Major music competitions in Macau, 2026
Macau holds well over a dozen larger youth music competitions a year. Some are entered and held here; others run regional rounds elsewhere and bring qualifiers to Macau for the final. This page puts them in month order, so you know when to pay attention.
Put together by SOLO. We do not organise or co-organise any of these competitions. Dates, categories and fees follow the organisers own announcements; sources are at the foot of the page. Competition and organiser names are kept in Chinese, as that is how they are published — searching the Chinese name will find the official page
Last updated: July 2026
The busiest months are January–February and July–August
| Jan–Feb | 粵港澳大灣區青少年音樂周 · final 澳門鋼琴邀請賽 · final 澳門國際藝術公開賽 · final 桑塔·塞西利亞國際鋼琴比賽 · China final 澳門－亞太青少年鋼琴公開比賽 · final |
| Mar–Apr | 蓮花盃青少年鋼琴大賽 · entry IYMMC 維也納國際青年音樂家音樂大賽 |
| May–Jun | 澳門青年音樂比賽 · entry 中葡音樂藝術節 |
| Jul | 蓮花盃青少年鋼琴大賽 · competition 澳門青年音樂比賽 · category rounds |
| Aug | 澳門青年音樂比賽 · special grand prize round 澳門古箏邀請賽 · final 澳門國際青少年演藝節 · final 澳門回歸盃青少年音樂比賽 · entry and first round |
| Nov | 澳門回歸盃青少年音樂比賽 · final 澳門國際藝術公開賽 · entry and video submission |
| Dec | 澳門國際藝術公開賽 · first round 澳門回歸盃青少年音樂比賽 · prize ceremony and winners concert |
January to February: the finals are in Macau, and entrants come from elsewhere
粵港澳大灣區青少年音樂周
Held from late January to early February over about five days, this is the largest youth music event in the Macau calendar. Organised by 廣東省粵港澳合作促進會文化傳播委員會, 粵港澳大灣區音樂教育發展協會 and 中青在線, with support from the Cultural Affairs Bureau and Galaxy Entertainment Group. Regional rounds cover more than forty cities nationwide, with representatives from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and overseas. Five main competitions: piano, orchestral, Chinese instruments, voice and modern instruments.
澳門鋼琴邀請賽
The final is fixed for late January to early February and runs about three days. Organised by 國際音樂教育家協會, 粵港澳藝術交流協會 and 中澳青年文化聯合會, under the guidance of the Cultural Affairs Bureau. Regional selection is normally finished the previous November to December; the organisers announce fifty regional rounds nationwide plus five European national rounds, and the most recent final drew entrants from forty-eight cities. Thirteen categories: age groups, plus Chinese repertoire, teachers and graded-exam categories.
澳門國際藝術公開賽
Entry in November, video submission at the end of November, the first round in December, and the final held in Macau the following January to February. Regional rounds include Guangzhou and Guizhou; the first round can be entered live or by video, with nine age groups from six and under to over forty, plus a professional category. Disciplines include piano, voice, Western instruments, Chinese instruments and spoken arts. Note that the final needs a separate entry.
桑塔·塞西利亞國際鋼琴比賽 · China final
Held in early February, for piano. The Macau event is the China final, running alongside an international youth piano festival with a piano marathon and talks. Organised by 澳門音樂藝術空間; the parent competition is based in Porto, Portugal, and strong results qualify entrants for the final there. Open to entrants from anywhere.
澳門－亞太青少年鋼琴公開比賽
Held every two years, with the final in Macau — most recently in February. Organised by 澳門鋼琴協會, with the Hong Kong round run by 香港青少年表演藝術交流發展協會. The most recent edition had twenty-nine regional rounds: Macau and Hong Kong, plus Zhuhai, Jiangmen, Chongqing, Xian, Lanzhou, Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai and Hangzhou.
March to June: some competitions take place, and others open for entry
IYMMC 維也納國際青年音樂家音樂大賽
Held in Macau in March to April, run by 澳門音樂藝術交流協會, with piano, strings, wind, voice, percussion and drum kit. Strong results qualify for the final in Vienna.
中葡音樂藝術節
Held from late May to early June, jointly organised by 澳門中葡文化交流友好協會 and 澳門音樂藝術空間, with title sponsorship from Galaxy Entertainment Group and support from the Macao Government Tourism Office and the Cultural Affairs Bureau. The festival houses three competitions: 澳門人樂隊歌唱大賽 (in Chinese, Portuguese and English), 澳門國際管弦樂及室內樂大賽, and 大灣區國潮音樂大賽.
