Malaysian Choral Composers Series: Juliette Lai
Juliette Lai was awarded the prestigious Federal Scholarship by the Malaysian Government to further her studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama from where she graduated, winning prizes for Best All-Round Student and for Harmony & Counterpoint.
Juliette Lai
Bio
Juliette Lai was awarded the prestigious Federal Scholarship by the Malaysian Government to further her studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama from where she graduated, winning prizes for Best All-Round Student and for Harmony & Counterpoint.
While Head of the Music Department at the Malaysian Teachers College in Johor Bahru (Malaysia), she also served as Chairman of Committees for Curriculum Planning for Malaysian Teachers Colelges & Schools as well as the Chief Examiner for the Malaysian O-Level (Secondary School) Music Examinations.
As a conductor, pianist, accompanist, and singer, Juliette has directed and performed locally and internationally - Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, North America, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and UK.
Juliette was the Conductor of the National University of Singapore Choir (1985-1993) and Assistant Conductor of the Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Singapore (1994-2001) which was awarded the 1st Prize at the Béla Bartók International Choral Competition (2000). She was also the Music Director / Arranger of Vocaluptuous (2000-2004), Singapore’s top contemporary a cappella group.
As a composer / arranger, Juliette has had her choral works commissioned, published, and performed by numerous choirs in concerts and competitions both locally and internationally. Her arrangement of Potong Padi is published by earthsongs and used for repertoire study at various choral symposiums. Her other arrangement, Bujang Lapuk, was nominated for the Malaysian Music Industry Award. Time Ensemble (World Youth Choir Alumni) performed her arrangement of Getaran Jiwa and the Asia Pacific Youth Choir included Burung Kakak Tua as part of their concert tour repertoire.
Check out Juliette Lai’s 2019 TEDx talk, “Music Creates Possibilities”, organized by University of Southampton Malaysia.
What do you feel is the Malaysian identity in choral music?
Malaysia is a multiracial, multicultural country comprising mainly Malays, Chinese & Indians. Each of these races has its own culture. There is no 'one' Malaysian music. We do not really have a combined Malaysian identity in music, least of all, in Malaysian Choral music. But since the Malays are the majority & the official language is Malay or Bahasa Malaysia, it may be assumed that Malay music or Malay songs would be considered as typical of the Malaysian identity.
Considering so, our music identity is not 'what is' but rather 'what should be' based on its language, its dance-like rhythms, such as Joget, Keroncong, Zapin etc., its instrumentation, its style & its feel. So a choral composer/arranger would naturally try to incorporate some of these beats or rhythms into their so-called 'Malaysian' choral arrangements.
What do you feel is your role as a composer? What do you advocate for?
As a composer, I take pleasure in bringing music to the people at large - music that people can enjoy - music that Malaysian can identify with. I serve the choral community. I add variety of music for choirs to experience & enjoy.
My music must be interesting, never dull. Every voice part is important. My basses have commented that they like my arrangements because even their usually boring parts are fun!
Like Bach, I try to inject harmonic devices such as imitation, augmentation, diminuition, overlapping of parts, one melody against another & such like.
How does your lived experience as a Malaysian inform your compositional writing & output?
Having been born & bred in M'sia, I cannot help but recognise and feel the beat and rhythm of Malay music when I hear it. Exposure and live experiences contribute to my Malaysian choral arrangements. Understanding the language makes a difference. My music reflects the meaning of the lyrics and sets the mood. My imagination of the scenario also sets the scene & the feel of the song.
Example of arrangements:. Potong Padi, Suriram, Sapu Tangan, Getaran Jiwa, Burung Kakak Tua
What are the gaps/challenges in the Malaysian choral music landscape that you feel needs to be addressed?
Sadly, for some reason or other in the past, the value of Music Education in our country was never recognised and hence never really included in the education system. Music was a subject or an extra-curricular activity that was always brushed aside. Only in recent years that misconception has changed somewhat. Slowly (very slowly) but surely there is now more music activity going on in schools & communities. In particular, lots of choirs have sprung up. But -
We lack good, musically-trained teachers to guide these choirs to higher standards & achievements.
