Rowie's Scribbles

The Choir of the Philharmonic Society of Selangor (PSS) will present Music from Movies and Musicals on 29 to 31 July 2016 at Pentas 1, klpac. The show will feature memorable showtunes and popular music from movies, like Frozen and the Lion King.  PSS is a community-based performing arts society and this show aims to make musical shows accessible for all music lovers.  Tickets are available at Ticketpro but I would like you to consider the Fri show (29 July) where proceeds will be donated to Hospis Malaysia . Hospis Malaysia is a charitable organization that offers professional palliative care to patients who suffer from terminal illness within the Klang Valley. Proceeds will fund medicine and medical equipment, training and education and other operating expenses.  Click here for more details on how you can donate to Hospis Malaysia and enjoy a fun-filled night :)

I never considered myself a fan of the opera. I came upon their audition call in the newspaper and I suggested it to my friend. While my friend has no formal training in singing, she has been in church choir for many years and she has sung acapella at Christmas events. I was her accompanist at the audition and SHE NAILED IT!  The Kuala Lumpur City Opera ( KLCO ) was formerly known as the Eat, Sing, Travel people under the klpac. They have since moved out and established themselves independently, with their own rehearsal studio and office in Damansara Kim; they organize events such as the OperaKUL and concerts to share the beauty of opera music with the public. It is helmed by renown singer and music educator Chi Hoe Mak, and the team behind the KLCO is dedicated to their cause.  Incredibly talented and passionate Chi Hoe Mak! I've attended the OperaKUL festival and their Opera Extravaganza concert in collaboration with the Selangor Philharmonic Orchestra; the human vo...

I planned to write a post about the latest offering from the klpac String Ensemble (klpac SE) before the concert dates but I was too occupied with work and rehearsals so this post is my review (har har!) of the show! This show is special because it employs dancers to accompany the klpac SE for some pieces! :) It was a grueling 4 months: attendance was compulsory so no more dim sum Sundays! The pieces were less difficult than the previous Mad for Mozart program but we didn't opt to keep it simple: there was heavy emphasis on dynamic changes, and heavy use of spiccato (a basic technique which I lack!). There were a lot of divisi parts -- I enjoyed it because the musical harmony produced was amazing during group rehearsal but self-practice was auditory torture since I was playing the bottom part!  The following well-known pieces (- composer) were delivered:  Danza Hellenica - Loreta Fin The Blue Danube - J. Strauss II Persian Dance - E.R. Lucas Waltz no 2 - Shostako...

I am not new to KLPAC; I heard of them way back when they were housed in BSC (as Bangsar Actors' Studio) and I attended the Flute Festival in 2007. Recently I was re-introduced to the KLPAC via a colleague: she, too, is a violinist with the KLPAC Orchestra. I was intrigued with the idea of a musical group comprising people from different walks of life and ages. Within a few days of taking my grade 7 exam, I went for the audition and have been preparing for my maiden concert on 20 & 21 Feb 2016. Entitled Mad for Mozart, our concert will feature some of Mozart's most dazzling works :) Preparing for a piece is not just about practicing; one must also understand the background and wonder what was Mozart thinking when he penned the notes to such dynamic music. Let's review the pieces to be showcased: Divertimento in D major, K136 Penned at age 16, this piece is full of Mozartian grace and charm; there is an arrage of 16th note combos throughout the piece and the op...

I'll be honest: I never heard of SSMH (Society for the Severely Mentally Handicapped) until my music school principal informed that our string ensemble will perform for the event.  SSMH provides day care and education for the severely mentally disabled children and youths; these special children require regular therapy besides love and care. The society also aims to raise awareness of the needs of these special children and the work performed by SSMH to help the children gain more independence.  The objective of the charity carnival is to spread that awareness and to raise funds enabling SSMH to assist these children in gaining a better future. The children have cerebral palsy and there are full time therapists to aid them.  So if you're free on that weekend, drop by and lend a helping hand! :) I'll be performing with friends on the Sun; also there will be more than 40 booths offering various goodies ranging from fashion, food and so much more! The booklets ...

I found Beethoven's music intimidating; I always have this image of a furious, wild-haired genius banging away at the keyboard as if it couldn't hold the immense power of his music. I just finished The World of the String Quartet offered by Curtis Institute of Music via Coursera; that was a very enlightening course so I was intrigued by Curtis' other offering on Exploring Beethoven's Piano Sonatas , delivered by the engaging Mr Biss who is an accomplished pianist in his own right.  This course is an open course; ie no deadlines, free and it is updated with new material. I finished it 2 weeks ago and this week a new set of lectures were added. yippee! Well Beethoven's piano sonatas, as I've learned, is so immense; it was pleasant to delve deeper into the structure of the piece, the history and what makes the piece uniquely Beethoven's.  I've gained a better appreciation of the genius in Beethoven's piano sonatas and I am reminded again of t...