July to August: the summer holidays, one competition after another
澳門青年音樂比賽
The largest official competition in Macau, organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau and open only to holders of a valid Macao Resident Identity Card. The rules state that odd-numbered years are for piano and even-numbered years for Chinese and Western instruments, alternating year by year. Category rounds are fixed for late July to early August, with the special grand prize round straight after in August. The entry period is the easiest part to miss — the window is only about seven days, and the month it opens changes every year: the last four editions opened in late March, late April, late May and early June.
蓮花盃青少年鋼琴大賽
Organised by 澳門鋼琴協會, with entry from mid-March to mid-April and the competition in July, aimed at local piano players. Judges come from mainland China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia.
澳門回歸盃青少年音樂比賽
Organised by 澳門青年展藝協會, with support from the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the Education and Youth Development Bureau and the Macao Science Center. Entry closes mid-August, the first round is in late August, the final is in November, and the prize ceremony and winners concert are on 20 December. The rules state that entry is open to amateur and professional musicians nationwide; the Macau first round is held live and other regions are selected online, and a merit award or above in the first round qualifies for the final. Categories include piano by grade, piano by age, Chinese repertoire, themed repertoire, plucked strings, bowed strings, wind, percussion and voice, plus an a cappella category.
澳門古箏邀請賽
Run by the same organisers as 澳門鋼琴邀請賽, with the final in early August. National selection runs from May to July; entrants from overseas, and from places without a regional round, can send a video for the online round, and the organisers state that entries must have been recorded within the previous six months. Age groups run from seven and under to eighteen and over, with professional, teacher and group categories as well.
澳門國際青少年演藝節
Organised by 澳門蓮花衛視 and 澳門城市文化促進會, under the guidance of 中國歌劇研究會 and 澳門文化界聯合總會. The final is in mid-August over four days, taking in registration, an opening ceremony, artist exchanges and a red-carpet prize ceremony. Open to ages seven to twenty-five, across five areas: voice, instrumental, dance, musical theatre, and spoken arts and presenter selection.
Practice before the competition is usually not arranged by the organisers
Read enough of the official documents and the same thing keeps coming up: accommodation, transport and practice are usually not mentioned in the rules. The rules for 澳門－亞太青少年鋼琴公開比賽 put it most plainly — given the conditions at the venue, there is no official warm-up time; the same document states that running order and competition venue are decided by computer draw.
The official documents for 澳門國際藝術公開賽 give detailed transport directions, down to the free shuttle buses from each border checkpoint, but say nothing about registration times, rehearsal, instrument trials, practice rooms or accommodation. 澳門古箏邀請賽 is one of the few that makes an arrangement — the entrants guide states that each entrant gets two to three minutes of free warm-up before playing, and there is a practice room at the venue, open only from the afternoon to the evening on the two days before the final.
For a child arriving from elsewhere, the fingers are stiff on the day of the flight or the border crossing, and a day or two without playing takes time to come back from. You also do not know in advance which day you will be called, so the schedule has to stay flexible. For a child living in Macau it is the other way round — no travel to plan, but the weeks beforehand are the hardest time to find space at home, with family and neighbours around after school and after dinner.
Both situations need the same thing: somewhere available at any hour, with nobody to work around, to keep the hands in.
Common questions
Can non-residents enter music competitions in Macau?
It depends which one. The rules for 澳門青年音樂比賽 require a valid Macao Resident Identity Card. 澳門回歸盃 states that entry is open to amateur and professional musicians nationwide, with the Macau first round held live and other regions selected online. The competitions whose finals are held in Macau take entrants from anywhere by design.
Do competition venues provide somewhere to practise?
Mostly not, and the rules usually do not mention it. The rules for 澳門－亞太青少年鋼琴公開比賽 state that there is no official warm-up time; the official documents for 澳門國際藝術公開賽 give detailed transport directions but say nothing about practice rooms, registration times or rehearsal. 澳門古箏邀請賽 has a practice room at the venue, open only from the afternoon to the evening on the two days before the final.
How can I arrange practice before competing in Macau?
SOLO is open 24 hours; upright rooms are MOP 60 an hour with a one-hour minimum, and can be used late at night and on public holidays. For a first visit, message us on WeChat or WhatsApp to set up your account; for hourly customers we book the slot for you. The room provides the piano; anything other than the piano comes with you. Details are on Rooms and rates。
Want to practise before the competition? Get in touch
SOLO is a 24-hour self-service piano room in Macau, in Wah Lung Industrial Building by the Red Market. Upright rooms are MOP 60 an hour, one hour minimum; grand piano rooms are priced separately. For a first visit, message us to set up your account.
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