AIDA_Opera in 4 acts by Giuseppe Verdi

Collaboration is one of this year's themes, with Giuseppe Verdi's Aida performed by the Latvian National Opera in conjunction with the Macao Orchestra, Portugal and Spain's Iberian Jazz All Stars playing alongside the Macao Big Band, Fado performers from Portugal with Cantonese Naamyam and the Macao Orchestra making music with the Korean Chamber Orchestra.

"These collaborations between our artists and ones from abroad emphasize the international cultural exchange of our programming," says Leung Hio-ming, vice-president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao.

While the larger orchestras will perform in halls such as the Macao Cultural Center, the small, more intimate shows will take place in historic settings such as Mandarin's House Dom Pedro V Theater, Mount Fortress and St. Dominic's Church.

"We hope to add to the existing venues by introducing larger ones in the future," says Ung.

Alongside the performances, there is an extensive outreach program, including talks, workshops, master classes, backstage tours and community activities, such as pop-up flashes performances throughout the city to get people talking.

Warren Mok, artistic consultant for the Macao International Music Festival, believes Miss Saigon and Aida are the two shows not to be missed this year. He also feels that Macao's government is in a rare position to promote the arts in a way that many Asian cities can learn from.

"Macao has a very wealthy government," Mok says. "If it wants to push culture, it can. The government is in a great position to bring in the types of special performers that no amount of money could entice."