D

BOOKIT / B3 CONCERT

WHERE: School Of The ArtsConcert Hall, 1 Zubir Said Drive

WHEN: Saturday, 8pm

ADMISSION: $35 fromwww.nstarts.sg/btiga-tix

BOOKIT / IKAN GIRL

WHERE:Chamber, The ArtsHouse, 1 Old Parliament Lane

WHEN: Oct 21 (with Portrait Of AComposer) and 23 (with PortraitOf A Virtuoso), 7.30pm

ADMISSION: $36 from Sistic(call 6348-5555 or go towww.sistic.com.sg)

INFO: www.sifom-sg.com

A small but growing number ofyoung Malay music creators arelooking to their roots and breathingnew life into traditional Malay artsand culture.

From weaving in bits of Malay lit-erature into their music, to bringinginstruments from the East andWest together, they are not justpreserving their traditions, but alsoreimagining and reinterpretingthem in contemporary pop and clas-sical music.

Their efforts can be heard in twoupcoming performances: B3Concert by youth group NusantaraArts on Saturday, and contempo-rary music and dance creation IkanGirl on Oct 21 and 23.

Music and language will collide atSaturday’s B3 Concert – whichstands for Belia. Bahasa. Budaya, orYouth. Language. Culture – whennine Malay poems will be reinter-preted as musical compositions.

The show at the School of the ArtsConcert Hall is a culmination of athree-month project done inconjunction with this year’s BulanBahasa, or Malay Language Month.

Winning entries from a poetry

competition for those aged 16 to 30were handed to young composersDanial Ariffin Azman, Bakti Khair,Amni Musfirah and Zulkifli M.Amin, who wrote music based onthem in a span of three weeks.

Nusantara Arts, says its artisticdirector Zulkifli, decided to mergepoetry and music to get Malayliterary enthusiasts and musicianshere collaborating.

“Language is often misunder-stood by those unfamiliar withMalay poetry, and music is oftenunderappreciated,” says Zulkifli,33. “By combining these aspectsand creating a refreshing approach,we want to see more people takinga step forward and contributingcreative works to the scene.”

The works will be performed bythe group’s ensemble, Nusantara,which showcases keroncong instru-ments such the cak and the cuk,two ukulele-like instruments.

Keroncong is an Indonesian styleof music, but Nusantara also fea-tures the piano, flute and saxo-phone.

Zulkifli, who has at least 150 com-positions under his belt, is inspiredby the structure, sounds and inter-locking patterns of the gamelanorchestra.

“This has a deep impact on mycompositions either by the use ofgongs or mimicking gamelan musicand its harmony,” he says. “There’sso much to discover in this regionand every day is a new discovery.”

Young Malay composers, henotes, tend to infuse elements ofMalay music into their works – a

sign that they are keen on keepingthe “culture going in their craft”.

Says the Lasalle College of theArts graduate: “There’s always thestigma that the younger generationis more inclined to popular andmainstream music instead oftraditional genres – probably due tothe lack of exposure .

“It’s a rich culture, but oftentimesthe lack of understanding creates abarrier between the young andtheir heritage. I think from theinvolvement of youth in the artsand culture scene here, the settingup of musical groups, arts compa-nies and events, we’re on the righttrack. It’s a healthy scene.”

Meanwhile, coming up on Oct 21and 23 is Ikan Girl, a multidiscipli-nary performance featuring an orig-inal composition by 26-year-oldSyafiqah ’Adha Sallehin, accompa-nied by elements of traditionalMalay dance, Bharatanatyam (tradi-tional Indian dance from SouthIndia) and contemporary dance.

Ikan Girl is part of the SingaporeInternational Festival of Music,which runs from Oct 13 to 30, andSyafiqah, who teaches music at theSchool of the Arts, is the festival’sartist-in-residence this year.

The Oct 21 performance will bepreceded by Portrait Of A Com-poser, with original compositionsby Syafiqah performed by the festi-val ensemble.

On Oct 23, it will be preceded byPortrait Of A Virtuoso, with arecital by Syafiqah on the accordi-on and Nabillah Jalal on the piano.

Nabillah, 24, is the music director

of Ikan Girl. She recently com-pleted her studies at London’sRoyal College of Music and returnsto Singapore later this month.