We lack encouragement, moral & financial support from both the government and the general public.
We lack platforms and halls with good acoustics to practice and perform more in order to progress.
We lack, badly, knowledge, experience & exposure to all kinds of music so that we can make comparisons & strive for improvement.
We lack, miserably, good repertoire for Malaysian music. We do have a lot of talent but we need to nurture, encourage & give incentives to our local composers to write more in order to flaunt our identity & put ourselves on the world choral map! We already are, through the hard work of a few individuals, but we need a much bigger, harder push!
The mentality or mindset of the general public towards music education needs to be changed.
How is Malaysian choral music unique/special to you?
Choral music has been around for centuries. But Malaysian choral music is relatively new.
I started writing my own choral arrangements of Malaysian songs for my own choirs when I became very involved with choirs in Malaysia & Singapore as there was hardly any one could get a hold of. Having been much exposed to Malay music, i found that I liked the lightness, the feel, the style, the beat & the rhythm. Much of it is cheerful and dance-like, eg. the 'joget' & the 'keroncong' and makes one feel like moving to the music. Other choirs liked my arrangements when they heard my choirs perform and asked if they could have them. From then on my music became popular. Many, including some composers, said they loved my 'unique' harmonies. 'Unique'? Only you, the listener, can tell.
How can people connect with you?
juliettelai@yahoo.com
List of Folk-Inspired Choral Works (as of July 2021)
(most performed works are indicated as *)
Asia Pacific Youth Choir 2019 sings “Suriram” arranged by Juliette Lai. 23 July 2019 @ Hong Kong Culture Centre. Conductor: Vivian Ip (Hong Kong).
Taipei Chamber Singers performs “Potong Padi” arr. Juliette Lai. Conductor: Yun-Hung CHEN. 2014.
“Bujang Lapuk” by Tan Sri P. Ramlee, arr. Juliette Lai. Performed by Tracy Wong, Suk Yin Lai, Aaron Teoh, Joel Wong. (2011)
Johor Bahru Chamber Choir (Malaysia) performing “Sapu Tangan” arr. Juliette Lai.
Time Ensemble performs “Getaran Jiwa” arr. Juliette Lai. Conductor: Shiak Yao LEE. Bogotá, Colombia. March 28, 2013
Asia Pacific Youth Choir sings “Burung Kakak Tua” - arr. Juliette Lai. Special Concert - World Symposium on Choral Music 10 in Seoul. 10 August 2014 @ Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall. Conductor: Jennifer Tham.
Malaysian Choral Composers Series: Vivian Chua
Vivian Chua studied piano and violin at the Royal College of Music London from September 1994 to July 1996. She transferred to the Royal Academy of Music London in September 1996 to continue with her piano professor Frank Wibaut where she graduated with honours in piano performance in 1998.
Vivian Chua
Bio
Vivian Chua studied piano and violin at the Royal College of Music London from September 1994 to July 1996. She transferred to the Royal Academy of Music London in September 1996 to continue with her piano professor Frank Wibaut where she graduated with honours in piano performance in 1998.
Vivian’s first foray into composition began by being one of six young composers for the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra’s (MPO) Young Composers Forum and this resulted in ‘Water – Moods and Reflections’ for chamber orchestra, premiered on 30 March 2003 at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas conducted by Kevin Field. Her other compositions were for a local church musical ‘Liguori – The Reluctant Saint’ (1997), ‘Journeys’ for pipe organ (2002) and ‘Contrasts’, an original choral work for girls’ choir (2003). In 2015, Vivian composed an orchestral piece titled Together, in the Spirit of the Games, performed by the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO) for the opening ceremony of the International Olympic Committee’s Conference hosted in Kuala Lumpur. Following that, Vivian composed ‘Mercu Kegemilangan’ for large orchestra and choir in 2017, commissioned by the MPO to commemorate their 20th year of formation. It was premiered by the MPO, MPYO, the Dythrambic Singers and the MAX Orchestra and Choir of Japan under the baton of Maestro Naohisa Furusawa. It has since been performed as a chamber orchestra version by the MPO in Singapore under the baton of Maestro Eiji Oue in September 2018, and in Johor Bahru and Melaka for the MPO’s Tour of West Malaysia, and in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu for their Tour of Borneo under the leadership of Maestro Naohisa. It was also performed in Taipei, Taiwan in September 2018 by the Taiwan Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Chang Yin-Fang for the Asian Composers’ League conference opening concert.
