A group from the Academy of Music at the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) will tour Portugal from 29 September to 3 October, with performances in Lisbon, Aveiro and Porto. The programme will introduce Portuguese audiences to poetry and songs from ancient China.

According to the university, Portugal was chosen as the first destination on this international tour in honour of the Maritime Silk Road. The institution also highlighted Portugal’s poetic tradition as a favourable basis for dialogue with Chinese literature.

Following its performances in Portugal, the group will continue its tour in Spain, with performances on the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife, before concluding the tour in Milan, Italy.

On stage, the performance will seek to recreate court music based on ancient phonetic and rhythmic characteristics, highlighting the humanistic sentiments, moral ideals and aesthetic dimension of traditional Chinese literature.

The poems and songs performed are drawn from The Book of Songs, regarded as the oldest collection of Chinese poetry, which brings together 305 works by anonymous authors.

(Source: Forbes África Lusófona, 17 September)