PRODIGY TAKES ON THE WORLD
to performing Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
“I hope to not only convey the rhythmical and lyrical moments of the piece, but also to expose more of Bartok’s music to the audience.
“The piece is ‘unusual’ and yet traditional at the same time, and I hope to convey the beautiful and unusual aspects of the piece,” he said.
MPO will also perform Kodaly’s Hary Janos Suite and Respighi’s evocative The Pines of Rome.
All concerts will be led by Malaysian conductor Harish Shankar and will feature the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.
Irfan’s father, Dr Tengku Ahmad Shahrizal, said Irfan’s passion for composing and interest in conducting began when he started playing the piano.
“He tends to be engrossed, analysing music scores, audios and videos encompassing chamber performances, and orchestral music.
“Experts advised that the only way to educationally move forward is for him to be trained at the best music conservatories and so, at 13, he auditioned to be enrolled at Juiliard Pre-College and was accepted,” Shahrizal said.
“Composing is something he does naturally, and he will continue with that. At the moment, his goals are to keep on improving in all three fields, while hopefully also developing his own voice.”
Last year, he was the youngest among the world’s top classical musicians to join the Aspen Music Festival, where he completed a series of 15 performances.