Vivian’s vocal and choral arrangements began with ‘Rasa Sayang’ for The Australian Song Company (October 2002); and ‘Balai Berlepas’, an original song by Shahnon Shah, performed by Malaysian crooner Sean Ghazi and Evelyn Hii on piano (September 2003). Malaysian folksong ‘Mak Inang’ (November 2005) for choral ensemble ‘Fingerprints’. ‘Mak Inang’ has since been performed many times by various choirs at choral festivals in Milan, Wales, Singapore and Malaysia. Vivian arranged three songs for Sean Ghazi’s debut album ’Semalam’, two of which were nominated in 2007 for ‘Best Arrangement of a Song’ in the Anugerah Industry Muzik AIM) awards, a recognition by Malaysian musicians of their peers’ contributions to pop and rock music. She won for ‘Semalam’, which Sean wrote. The other nominated song, ’Getaran Jiwa’has since been performed from 2016 by Sean with his big band Tarakucha. Vivian has written choral arrangements of Malaysian folk songs for various levels, such as Oleh Oleh Bandung and Jauh di Mata for beginner to intermediate-level mixed choir, and Watimang Landak and Joget Pahang for amateur show choirs. Besides these, Vivian also arranged popular songs for children’s choir in two parts for her music school students.
Vivian’s extensive and varied arrangements for the MPO began with an orchestral medley commission titled ‘Evergreen Malaysian Folk Songs’ to be performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the closing night of the KL-BBC Proms (May 2002). She also arranged a collaborative piece for the Hainan Youth Ensemble to perform with the MPO in their 2005 Chinese New Year concert. Since then, some of her highlights of orchestral arrangements for the MPO are of local pop music performed at the ‘Merdeka’ Awards presentation (October 2009, 2013 and 2016), themed concerts such as a P. Ramlee tribute concert in Kuching (August 2002), ’Irama Warisan Kita’ (December 2009), and ‘Semalam di Malaya’ (September 2018) and concerts featuring invited Malaysian artistes like Zainal Abidin (‘Ikhlas Dari MPO’ in October 2010 and May 2016), M. Nasir (July 2012) and Aishah (MPO & Aishah - A Musical Journey scheduled for February 2021) as well as popular Indonesian singer Judika (October 2019).
Vivian also arranged and scored for the Malaysian movie epic, ‘Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa’ by KRU Productions, (March 2010) with the MPO recording it under the direction of Maestro Claus Peter Flor.
Vivian has taught music (piano, music appreciation, arrangement and composition) for 22 years, and is now the Principal of Ann Perreau’s School of Music. To make performance fun, she arranges pop songs in classical ensemble arrangements, such as songs by The Beatles played as piano duet concertos for young children in a children’s orchestra (July 2005). Her students have studied music in various prestigious institutions in the UK and the US, such as Wells Cathedral School, Queens College, Millfield School, Harvard University, Royal Academy of Music and Julliard in New York. Vivian also consults for the development of musical programmes by the MPO, and was invited as a panel member in the MPO ForumPlus I and II programme for young composers in 2009-10.
What do you feel is the Malaysian identity in choral music?
I am still trying to define what constitutes a Malaysian identity in both instrumental and choral music. For me, the obvious influences are those of the races living in Malaysia - Malay, Chinese, Indian and Eurasian races in the Peninsular as well as the East Malaysian ethnicities which are numerous and as of yet not as exposed or researched as much as those of the Peninsular. And now with the global exposure we have in Malaysia, I believe western classical styles are incorporated into compositions and arrangements here in Malaysia. I suppose one form of Malaysian choral singing would be the dikir barat, with the call and response style. The call is done by a soloist and the response by a group in unison.
