Front Row

Al Firdaus Ensemble is a multi-cultural music ensemble based in Granada, Spain, who play music inspired by the Sufi tradition. Their songs, however, draw from a variety of sources, including Western classical, Celtic, Arabic, Turkish, Andalusi, and Flamenco. Ahead of their performance in Kuala Lumpur, we speak with two of the group’s members, Ali Keeler and Omar Benlamlih, about their music and the story of how they came together as an ensemble.

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Speak Easy producer Tina Carmillia joins host Elaine Foster in London for an on-site conversation about poetry and science. Are art and science more alike than different? The duo summarises their recent activities in academic research, public talks and personal readings to discover the natural world in poetry.

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How does one go about the business of running an art gallery, particularly within a market like Malaysia? In conjunction with World Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day, we speak with two different art gallery owners to gain insight into the business aspect of visual art in Malaysia - the different approaches, the potential, and the challenges.

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“Blank” is a play where different performers take to the stage each night to perform from a script they have just seen for the first time, which has blanks left in for members of the audience to fill in. Created by award-winning theatremaker Nassim Soleimanpour, whose works have been presented by names like Whoopi Goldberg, Alan Cumming and John Hurt, “Blank” will be performed in Kuala Lumpur by local performers in a show curated by performer Jo Kukathas. We speak with Nassim about the idea behind the show and how he sees it translating to audiences around the world.

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Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera is one of the best known musicals of all time, with its iconic music and dramatic storyline. Three decades after it debuted, the musical now has its Malaysian premiere. We speak with the three main actors of the show: Matt Leisy, who plays Raoul, Meghan Picerno, playing Christine, and the Phantom himself, Jonathan Roxmouth.

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Reimagining Melaka, an annual classical music festival by arts NGO Melaka Classics, aims to bring a culture of classical music to the city of Melaka. Taking place in significant cultural spaces around Melaka, this year’s festival will emphasise musicians who specialise in Historically Informed Performances - an approach to classical music that aims to be faithful to the manner and style of the musical era in which a work was originally conceived. We speak with the festival’s creative director Orest Smovzh, to learn more about this approach.

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Artist Anida Yoeu Ali, a first-generation Muslim Khmer woman who was born in Cambodia and raised in the US, combines live performance, installation, photography, and video art to explore issues of displacement and belonging - by performing as a human-sized bug. We speak with Anida as she debuts her work in Malaysia.

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The fourth edition of the annual Refugee Festival will bring artists from the refugee community to different communities that may not typically have access to the festival. The festival also brings together refugee and Malaysian artists to present their works together. We speak with the festival’s director Mahi Ramakrishnan about how the event continues to evolve as it provides a valuable voice to the displaced people who make Malaysia their homes.

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Mortality is not an easy subject to explore - a theatre production called “dust”, however, attempts to do so by bringing together five performers who will each present ideas related to death and grief through their own perspectives. We speak with the shows director Esther Liew and one of the actors, Ranessa Theyakaraja.

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On this festive episode of Speak Easy, we'll be looking into the concept of poetry exchange. Equally challenging and fun, the practice of exchanging words in a poetic form can be seen not only in our beloved tradition of berbalas pantun but the lively halls of poetry slams as well. Joining Sheena Baharudin are three poets to talk about poetry exchange and a new event entitled BALOH, which is currently making its way into the local poetry scene.

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