Music& A night of songs
> Aubrey Suwito and friends will perform with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra at DFP on Friday and Saturday
RENOWNED composer, producer, arranger and pianist Aubrey Suwito was all aglow with happiness and excitement when talking about his upcoming concert with the 90-member Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO).
Titled Aubrey Suwito and Friends with the MPO, the twohour concert will take place at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP) this Friday and Saturday.
So far, ticket sales have been brisk, with the RM150 seats all sold out.
Aubrey, 51, started working on the concert nine months ago, in an effort to present an entertaining show for fans. The concert will feature songs that are highlights from his 30-year career in the Malaysian music industry.
Besides playing the piano, Aubrey will also be interacting with the audience, telling them about the history of each song he will be presenting, and how these songs have a special meaning in his life.
“The concert will be intimate, but in a grand setting,” declares Aubrey.
Naturally, he will also be singing such popular hits as Sedingin Mana Cintamu, Layarlah Kembali, Malacca Sun, Gemuruh, and Menatap Dalam Mimpi.
With the MPO backing him, Aubrey has made some changes to the arrangements of the songs.
“The songs will sound more symphonic and soulful,” he says, but adds that he has retained the original ‘flavour’ of the song to appease the purists. “... in fact, I have enhanced it.”
He has also roped in four well-know singers with powerful vocals – Sean Ghazi, Dayang Nurfaizah, Faizal Tahir and Jaclyn Victor – to join him in the concert.
Aubrey also hints that there might be another well-known singer who will be making a surprise appearance at the concert to deliver a song or two. But he is not revealing the name for now.
He teases: “Maybe, the singer will make an appearance, and maybe not, but whatever happens, I have prepared a song for [the person]. If you are interested to know [who the person is], you just have to catch the concert.”
The concert will also showcase several songs that had influenced him over the years. “Every musician has their influences and I am no different.”
He cites for example the Malay classic tune, Tanah Pusaka. He first heard the song when he was seven during music lessons in school and fell madly in love with it.
“The lyrics and the melody of that song touched my soul,” he recalls. “That song inspired me to write songs that touch people, and I am lucky [to have] had some successes.”
Another song that influenced his musical palette is the Queen hit, Bohemian Rhapsody, which will likely be sung by awardwinning vocalist Faizal.
The Malacca-born Aubrey also wrote music for television and radio commercials. He was the youngest band member for the late Sudirman Arshad and later became the music director to the legend himself until Sudirman’s untimely demise.
Aubrey’s talent soon got noticed outside Malaysia where he did arrangement work for Hong Kong and Taiwan megastars such as Jacky Cheung, Sandy Lam and Harlem Wu.
Aubrey is also a member of international composer and producer David Foster’s Asian Touring band, and has performed with artistes such as Babyface, Chaka Khan, Richard Marx, Boyz II Men, and the late Natalie Cole.
Aubrey reveals that one of his future projects will see him composing the soundtrack for Malaysian film Pulang which will be directed by Kabir Bhatia.
“This is my first time doing a soundtrack for a film,” he says. “I am including one of songs in the concert.”
In fact, Aubrey has also been asked to create songs for the closing ceremony of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, that will take place in Kuala Lumpur in August.
When asked what would he be if he had not become a musician, Aubrey says: “I was studying to be an accountant, and I would have failed miserably in that job.”