What do you feel is your role as a composer? What do you advocate for?
I compose in an organic and instinctive way, mostly when I am inspired by a story or a motif. I build on patterns and am inspired by interesting and unusual harmonies which aren’t predictable. I actually write simply on a personal and abstract idea and not necessarily to convey a political or social message. I like storytelling and evoking responses from my listeners, whatever that may be for them. I enjoy creating beautiful and sometimes unusual harmonies, moving melodies and giving fresh takes on any musical ideas.
I am also a teacher, so sometimes that also informs how I compose if I am writing something for learning. It is in my role as a teacher that I advocate music as essential in developing young minds. I think about what I want a student to learn, and incorporate that in an interesting way.
How does your lived experience as a Malaysian inform your compositional writing & output?
I am very much a western classically-trained pianist with early exposure to Japanese-styled music from my early music education from Yamaha, so I mostly think and hear in those terms. I also like jazz, funk, rock and the orchestral soundtracks of John Williams, Alexandre Desplat, Thomas Newman and Danny Elfman. But as a Malaysian, I still want to put a Malaysian identity to it, so I incorporate elements like the pentatonic scale for the themes but with western harmonies including jazz, or use Malaysian traditional dance rhythms to simple western classical themes. I like to use both eastern and western influences in a tasteful way to express my perspective of what I think is exciting and fresh music. Admittedly I would like to explore and study more of our traditional Malaysian music to better understand it for future compositions.
What are the gaps/challenges in the Malaysian choral music landscape that you feel needs to be addressed?
I think the gaps/challenges in Malaysian choral music is the same for the general music landscape. We need to cultivate the appreciation of the arts in people such as educators, parents and policy-makers as they are in positions to support the growth of music.
Firstly, we need good education that provides exposure and openness to questioning what you are learning or taught, to have the freedom to have original thought and to be curious. It must also allow for a hard look at our history and culture, both the good and the difficult. These are needed to cultivate originality and the courage to have a voice. Composers and musicians must understand their history, language and craft well to create and express works with conviction.
This means we need good training for teachers to inspire the next generation. Then, there is the financial support needed from schools to pay good teachers reasonably to teach their students, and support from parents to allow their children to work on their music.
In terms of skills, we have more diversity and originality in recent years with more Malaysians having studied and lived abroad and then coming back to Malaysia, and sharing their ideas with their music students. There is also the accessibility of expatriate musicians working here to allow more students to gain that knowledge without needing to go abroad, which helps raise the level of music appreciation and learning locally.
Another challenge is for children to have time to explore music on their own and not simply be spoonfed for the quickest results. That helps in the short term, but not necessarily cultivate a deeper understanding in the longer term. It might result in copying rather than innovating unless the student is fortunate enough to be able to make his or her own discoveries due to their passion and interest.
How is Malaysian choral music unique/special to you?
Although I haven’t written many choral works myself and can’t say much about this, I think we have a large pool of potential material to sing about, drawing from our rich ethnic heritage here, and I find that quite exciting. I like to compare our music with what we have done with our Malaysian food and how we all enjoy them regardless of the food’s origin. There’s still much to explore and create since I think we haven’t delved deeply yet into the traditional songs of Borneo which are passed on orally.
How can people connect with you?
My email is vivchuahk@gmail.com. You can also find me on Facebook as Vivian Chua HK. And you can whatsapp me at +6012-9158516
List of Folk-Inspired Choral Works (as of June 2020)
(most performed works are indicated as *)
Malaysian Choral Composers Series: Geneviene Wong
Geneviene Wong Jen-Pei graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly known as Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD), Scotland) with First Class Honours and received the “Rhona Reid Scholarship” to pursue the MMus (Performance) in Piano Accompaniment with Jean Hutchison. Upon completion of the Masters, she was awarded the “Broadwood Junior Fellowship for Piano Accompaniment” at the RSAMD.
