Front Row

Talking about the ‘Golden Era of Malayan Music’, which is music of the 1940s and 1950s. The singer and composer tell about the legends of the era which celebrated those on the stage like Kamsani and Nona Asiah, and composers like Ahmad Jaafar and Osman Ahmad.

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The Perak-born artist reveals his sense of humor describing his solo exhibition which is dominated by a mud totem, and four photographic works, titled tongue-in-cheek, ‘Lone Ranger’, ‘Dynamic Duo’, ‘Magnificent Three’ and ‘Brilliant Four’. These light-box duratrans prints depict paddy farmers of Perak as superheroes in their fight against giant monsters. The humour belies the seriousness of the issues the artist raises about the plight of these people who work the earth.

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Two artists--one from Syrian and the other from Afghanistan--without any status recognised in our country tell about the importance of theatre in the lives of people displaced by war and other conflicts. They share how their personal experiences inform their productions in the double bill ‘Impossible Love’. They also express their desire to help Malaysians have a better appreciation of the often invisible minority groups in our midst.

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Our guests tell how two magical worlds slip into each other in the creation of ‘Mak Yong Titis Sakti’. In the conversation Norzizi Zulkifli, a theatre instructor at a public university, details which Shakespeare plays allow themselves for a marriage with Mak Yong and which are more difficult or perhaps nigh impossible.

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‘OCD’ is a devised physical theatre piece exploring what it’s like living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. What does it do to a person and the people around them? How does one fight these intrusive thoughts? And how does one cope out there? The director herself has Tourette’s Syndrome, anxiety disorder, attention deficit disorder and, of course, OCD. She and the cast share not only about creating a performance but also about how devising the production allowed some reflection.

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The Australian University has brought in 30 students and mixing them with local students at the Bentley Music Academy. Between the two groups they will stage an opera--The Mikado--and excerpts from Broadway musicals. Our guest tell about the collaboration and why such a collaboration is important. They also share on how exposure to music education impacts the young.

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Our guests tell us about the repertoire of movie-theme music that the Selangor Philharmonic Orchestra will play in its concert, ‘May the Music Be With You’. They point to John Williams’ genius and introduce us to Hans Zimmer and a Welsh composer, Karl Jenkins whose piece accompanied video but not a film or a television series.

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From Rimbun Dahan in a new year, new collaborations by teams of Southeast Asian artists. Bilqis Hijjas the convenor and curator of this annual event--together with two dancer-artists--tells about the 10 site-specific dance works. Our guests give us a look at how they as collaborators negotiate differences to mutually create and they share on the issues and attitudes towards dancing in the region.

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Our producer takes a trip to an art gallery to look at eight large portraits of artist, Chong Ai Lei. Her portraits set her in the home she grew up in. Our producer describes some of her works and reveals what they evoke in him.

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The festival--which is a mix of workshops, demonstrations and performances--enters its fifth year. Our guest tells not only of its offerings but also about the former participants, especially in its competition. The festival which humbly started with a focus on the piano has now opened its door to other jazz instruments. Michael Veerapen reasons why this change in the festival.

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