Ikan Girl – or Fish Girl – is basedon an 18th- or 19th-century Malaypoem titled Syair Bidasari. It isabout a girl, Bidasari, who has a soullinked to that of a fish. 

The story is similar to that of fairytale Snow White, with an evil queenwho is jealous of Bidasari’s beauty.Here, the queen takes the fish out ofthe water, which causes Bidasari tolose consciousness. She is even-tually rescued by a prince.

For Ikan Girl, Syafiqah is workingwith The Bhumi Collective, an artsgroup which champions Malay tra-ditional dance and music. Nabillahis one of its founders.

The music will be performed bywhat Syafiqah describes as a “stand-ard Malay ensemble”, comprisingthe accordion, flute and violin, aswell as the piano and percussioninstruments.

She adds: “The music is a fusionof contemporary and tradition. Iused not only rhythms from Malaymusic that go together with theMalay dance repertoire, for exam-ple, the joget, but I also used con-temporary sound colours.”

For example, to produce scenesof excitement or anger, the musi-cians might play their instrumentsin unconventional ways, such asproducing screeching sounds on aviolin or a harsh note on the flute.

“I hope audiences will be open-minded, especially those who don’tusually listen to classical music. It

will be an eye-opener for them,”says Syafiqah.

Nabillah and Syafiqah maintainthat the piece has a relatable storywith Bidasari, which was made intoa black-and-white film in 1965, star-ring Jins Shamsuddin and Sarimah.

“There is a certain ‘Melayuness’to it, which will be a starting pointfor people to understand thatclassical music is not elitist, butvery accessible,” says Nabillah.

nabilahs@sph.com.sg

asyiqins@sph.com.sg

PRODIGY GROWS UPPianist Benjamin Booto play in BotanicGardens concertD4

Young Malay composers arenot only preserving theirtraditions, but also reimaginingand reinterpreting them.Nabilah Said and Nur AsyiqinMohamad Salleh report

Youngcomposers (fromleft) Syafiqah‘Adha Sallehin,Danial AriffinAzman and BaktiKhair are behindupcomingperformancesbreathing newlife intotraditional Malayarts and culture.PHOTOS:

AZMI ATHNI,

COURTESY OF

BENJAMIN BOO

In tune with traditions

CULTURAL REVOLUTION PHOTOSPhotographer Li Zhenshenghid prints under hisfloorboardsD3

Morestories on D2

| THE STRAITS TIMES | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

5BAKTIKHAIR, 24Singer-songwriter Bakti Khair grewup listening to his father’s music.Now, songwriting has become afamily affair.

He has written about 20 songswith his father Khair Yasin, aseasoned Malay songwriter withmore than two decades of experi-ence.

And their shared passion for mak-ing music has brought them closer.

Bakti, a composition major stu-dent at Lasalle College of the Arts,says: “When I was growing up,sometimes he would be so busythat we’d rarely see each other.Now, we speak every day. Weexchange opinions on music, talkabout our experiences.

“In a way, I’m seeing a differentside of him, not just as a father, butalso as a creative partner. And he’sreally someone to admire.”

Bakti started writing and arrang-ing songs in 2008, when he wasstudying for his diploma in sonicarts at Republic Polytechnic. Song-writing, he says, was the mediumhe felt he could best express him-self in.

When he first started out, his

father was his keenest mentor,teaching him not just the technicalprocesses, but also the ins and outsof the industry.

Khair, 51, has written songs forrock icon Ramli Sarip and rockband Lovehunters.

Bakti is striking out alone.Besides the projects he worked

on with his father, he has writtenseven songs on his own and plans torelease a solo album of his works.

With his music, he looks for waysto pay tribute to the beauty of theMalay language. The lyrics in mostof his songs are inspired by Malaypoems.

He is now learning more abouttraditional instruments such as theseruling – a bamboo flute – and try-ing to incorporate them into hispieces.

He says: “I’m still learning moreabout my culture and there’s a lot tolearn because it’s so rich.

“Young people have to takeresponsibility for our culture. Wecan’t wait for our parents or grand-parents to protect it for us.”

Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh

1SYAFIQAH ’ADHA SALLEHIN, 26

From age four till 16, Syafiqah ’AdhaSallehin was exposed to Westernclassical music through her pianolessons.

But finding herself with free timeafter her O levels, she decided tojoin the Orkestra Melayu Singapura,which preserves and promotes tra-ditional Malay music in Singapore.