Geneviene Wong
Bio
Geneviene Wong Jen-Pei graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly known as Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD), Scotland) with First Class Honours and received the “Rhona Reid Scholarship” to pursue the MMus (Performance) in Piano Accompaniment with Jean Hutchison. Upon completion of the Masters, she was awarded the “Broadwood Junior Fellowship for Piano Accompaniment” at the RSAMD.
In Glasgow, she accompanied the Glasgow Youth Choir and the Glasgow Philharmonic Male Voice Choir, performing in various venues throughout Britain, Germany and the Czech Republic and was actively involved in the community music scene in Britain as a member of the ‘Scottish Council for Music in Hospitals’ and the ‘Live Music Now!’ scheme, an outreach programme founded by the late Lord Yehudi Menuhin. She has also accompanied various instrumentalists and singers in recitals throughout Britain, Thailand, Brunei and Malaysia including the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Upon her return to Malaysia, she taught piano and piano accompaniment in several universities in Malaysia and freelanced as an accompanist. In 2002, she ventured into the world of choral arrangements by accident and since then, has had her arrangements performed by many local choirs, including the Malaysian National Choir, Permata Seni Choir, Young KL Singers, the KL Children’s Choir and the Dithyrambic Choir as well as international choirs such as the Trinity Choir from Australia, Australian Boys Choir and the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir. She has also contributed to the growing wealth of choral arrangements of Malaysian folk songs via the Young Choral Academy.
From 2007 to 2013, she was the programme coordinator for the Pro-Musica Workshop in Malaysia and the Winter Journey Workshop in Thailand (a week-long workshop and series of masterclasses held annually for young professional singers and accompanists conducted by teachers from the Flanders Opera Studio in Belgium).
She moved to Canada in 2013 and is currently based in Langley, BC Canada. She maintains a private piano studio and is active as an accompanist for both musicians and dancers in the Metro Vancouver area, working regularly with the Stella Maris Concert Choir, the Vancouver City Singers, the University of British Columbia (UBC) Summer Vocal Workshop as well as the Royal Academy of Dance, Canada.
What do you feel is the Malaysian identity in choral music?
Honestly, I do not know what the Malaysian identity is anymore. I feel that Malaysian music is still very much divided into Malay, Chinese, Indian, music from the native tribes. In the pop music genre in recent years, there seems to be a trend to include the different languages into one song and then deem it as a ‘truly’ Malaysian song. Is a medley of different dialects /languages enough of a criteria to make a song Malaysian? Perhaps, that is the Malaysian identity that sets it apart from others. The problem is as Malaysians, we are not exposed (yet) to this wonderful diversity as a whole.
What do you feel is your role as a composer? What do you advocate for?
Folk songs are a dying species, not just in Malaysia but around the world - in the past few decades, children are hardly taught or encouraged to sing folk songs in school (let alone sing them at home). I feel there is a huge generational gap in the knowledge of folk music in Malaysia. Thankfully, there has been a renaissance in music education in recent years and that is bringing back the search, the performance and appreciation of folk music from the past. My role as an arranger is to re-introduce these little jewels to the public, starting from the younger generation - making them as interesting as possible without losing too much of its authenticity. I am not one to be pedantic - rules can be broken if it makes it more appealing.
How does your lived experience as a Malaysian inform your compositional writing & output?
As an urban Malaysian, my musical exposure as a child right up to adulthood was unfortunately rather limited to Western influences. From my early music education to my university degree, and later on my postgraduate studies, it was very much Western based. Hence, my compositional techniques and output have been very Western in its approach, with some effort to include more Malaysian (or Asian) elements such as the use of vocal percussion to imitate the sounds of traditional instruments. The challenge has been to notate certain sounds using the ‘romanized’ letters in the attempt to be as authentic as possible to the ‘Malaysian’ sound.
What are the gaps/challenges in the Malaysian choral music landscape that you feel needs to be addressed?
Malaysia, in general, is a hodge pot of cultures. Likewise, her music should reflect that. However, I don’t see that. More collaborative work is needed to make the music truly Malaysian.
How is Malaysian choral music unique/special to you?
TBC
List of Folk-Inspired Choral Works (as of June 2020)
(most performed works are indicated as *)
