A hub for music and performing arts
MIRI: City – a strategically located northern gateway to Sarawak boasting a pool of talented musicians – has the potential to become a regional hub for music and performing arts.
Sharing the same vision, a group of local musicians recently formed the Chamber of Music and Performing Arts (CMPA), Miri, to tap into this potential.
CMPA Miri aims to make Miri City a hub for showcasing talents of music and other performing arts in Southeast Asia by 2025.
“Moreover, our vision is also to elevate the standards of music and performing arts, especially in Borneo,” CMPA pro-tem president Peter Lim said after a recent courtesy call on Miri City Mayor Adam Yii.
Also present were pro-tem secretary Vivian Imang and adviser Karambir Singh.
Lim said during the courtesy call, CMPA sought the cooperation of the Miri City Council ( MCC) to help fulfill the Chamber’s vision.
The CMPA also invited Yii to its first two projects - Year End Vocal Recital and Vocal Master Class at Pustaka Negeri Sarawak ( Pustaka) Miri’s Auditorium on Dec 30.
The Chamber’s vision was well received by Yii who said “music and performing arts is an important essence of any city, including Miri, as both items transcend all boundaries and attract support from all strata of society.”
He assured the Council would encourage and support efforts to make Miri a vibrant, peaceful and liveable resort city.
Yii added that CMPA Miri’s efforts would complement especially two established and internationally known musical events in Miri – Borneo Jazz Festival and Miri Country Music Festival, besides the newly introduced Rocktober Fest 2017. Year End programmes According to Vivian, the two events are preludes to a third project – International Classical Piano Competition, tentatively scheduled for June, July or Aug 2018.
“These two events to be held at Pustaka Miri’s Auditorium, on Dec 30, are the first in Miri and very great opportunities for music teachers, students and especially budding singers,” she said. Vocal Recital Meanwhile, Jeanne Marie Druce, Sarawak’s multi-lingual soprano and performer and a CMPA member, will be conducting the Year-End Vocal Recital.
Accompanying her on the piano will be Mirian Christine Ann Obek, currently preparing for her Licentiate Performance Diploma Exams.
Both alumni of St Joseph’s School had performed at the School’s 85th Anniversary dinner in October this year.
Jeanne Marie will sing 12 classical songs, including Mozart, Brahms and Schumann in five languages – German, French, Italian, Spanish and English. There will be other surprises. Professor Ian Bofinger, Executive Dean and Chief Executive Officer ( CEO) of Australian Academy of Music and Performing Arts (AMPA) said ‘he is very proud’ of Jeanne Marie’s achievements in her undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
In 2016, on hearing Jeanne’s lyrical soprano voice, AMPA’s Head of Music, Dr Elizabeth Jones, encouraged her to swap her major from piano to voice, a decision that augurs well for Jeanne’s performing arts career.
Jeanne’s versatile voice enables her to move seamlessly between operetta and traditional songs right through to the Italian Arias, German Lieder, French Chanson and Russian Operatic repertoire.
Dr Jones of Sydney remarked: “It’s wonderful to know that Jeanne will give a recital in December alongside Dr Kornelia Perchy in Miri.
“Jeanne is a remarkable young classical singer with captivating stage presence.
“Her performances will inspire the next generation of Malaysian performers.”
Dr Perchy, an internationally acclaimed voice teacher, Vocal Master Class presenter and herself a solo performer, noted: “Jeanne Marie is a talented soprano, a versatile performer with a great sense of style.”
Dr Perchy will conduct a Vocal Master Class in Classical, Contemporary and Musical Theatre Styles.
Born in Hungary, she attended a selective music primary school, specialising in the Kodaly method, and has a Master’s Degree in opera from the Liszt University in Budapest.
She has participated in a number of prestigious international competitions including the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World and the Placido Domingo Competition in Tokyo, as well as the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo (Japan), and the Ravinia Festival in Chicago ( USA).
In 2002, she joined the Hungarian State Opera as one of its principal artists.
To date she has toured Europe, México, Israel, Japan, and Thailand both with the State Opera and as a solo performer.
Dr Perchy completed her Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Sydney ( The Conservatorium of Music) with emphasis on performance practices. Master Class benefits According to Vivian, the Vocal Master Class is organised so that a highly proficient artist-teacher works with one student and a small ensemble in front of an audience.
The objective is to provide a learning opportunity for performers as well as observers.
“In the Vocal Master Class, the singer receives a valuable nugget of information that she can later apply to the rest of her vocal repertoire.
“The audience experiences how the master’s advice improved their vocal performance and overall, the master class provides an educational performance opportunity,” she said.
Tickets for the participants of the Vocal Master Class (at 11am) and the Vocal Recital (at 4.30am) are RM120 per person and RM70 per person respectively.
Tickets for the audience to the Vocal Master Class is RM30 per person.
For more information, call May Bain ( 019- 8060829), Jennifer Hii ( 019- 8590773) and Vivian Imang ( 011- 33075810).
The other CMPA pro-tem office bearers are Sarah Goh (vice president), May Brain (vice secretary), Helen Haliward (treasurer), Jennifer Hii ( public relations) and Jeffreyson Jau as webmaster.
Membership is open to all music enthusiasts, including children 12 years and above.