In its fourth cycle, the Sembilan Art Residency paired Anahita Ghazanfari and Syahbandi Samat. The former comes from Iran; the latter from Sabah. The artists share their experiences of the residency and tell stories of the works they individually and collaboratively produced.

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Yesterday, it was about women acting in roles written by Shakespeare. Today, it’s women singing. The inaugural music festival organized by The Gardens Theatre brings together a list of singers, each taking the stage on a different date. We have invited three of these performers in to give us a sneak peek and to help us anticipate what to expect.

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Looking at Shakespeare’s female characters who were traditionally played by men. What burden does this history weigh on contemporary women portraying these characters? In the course of the discussion with our guests from "Shakespeare's Women", we hope to uncover new understanding of the Bard’s plays--Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, A Winter’s Tale and more. 

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The artistic director tells why teaching young people to drum is important and thus the reason for the upcoming fund-raising concert. At the event, Hands Percussion aims to raise enough to sponsor 1,000 young people in their effort to learn drumming and participate in an international drumming festival that the percussion troupe will hold later in September.

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In conjunction with a batik exhibition at Ilham Gallery, a one-day symposium has been organized bringing together textile experts “working in different areas working of studies from art history to heritage to anthropology,” to discuss “the historical, cultural and spiritual significance of textiles in the region and beyond.” The convenor and guests give a peek into the various discussions and point to the diverse meanings of “traditional craft” in the course of time and change.

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They are back by demand in a concert together singing. We’ll find out what makes sparks fly between the two that not only the voices meld together but clever repartee and banter. Hear also samples of what the concert might sound like when we get them to sing in the studio.

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Our guests--merely teenagers--have performed not just in this country but overseas--nothing short of Carnegie Hall, New York. Jeremy Yeo, Joshua Ng and Debra Grace Lim have competed in prestigious piano playing competitions and have scored prizes. We will find out from them where the drive comes from and what it means to play music and to be inside it.

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WVC Malaysian Jazz Ensemble will be presenting Shakespeare in music as part of the klpac celebrations, ringing in the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death. The musicians will share the challenges and the joys of putting Shakespeare’s sonnets into contemporary jazz and singing them, including composing music based on plays like ‘Titus Andronicus’, ‘Hamlet’, ‘Romeo & Juliet’ and ‘Macbeth’.

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Our guests talk about their upcoming ‘untraditional’ performance which combines elements of a music concert with a theatrical structure, to create a dance drama that focuses on Flamenco dancing. The performance explores human relationships and other existential questions. Parallels are drawn between the life of the character(s) and the history of the Flamenco music from its birth until the present. The storyteller and the dance both originate and grow together.  In some ways, it’s the seven ages of (wo)man as expressed through Flamenco with a theatrical bent.

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We’re in for a treat. A semi-finalist at the 2010 Thelonious Monk Competition, Ashton Moore is in town and is stopping by to talk to us at BFM. This Detroit-native has just launched his debut album, ‘Downtown’ in which he “pays homage to jazz tradition with innovative versions of standards” and also anticipates the future.

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