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 putting this show together with choreography by Michael Voon.

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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.

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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 face of 21st century challenges.

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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.

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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 universities, including outreach programmes to the general population, even in the rural areas. Learn about the viola d’amore which forms the heart of the music of the trio.

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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 successful man.

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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 their stories, and anticipate the future.

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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 arts. Chris Ng, who is trained in children’s theatre, elaborated on why it is important, and how to extend this reach beyond the privileged upper middle-class.

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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 the communal nature of music. 

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Sifu Production the company that to-date has focused on humor for millennials--’Never Eat Too Much Before Rapture’ aka 30 plays [sic] in 60 minutes; and more recently FIFTEEN or 15 plays [sic]--explains how it will bring humor to a Shakespearean tragedy. Its press release declares: “With lines such as “O Lo Mio, Lo Mio, whyforth mantao”, Lo Mio and Chiu Liet: Forbidden Love in Forbidden City contains many comedic infusions of its Chinese setting without straying too far from its source material.” Clever witty humor or ...we’ll find out before opening night.

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