Macao Performing Arts Criticism Anthology (2021-2024), planned and published by the Macao Foundation and organized by the Macao PEN Club, has recently been released. Five students from the 2023 and 2024 cohorts of the Art Studies (Musicology) program at our university had their critical essays included in this anthology.

The selected works are as follows: 8 music reviews, including A Night with Mozart – Reflections on the Season Opening Concert of the Macao Orchestra by Wang Xuanni, a 2023 doctoral student; The Extraordinary Musical Feast of "Yingming" – Thoughts on the 2023 Anniversary Concert of the Yingming Choir by Wen Hui, also a 2023 doctoral student; Academic Research and Stage Performance Shining Together: Appreciating the Inheritance of Macao's Local Musical Culture – Reflections on Participating in the Macao Local Music Experimental Concert by Zhang Junyuan, a 2023 doctoral student; 2 music reviews, including Revisiting Old Melodies with New Interpretations, Tying Affections to the Locust Shade – Impressions of the Revised Cantonese Opera The Romance of the Locust Shade by Peng Jingyao, a 2023 doctoral student; and 2 music reviews, including Music as a Bridge Between City University of Macao and South China Normal University – Dual Celebrations for Two Universities, Expanding New Dimensions of Musical Culture by Wang Haitao, a 2024 doctoral student.

This anthology aims to summarize the annual achievements of Macao's performing arts creation, preserve literary and artistic materials, and thereby promote the development of Macao's literature and performing arts culture. Under the guidance of Professor Dai Dingcheng, the doctoral students have also published dozens of influential music reviews in various newspapers and periodicals in Macao. Their inclusion in the anthology demonstrates the enthusiasm and attention that the doctoral students of the Art Studies (Musicology) program at City University of Macau have devoted to Macao's local musical culture alongside their academic research.

Written by: Peng Jingyao