I'm sure many of you would've heard of Scribd, a digital library with ebooks, magazines, and even audio books galore! I usually search for sheet music on Scribd as well as some Nora Roberts books for light reading :D You can have unlimited access for $8.99/month, else you can opt for the free membership however you have to upload a document for a single download.  PS This is not an advertisement for Scribd;  I've produced some music transcriptions and uploaded them to my profile here :)

I have to admit I've forgotten so much of classical music history that I learned during my piano classes and I joined this offering by Yale University as I wanted to refresh my memory and revisit classical history in a more informal manner.  This course was A-MA-ZING!  Why? Well the lecturer Dr. Craig Wright is the main reason I was excited every week for lecture videos as he exudes so much warmth, I feel like I'm getting a personable one-to-one class! He breaks down classical music without detracting its very complexity yet eases us into understanding its evolution towards the music that we know today. The lecture videos impart top quality content; may it be excerpts from his classes at Yale, or a tour of old pianos at the museum. We learned the background of key composers and why they wrote the music in such a way. The connection between music and history + art was very well elaborated and I have a richer perspective on the beauty of classical music. There we...

Since I started using Musescore (see my write-up here ), I produced some scores for my group and individual practice. I'd like to share some of them here as Musescore unfortunately limits the no of uploads to their site :( So I've uploaded some to Google drive, f eel free to comment! :) Embroidered Purse - a Chinese folk song piece, I referred to the YouTube vid below: - currently I wrote scores for 2 violins but they are WIP and I will be uploading a solo violin version soon. Song of Yimeng Mountain Currently only the solo violin part has been written. Refer to the YouTube vid below: PS It was fun to learn how to embed YouTube video into the blog post as well as sharing Google documents! :)

Previously I raved about America's sad queen, Lana del Rey ; the songstress mentioned that she will no longer produce music after some of her music were leaked to the Internet. Luckily for her fans, she changed her mind and her latest offering, Ultraviolence is a sumptuous feat for the ears.  Lana has grown in many ways; her image is more unique than ever and more recognition is given to her skills as a songwriter; she produced Burning Desire to promote the new Jaguar F-type car and Disney's Maleficent featured her haunting rendition of Once Upon A Dream. These milestones introduced her to a new community of fans who want more of Lana del Rey and she answered.  Burning Desire Once Upon A Dream I feel her confidence has grown and there's a darker side to this new album. It seems she is not afraid to sing what she wants to sing anymore and Ultraviolence is the embodiment of this confidence. S ongs like Ultraviolence and The Other Woman shimmer with the essence ...

I recently joined a weekly violin ensemble class and my teacher is open to trying different pieces, not necessarily classic, so I joined musescore as they had quite a variety of free sheet music and the software was relatively easy to use. Previously I used GuitarPro so I didn't have much trouble adapting to musescore software. I like how the interface is similar to Microsoft Visio; it creates a professional feel to what I was doing! :p Transcribing music was habitual for me during university; the orchestra was small so purchasing sheet music was impractical as we would not be able to achieve the same depth as a full orchestra. Good thing I've perfect pitch so we could write out scores and adapt it to our capabilities.  I've uploaded several pieces, both are transcribed by moi; feel free to browse and share pieces on this wonderful site :) Check out my profile here . If you have pieces you would like me to try, feel free to comment! 

Last Tues I purchased a new violin, my 2nd biggest investment after my car. The maker is Otto Jos Klier from Germany. The model is carried by Carismen Dolce , do check out their outlet in M-Avenue; there's something about seeing violins hanging everywhere that makes me feel like I'm in a church :p I got some tips from the store owner on violin ownership: 1) Power of the case Some people might think that the violin case is merely a vessel to carry the violin around. However the quality of the case can help sustain the life of the violin. Cases made in China may be sufficient for impact protection but the material used can produce fumes in hot weather which will gradually cause deterioration to the violin. A better quality case provides insulation against varying weather condition and provides better protection for the violin. 2) Rosin quality Rosin is created from the resin of trees, typically pine; the resin is boiled and the fluid rosin is drained off. Good rosin is...

