyed the festive Mardi Gras atmosphere at The Venetian® Macao’s lagoon area. Supported by The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government,the festival awardedfour talented winning bandseach a share of the competition’s HK$550,000 cash prize pool.
From Thursday through Saturday, judges Xu Kui,Antonio Cabrita,Michael Cloerenand Tomos Griffiths watched the competition’s 12 finalists each perform 30-minute sets in front of appreciative festival audiences, assessing them on style, improvisation, technique, musicality, performance and audience response.Sixbands were then shortlisted to perform a half-hour set each in Sunday’s final round of competition: Trio Ricardo Special(Hungary), AfroJazz(Brazil), The Monreira Project(Mozambique), The Northern Governors(Finland), Soulmate(India) and Old Style Sextet(USA).
The four winners of the Cotai Jazz & Blues Festival 2014 competitionare:
First Place HK$250,000 TheMonreira Project (Mozambique)Second Place HK$150,000 Old Style Sextet (USA)
Third Place HK$100,000 The Northern Governors (Finland) Special Recognition Award HK$50,000 AfroJazz (Brazil)
“These incredibly talented musicians played their hearts out during this competition, helping deliver a superb weekend of entertainment for our festival visitors,” said Ciaran Carruthers, Senior Vice President and Director of Venetian and Plaza Operations, Sands China Ltd.“The response from visitors has been amazing, and bringing the popular Mardi Gras theme back to The Venetian Macao this year was a big hit. As they do in New Orleans, we really let the good times roll at this festival, and we hope everyoneenjoyed the outstanding musical performances and exciting live entertainment throughout the weekend. This is what an unforgettable integrated resort experience is all about.”
The 12 finalists represented an impressive pool of international talent from Hong Kong, Taiwan,Brazil, India, Portugal, France, the Philippines, Mozambique, the U.S.,Finland and Hungary.Highly skilled musicians from around the world sent in more than 180 applications to the competition’s selection committee; the diversity and quality of the applicants made the decision to choose 12 finalists a tough one – setting the stage for an exciting and entertaining competition that played out in front of enthusiastic crowds of festival attendees.
The judging committee comprised:
Xu Ku — Representative ofthe Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government. Xu Ku is a saxophone and oboe professional, as well as a lecturer of the same at the Macao Conservatory. He also organizes a jazz team for the Macao Conservatory while training local jazz talent.
Antonio Cabrita—Jazz pianist, previous Director of the Macau Jazz Club and the Macau Jazz Festival, and now a band promoter. He recorded the soundtrack for the movie “The Bicycle Man” by Ivo Ferreira, which received an award for best soundtrack at the Malaposta Festival in Lisbon.
Michael Cloeren—Founder and producer of the Pennsylvania Blues Festival, Cloeren is a highly respected blues festival presenter and booker. He also produces a “Women in the Blues” series for colleges and universities.
Tomos Griffiths —Creative Director of Entertainment for Venetian Macau Limited. His stage experience includes having performed the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera.”
Sands China Ltd. is committed to bringing a wide variety of exciting and diverse entertainment to its integrated resorts. The Cotai Jazz & Blues Festival not only creates memorable experiences for visitors and locals, but also provides a great platform for cross-cultural musical exchange.
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