Front Row

The harmonica is perceived as a musical instrument for the not-serious musicians: campers who require some entertainment around a fire, backpackers on the road alone; and cowboys on the range in Westerns. Two members of the Fresco Harmonica Ensemble disabused us of the notion, and provided some insights into playing the ‘mouth organ’. They also told us about the competitions in which t...

After a couple of shows based on the use of created shadows on screens--a kind of modern ‘wayang kulit’--the founder, producer and artistic director of Masakini Theatre Company, Sabera Shaik offers a third, that promises “to take you on a nostalgic journey of discovery through Malaysia” in an attempt to “make you remember why you love Malaysia.” See omnystudio.c...

So very rarely do we get a local theatre company, based outside of the peninsula, come over here to present its performance. Front Row gets the opportunity to hear the artistic director of Pitapat Theatre not only detail the performing arts landscape in Kota Kinabalu and Sabah but also about the creation of this performance which echoes Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen’s ‘An Enemy of...

The dancer-model shares how one discipline (dance) helps the developing of the other (modeling), and the artistic director details how Vanizha who was “too tall” some years ago is now the right stuff for dancing with the troupe in public performances. Ramli Ibrahim also reveals what it is to make a classical dance form relevant to contemporary audiences, here in Malaysia and in India....

The visiting conductor, who has led orchestras all over the world, opens the classics up to music lovers in the Klang Valley.  He is in Kuala Lumpur to conduct music by Mozart and Shostakovich in two different concerts. Find out about his ways of hearing and creating music and what he says about tones and the emotions evoked. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The conductor and soloist share their insights into the composition and performance of Handel’s oratorio,  ‘Messiah’.  The last time this choral piece was performed occurred late last year in Sitiawan, Perak. So folks in the Klang Valley are in for a treat.  More so for students who are studying ‘Messiah’ as part of their GCSE or IB syllabus; they will...

The producer and music director detail how they brought together young drummers from schools and universities to perform in a drumming concert. These young people were gather to collaborate and to create; and then to revisit successful competition-winning works composed by their predecessors with the intent to find the unadulterated form. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We get an education into baroque music, learning about its characteristics and the intellectual ideas that undergird it. This music which was composed approximately between 1600 and 1750, is sandwiched by the Renaissance on one end and the Neo-Classical on the other. Violist, Dr Andrew Filmer demonstrates with a baroque bow. Our guests will be in an upcoming concert with Ensemble Virama and presen...

The TV and stage-performer is taking steps to expand her tray of offerings. Having performed and sung in musicals, she takes the formal steps to put her in the position to become a serious singer. She tells about learning to sing formally and about her upcoming performance ‘Friends on the Other Side’--the dark side? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Soon Heng takes a tour of an off-the-beaten-track gallery nestled in Bukit Tunku. In this apartment-gallery which shares the block with eateries, offices a bank and other professional service providers, he gets an almost first-hand account of HRH Sultan Ismail’s life behind the camera and sees several original prints.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To celebrate International Women’s Day and to draw attention to women’s struggles in balancing their careers and personal lives, the gallery owners of Artemis Art has organized an exhibition titled Equilibrio (brio, in music means a vivacious performance style). The curator, UC Loh and two of 22 exhibiting artists tell about their works and how they are expressing this “either fo...

To keep discussion vibrant and relevant, a group of public intellectuals maintain an online blog site. A particular subject of discussion in cyberspace now takes shape in the real world with an exhibition on the  discussions on faith in Kelantan, which many Malaysians know often only nominally and with assumptions formed from hearsay rather than facts. The curator of the exhibition, ‘Kh...

This is Shakespeare’s year, and on-air today is the second UK act to visit our country. The actors from The Handlebards, a theatre troupe that is barely three years old, share their thoughts on performing the Bard. They are touring Southeast Asia, for the first time, after traveling and performing the length of the UK carrying all sets, props, costumes and all on just four bicycles with trai...

The curators of the exhibition ‘Love Me in my Batik’ educate us on the history of this art form and situate the craft as practiced in our country in the context of region. They inform on the works that are displayed which include several from Indonesia.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Chinese New Year celebrations have given birth to a special orchestral concert featuring Chinese music called "A Celebration of Chinese Music". The director and the featured violinist share about preparing the orchestra to play and tell about the significance of the pieces to be performed, several of which were composed in the 1950s.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talked our way into a dress-rehearsal and realizing that many a technical slip between tonight and opening night can be fixed, we veer away from any discussion of line hiccups, miscued light changes, etc., and focused on the elements that engaged us. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This four-year-old a capella group is staging a musical presentation about a girl named Aisya--her trials, dreams hopes and triumphs.  The performance takes songs by by local and international artistes including P. Ramlee, Marvin Gaye, John Legend, Michael Jackson and Muse, amongst others, and combines multimedia effects to depict Aisya’s journey. The group sings on-air and tells about...

The artist’s works are off to VOLTA NY, an American incarnation of the Basel VOLTA Show, an invitation-only exhibition. The artist talks about these most recent works and the impulse that led to their execution. His daughters feature in these works which are described as continuing his exploration of duality. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Keeping traditional performances alive is Pusaka’s mission, and in pursuing that, it opens the year with a puppet show in Teochew. It has invited the Kim Giak Low Choon Puppetry Troupe, led by Ling Goh (of Penang) to stage a performance. Pauline Fan and Yana Rizal from Pusaka gave details not only of the troupe and the tale that will be performed but the craft the troupe keeps alive in the f...

Guzheng player, Sara Heng, introduces us to the traditional Chinese musical instrument and tells about the birth of the WAU! Ensemble made up of six young Malaysians who met each other in music conservatories in China. She gave us a peek into a particular piece which will see the musicians improvise during its upcoming debut performance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The professor and his small troupe of musicians from New Zealand--Archi D’Amore Zelanda--are in the country to run masterclasses for string players, which will culminate in a performance, comprising a viola d’amore, a cello and a guitar. They tell about classical music and New Zealand a land known for rugby, sheep and the great outdoors, pointing out the initiatives in schools and univ...

Dominic Luk who recently starred in Angels in America, Parts 1 & 2 will be performing in a one-man show titled The Weight of Silk on Skin written by Singapore-based Malaysian playwright, Huzir Sulaiman. This is a play about the landscape of the mind. The director and the actor described the journey to create a visual experience (through the performance) of the internal life of an outwardly suc...

Colour of Voices hit the sweet spot this Chinese New Year holidays with their music video which went viral. This young group, formed just two years ago (2014) shared with us their genesis and their plans for the future. What has the group tapped into so that their video resonates so well with Malaysians? Will its current online success translate into future commercial opportunities? Hear them tell...

Getting children into the world of the performing arts, and getting the arts into the world of children - it’s a challenge that our guest on today’s show has taken on. For the most part, outside of certain better endowed schools, little is done in our public sector-schools and community centres to expose school-age children to live performances, and for them to explore the creative art...

This year, the world celebrates Mozart’s 260th anniversary. Our Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, together with international soloists and a combined choir, just recently paid homage to the composer’s Requiem Mass. Norman Ong, who has taken the baton to lead the klpac String Ensemble told us of the group’s upcoming concert with the soloist Samantha Chew. He shared his story about...