Front Row

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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MyPAA recently launched a website for the performing arts community. ARTERI underscores the organization’s objectives to address gaps in the current ecosystem, and lead towards increasing funding and developmental opportunities, nurturing skills and talent growth to contribute to the social, creative and economic sustainability of the sector. How will a website do all of these?

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The BOH Cameronian Arts Awards 2016 was held just a couple of weekends ago. The winners have been announced and the corks popped in the celebrations. What insights do we get into the performing arts industry through this award? How does such recognition engender better and improved performances and related activities? We hear from the organizer and the participants.

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Dr Quinton Morris is not only a musician but a motivational speaker, music educator and film actor.  He is touring the world not only talking to young people about music and running masterclasses, but is in the process of making a documentary about this travel to spread the gospel of music in education. His film ‘Breakthrough’ deals with an 18th-century black classical music composer--Joseph Bologne, also known as Chevalier de Saint-Georges--a contemporary of Mozart.

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