Front Row

It began with three neighbours - Pentago House, SAM Mansion, and The Zhongshan Building - and a shared dream of bringing people together through art. Today, that small experiment has grown into PESZTA, a beloved neighbourhood arts festival that turns the spotlight on local creatives and community spirit. As it returns for its fourth edition, we speak to Nur’Adanee Binti Azmi, the administrator for Yayasan Lim Yee Hoh, and Liza Ho, the co-founder of The Zhongshan Building, to find out more.

Image Credit: PESZTA

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Once a community-driven art platform, A4 has grown into one of Malaysia’s most exciting creative movements, one that blurs the lines between art, design, and everyday life. This year’s A4 Art Fair, themed The Art of Everything, continues that mission, inviting visitors to experience how art shapes the spaces we live in and the culture we share. We speak to Si Juan, the fair’s curator, and featured artist Alexdrina Chong, about building this independent art ecosystem and what makes this year’s edition special.

Image Credit: A4 Art Fair 2025

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Every year, the SeaShorts Film Festival offers a window into the many worlds of Southeast Asia - its cultures, struggles, and hopes, told through the art of the short film. This year’s theme, Through the Cracks, looks at stories that find light in the spaces between borders and identities. To find out more, we speak to Koen de Rooij, programmer for the International Film Festival Rotterdam and special guest at this year’s festival. We discuss his work, what makes Southeast Asian cinema so exciting, and what audiences can look forward to at SeaShorts 2025.

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The D’Motion International Dance Festival is back, bringing together artists from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, and the UK in a celebration of movement, creativity, and collaboration. Among the international highlights is In the Absence, a hauntingly beautiful duet by PCK Dance from the UK. We speak to dancers/ choreographers James Pett and Travis Clausen-Knight, to talk about their piece and what it means to move forward, both in dance and in life

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What happens when a symphony orchestra meets a rock band? You get Symphonic Rock 2.0, a one-of-a-kind concert that brings iconic hits from Queen, Metallica, and even Malaysia’s own Wings and Search to life in a whole new way. Presented by Tutan Entertaiment, we speak to conductor laureate Kevin Field, and lead vocalist Muzza, to find out how they are bringing two worlds of music together on one explosive stage.

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In the years after Merdeka, Malaysian artists were reimagining who we were and who we could be. The 1960s gave rise to painters who wrote plays, musicians who composed national anthems, and theatre-makers who told stories of identity and belonging. What The Elders Left Us is a new festival that revisits that vibrant period, not just to celebrate it, but to ask what lessons and legacies it holds for us today. Joining us to share more about the festival are Artistic Director Jo Kukathas from The Instant Café Theatre, and collaborator Paul Augustin formerly with the Penang House of Music, who are helping bring these forgotten stories back to life.

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Mozart’s Don Giovanni is often called the perfect blend of comedy, tragedy, and the supernatural - a story of a charming but dangerous man who lives for pleasure and pays the ultimate price. It’s been performed for centuries in grand opera houses around the world, but this October, KL City Opera is bringing it home in a bold, contemporary staging. Set in the world of modern corporate Kuala Lumpur, with its skyscrapers, fashion empires, and moral grey zones, Don Giovanni will feel at once timeless and strikingly current. Joining us are conductor Bernard Tan and cast member Mak Chi Hoe, to tell us more about why this production is one not to miss.

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How often do we stop to notice the spaces around us, or the people we pass by each day? That’s the question at the heart of Searching Blue, an immersive contemporary dance work by The Human Experience (T.H.E) Dance Company from Singapore. It’s not a show where you sit and watch, it’s one where you might find yourself walking, listening, and even moving alongside the dancers. Ahead of its KL premiere, we speak to the show’s creator Kuik Swee Boon, and sound artist Kent Lee, to explore what audiences can expect.

Image Credit: Thum Chia Chieh, T.H.E Dance Company

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Tan Kah Kee may not be a household name today, but a century ago he was a towering figure - a philanthropist, educator, and community leader who rallied the overseas Chinese in Malaya and beyond during the Sino-Japanese War. His extraordinary life is now being brought to the stage in a new musical called Prelude to Peace – The Legacy of Tan Kah Kee. Joining us to share more about the production are its director and writer, Pun Kai Loon, and cast member, Lim Kien Lee.

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You know those songs that instantly transport you back to childhood? Well, this October you’ll get to hear them bigger and grander than ever before. When You Wish Upon A Star: A Symphonic Celebration with the National Symphony Orchestra, features a dazzling line-up of vocalists, and we find out what's in store from three of them: Sean Ghazi (Singer, Actor, Artistic Director, Bobo KL) and singer-songwriters Elvira Arul and Dasha Logan.

Image Credit: Istana Budaya

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