Front Row

The Mathias Heise Quadrillion has created a truly unique sound combining the chromatic harmonica with rock and funk music, resulting in a vibrant fusion of jazz music.

We find out more about the Danish jazz band and the methods behind their magic from Mathias Heise (Harmonica/Keyboards) and Mads Christiansen (Guitar).

Find out more about them at their website on follow them on their Facebook page.

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The guest conductor with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra tells about two different programs to be performed by the orchestra under his baton. He also explains what kind of sound he would like to create in the Mahler pieces: ‘Des Knaben Wunderhorn’ and ‘Symphony No.1’.  He describes himself as a musician as he tells about Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’ and why this piece is quintessentially 20th century.

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Two orchestras combine and collaborate to perform new music by Malaysian composers who include both the young and established ones. Our guests tell about what is needed to create a fertile ground to raise composers and describe the kind of music that is being composed.  We get introduced to the composers young and old.

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One of the many roles of art includes inciting in us an appreciation for our home land. The university has involved young people in both art and heritage by taking them to a heritage site and at the same time impart design knowledge and art skills to the young. Dr Ng talks about the SentulWorks art exhibition project.

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Canadian-born Gabrielle Maes performs in a  one-woman show in which she acts and sings the life of a bag-lady with a telling backstory. Maes shares her interest in voice training: she coaches singers, actors and other performers about improving the voice through yoga.

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The poet, labelled “the Polish Sappho,” comes to the studio to share about reading poetry aloud and to an audience. Not in a slam poetry event or a poetry competition, but to hear the sonics of the written word and in the company of others. We ask her about poetry and poetry reading in a global culture dictated by sms-speak, Instagram and emoticons, where (visual) images matter more than cleverly crafted verbal imagery.

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Yudi Yap, a singer known for her rendition of Shanghai jazz numbers is celebrating 25 years as a professional singer and entertainer. Together with her arranger and piano accompanist, Tay Cher Siang, they tell about the history of locally written music and songs that came out from the 80s. They also share what they as musicians have to do and the music they themselves consume to stay relevant to a changing demographics. They list some musicians.

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In town for two thirds of the month is a show by UK-based Big Wooden Horse titled ‘Monstersaurus’. The three performers tell about the show and the fun, pleasure and challenges performing for children and with cute cuddly monsters on stage.

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“Every Brilliant Thing” by playwrights Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe scored well at the Edinburgh Fringe, and actor Qahar Aqila has picked up the script to perform locally. Find out from the actor and the director about choosing written-somewhere scripts for performance on our tropical shores and learn what questions they ask about the staging it here and the assumptions they make about the audience. The actor tells about playing a child.

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Pauline Fan and Yana Rizal throw light on the ‘Manora, also known as ‘Nora Chatri’, a folk dance-drama tradition practiced by the Thai community in the north Malaysian states of Kelantan, Kedah and Penang, as well as throughout southern Thailand. The performance over the weekend is part of the Pusaka in Publika, an initiative to keep traditional performing arts on the front burner, by exposing, entertaining and educating the public through talks and performances.

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