The acclaimed classical pianist pays tribute to homegrown composers in conjunction with National Day
AWARD-winning pianist Mei Yi Foo liberates Malaysian music this Merdeka month.
Come Aug 14, the London-based Foo celebrates the spirit of Merdeka when she flags off Free Hand, the country's first Malaysian Contemporary Composers Piano Festival 2019.
This event is set to be a regular platform for promising Malaysian musicians who excel on the keyboard.
Composition themes range from a historical battle in Melaka to a Chinese woodcutter's toil, and from the shimmer of fish scales to the resonance of an Indian instrument.
Nine composers will have their works performed by Foo. They are Raja Alif, Samuel Cho, Choke Yuan Teng, Chow Jun Yan, Chow Jun Yi, Lee Chie Tsang, C H Loh, Tazul Tajuddin and Adeline Wong, the festival director.
Foo brings her celebrated flair on the piano home to explore the wealth of contemporary classical music made in Malaysia.
Free Hand is organised by the Malaysian Composers Collective and sponsored by UCSI University Institute of Music and Yayasan Sime Darby.
The latest updates of the festival can be found at www.freehandfestival.com and www.facebook.com/freehandfestival.
A prolific concert performer, Foo has appeared with the Philharmonia Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, London Chamber Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Bretagne Symphony, Remix Ensemble and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra among others.
Her recordings, notably her award-winning album Musical Toys and her CD ConNotations, a team-up with the Britten Sinfonia, have had worldwide critical acclaim.
She works regularly with acclaimed composers such as Dai Fujikura, Richard Baker, Chris Harman and Unsuk Chin, and has appeared at Berlin's Ultraschall Festival, the Punkt Festival in Norway, Poznan Spring, Das Neue Werk in Hamburg and in the series Music of Today at the Royal Festival Hall in London, the United Kingdom.
Foo has been living in the UK for more than a decade, after completing her studies in music at the Royal College and Royal Academy of Music in London.
She was taught by musicians as Yonty Solomon, Chris Elton and Alexander Satz.
Currently, Foo holds a teaching position at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
She enjoys working in chamber music partnership with musicians as Dimitri Ashkenazy, Nicolas Dautricourt, Shlomy Dobrinsky, Patricia Kopatchinskaya, Antti Siirala, Hugo Ticciati, Matthew Trusler, Bartosz Woroch and Ashley Wass.
During her free time, Foo can be found scuba diving in the depths of Southeast Asia.
In a recent interview, Foo said the festival will give rise to the country's first publication of an anthology of music scores comprising all-Malaysian piano compositions that players and students can acquire to perform, study or simply to enjoy playing.
"Malaysian composers have joined the ranks of the world's best classical composers in continuing to create new works for the piano," she said, adding that she will perform nine new piano works in an hour-long concert.
The MCC has over the past decade worked tirelessly to raise the bar on the local music scene and take such music abroad.
After the evening concert, two winners will be selected from amongst the composers to receive a commission to write the test piece for the finalists of the UCSI University International Piano Festival & Competition in 2020.
The concert is at 8pm at the Institute of Music, UCSI University, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. Entry is by donation of RM50.
Below is the interview with Foo.
IS THIS A FIRST FOR YOU AT THE UCSI?
Yes, it is. Adeline Wong, the festival director, is an old friend and she has done a great job making it happen, a first of its kind. I'm honoured to be invited to perform in this concert.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR REPERTOIRE IN THE CONCERT.
There will be nine pieces, all by promising local composers. Some of them are very new songs composed this year, the oldest songs are five years old. Most, if not all of them, will be played for the first time.
WHEN DID YOU LAST PERFORM IN KL?
I last performed here two years ago at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. I have performed with them eight times. I am excited to be back in KL performing fresh, new compositions.
WHICH OF YOUR PERFORMANCES ARE THE MOST MEMORABLE?
It's hard to say, but I fondly remember playing a keyboard at a competition when I was only four, and it malfunctioned! It was a setback but it made me determined to master the piano, and after more than two decades learning and mastering it I've gone to three continents performing for thousands of music lovers.
I loved my first performance in the Royal Albert Hall in London two years ago. It is a splendid place, with beautiful designs and seats 7,000 people.
I also enjoyed performing in St Petersburg, Russia in 2009 in the White Nights music festival.
YOU FOUND NATIONWIDE FAME PERFORMING IN DEWAN FILHARMONIK PETRONAS WITH PIANISTS BOBBY CHEN AND TENGKU IRFAN IN 2010. DO YOU KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THEM AND PLAN TO COLLABORATE WITH THEM AGAIN?
Yes, I do and I sometimes meet Bobby when I am back in KL. Irfan's father is my good friend and we often exchange greetings during festive seasons. I would love to have a concert with the three of us again, but it all depends on the organisers.
The 2010 event with the MPO was most memorable, because it led to me becoming artiste in residence at the DFP.
The MPO and I toured several cities around Malaysia and among others we played for the Yang Di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir and conducted master classes at schools in Melaka.
WHAT IT IS LIKE BEING AN ACADEMICIAN?
Becoming an educationist is natural for me. I love to share my knowledge of music with others. As a musician I believe I have a responsibility to educate others who are musically inclined, for them to realise their full potential and achieve their dreams just as I have.
My students are all mature students and understand that I'm a performer, so they are very cooperative with me, and we get along great in every class. I've been teaching for six years.
WHAT OTHER INSTRUMENT YOU WISH YOU COULD HAVE MASTERED?
I'd have loved to master the violin. I took lessons when I was 10, six years after I started learning the piano, but soon gave up. I guess most of us are "one instrument" people.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING PROJECTS.
I'm heading to Nanyang University in Singapore to conduct a master class later this month and also to Seremban, my hometown, for an outreach programme. I'll be touring the UK, Germany and France next month.