As some of you may know, I've registered for the ABRSM Grade 5 exam for violin. The exam is in August, the exact date and venue will be announced soon. Initially when I took up the violin, I did not plan to take exams: I wanted to focus on learning the instrument without the stress of preparing for the exam. However, I am more confident now and my teacher has encouraged me to try the Grade 5 exam. She's tried me out on previous exam pieces for Grade 4 and Grade 5, then we've tried pieces from my book Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics: Violin Classics, Vol 2079, Intermediate to Advanced Level.  My exam pieces are: [A1] - Corrente, 2nd Movement from Sonata in D minor, Op. 5 No. 7 by Arcangelo Corelli. [B2] - Pastorale, Op. 23 No. 1 by Oskar Rieding [C1] - For Latin Lovers by Brian Chapple I like the differences in my pieces: Corrente is a typical Baroque piece; I've to learn how to play semi-detached notes. Just yesterday we focused on the 1st page of ...

For the first few hours in the morning, I was just having an ordinary Sunday breakfast with family. Upon arriving home, my sister broke the news that Whitney Houston had passed away.  I won't write much, this will be a short entry: 1) Everyone's buzzing about the details surrounding her death. 2) We all know that drugs had her career spiraling downwards. 3) Tonight's Grammy's awards will be overshadowed by her death. We've lost a star, again to that seemingly unstoppable shadow of drugs. Add Whitney Houston, a once vibrant singer with amazing talent and charisma, to the list of artistes who died because of drugs. RIP Whitney Houston. You will always be remembered. 

Yes I like listening to Lana Del Rey's music while I'm ironing clothes lol!  It is through my sister that I first heard Born to Die; the American singer/songwriter has the internet abuzz about her vocal talent (critics slammed her performance on SNL), and there were calls from some quarters saying that her pouty lips are fake.  Seems like Lana's saying "WHATEVER". I personally felt she redeemed herself with a lovely rendition of Videogames on The David Letterman show, and her lips, real or not, goes well with her gilded, old-Hollywood charm.  Her music blends soaring strings with a strong pop beat; I find it amazing that even the song Videogames which is basically about how she loves spending time with her boyfriend can sound like (as an online friend put it) "an audio fairytale".  With a no2 debut on the American Billboard charts, Lana Del Rey can be considered a rising pop star. She's a unique addition to the group of new star...

Now that I've settled in my new routine, I'm outlining some music goals I want to achieve: 1. Improve my violin skills I've resumed my violin classes & now I'm trying to master the 3rd position, my bowing is still problematic (I hate hearing notes that aren't supposed to be there) but at least the notes sound more solid & clearer. I've a copy of the Eta Cohen Violin Method book 3, it's a really good book with drills to strengthen the fingerwork & has a nice compilation of songs for practice. The current song I want to master on the violin is Bach's Violin Concerto in D minor, I'm learning different fingering combinations & trying to get the bowing right. 2. Expand my piano repertoire I want to play these songs by the end of 2011: Claire de Lune - I can't get past the 2nd page! Flight of the Bumblebee - I'm still unable to play the piece smoothly Fantasie Impromptu - suggested by a senior, I've trouble synch...

Now that I've some free time on my hands, I've returned to playing piano daily, to the despair of my fingers! I've tried out some new songs & uploaded them for y'all to listen! Painted Heart - Theme song from Painted Skin movie Riders of Rohan - From LOTR: The Two Towers OST I'll upload more soon, when I'm free & have practiced enough! Hmm makes me wonder if I should have kept my piano recordings site :/ Feel free to comment! I'd be happy to share the scores, though I played by ear for the 1st piece! :) Try Matahariku , a popular Indonesian song by Agnes Monica :)

As some of my friends noticed, I'm a HUGE fan of GLEE ! The American musical-comedy TV series is the latest craze on Malaysian shores & I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a GLEEK! :p It revolves around the McKinley High School show choir called New Directions comprising of very different individuals in it together for different reasons. I just watched the 20th episode & I'm loving' it! :D Similar to HSM? To be fair, I've never watched HSM: I've avoided it like the plague lol. But friends who watched both series generally described GLEE as the "smarter version of HSM". Ouch! One thing for sure, is people don't just burst into song on GLEE; there's usually a stage or a proper avenue for their performances. It's like a REALLY long-running cabaret show IMO! :p PS. I REALLY don't think Vanessa Hudgens can sing without irritating me. The Appeal I suppose why people are into the show is the characters are not the popular, hip kids of...

A chat today made me wonder: what songs would I like to hear reverberating through the hall during my convocation ceremony? I went through my song collection & selected the following: 1. Let It Be - The Beatles When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be. And in my hour of darkness, She is standing right in front of me Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. And when the broken-hearted people Living in the world agree, There will be an answer, let it be. For though they may be parted, There is still a chance that they will see There will be an answer, let it be. And when the night is cloudy, There is still a light that shines on me, Shine on until tomorrow, let it be. I wake up to the sound of music, Mother Mary comes to me, Speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be There will be an answer, let it be. Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. 2. Kenangan Te...