Around the same time, her father,a fan of Malay keroncong music,bought her an accordion.

“He wanted me to try it out. Iguess because it looks like a piano,”she says with a laugh.

Syafiqah, whose father is a techni-cal officer and mother a housewife,is the third of four children.

It took her six months to learn toplay the instrument.

She would play it every week atweddings and events with GendangAkustika, a traditional Malay musicensemble she joined in 2009. Shealso arranges music for the group.

She mostly plays the accordionnow. Syafiqah is a teacher at theSchool of the Arts’ music facultyand works on music compositioncommissions.

She is not only the first Malaystudent to do a bachelor’s in musicat the National University ofSingapore’s Yong Siew Toh Conserv-atory of Music, but also the school’sfirst master’s student in 2014.

For her master’s, she wrote a con-temporary composition with narra-tion based on the story of SingapuraDilanggar Todak, a local legendabout a swordfish attack.

Syafiqah says she is pushing theboundaries even further with hernew contemporary creation, IkanGirl, based on an epic poem, SyairBidasari.

The work is part of the SingaporeInternational Festival of Music andshe says she is “overwhelmed anddelighted” to be its artist-in-resi-dence.

“It’s an opportunity to make astatement that Malay music can stillbe explored. I hope this craft can bedeveloped further.”

She wishes to set up an academyfor people to deepen their know-ledge of Malay music.

She also dreams of inspiringgreater appreciation for classicalmusic among the Malay communityand hopes parents would encour-age their children to learn otherinstruments besides the piano andviolin.

Using herself as an example, shesays: “At least the accordion didn’tgo to waste.”

Nabilah Said

3DANIAL ARIFFINAZMAN, 25Danial Ariffin Azman’s love ofmusic started with the piano:Tinkling away at the keys in kinder-garten, he eked out a few tentativemelodies.

When he joined his secondaryschool band, he started playing per-cussion instruments, among themthe snare drum and vibraphone.

But he wanted to do more withhis music.

A fan of legendary Malay enter-tainer P. Ramlee – whose manytalents included acting, singing andcomposing – he saw music as a wayto give a voice to his culture and her-itage. “If the young don’t want to bepart of efforts to keep Malay culturealive, who else would?” says thefreelance composer and arranger.

“I kept asking myself this and tell-ing myself I need to do something,to go beyond my comfort zone –the piano – and start playing Malayinstruments.”

In 2012, he joined the OrkestraMelayu Singapura Belia (SingaporeYouth Malay Orchestra) to learnmore about his musical roots. Sincethen, he has picked up traditional in-struments such as the rebana, kom-pang and gamelan, and is handywith the accordion – which is oftenused in Malay music.

This has added new depth to his

pieces, he says. “After that, the mu-sic I composed used both tradition-al and Western instruments. Fusingthem creates new colours and Ithink the young appreciate that.”

He will be playing the piano in theB3 Concert by Nusantara Arts onSaturday, for which he composedthree songs based on poems.

Danial, who graduated with adiploma in sonic arts from RepublicPolytechnic in 2014, has composedsongs for theatre productions,short films and symphonic bands,among others, and arranged musicfor the likes of popular Singaporesinger Imran Ajmain.

His efforts to meld East and Westin his music are not just an attemptto preserve Malay music, but also tobreathe new life into it.

He says: “I want to surprise peo-ple with my music. Youth may beunfamiliar with Malay music, itsrhythms and its instruments, so Iwant to make them go, ‘Oh, you cando that? It can sound like that?’

“There are no limits to our tradi-tional music. It’s not dying. It’s notold-fashioned. It’s about how youuse rhythms and instruments. Withsome imagination, you can do somany things with it.”

Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh

4AMNI MUSFIRAH, 22Amni Musfirah’s time in the UnitedStates is giving her a renewed driveto explore and express her cultureand identity.

The student at Berklee College ofMusic in Boston says: “Here, I’mastounded by how passionate theSpanish and African Americans arein keeping their culture alive, espe-cially through music.”

She adds via e-mail: “Even whenthey played pop music, they wouldmake sure to weave in elements oftheir backgrounds, whether rhy-thm or instrumentation.

“So I’ve tried to do that, especiallyin arrangements – insert a littleMalay music identity. It definitelygives a different colour.”

The composition major first triedher hand at songwriting when shewas 10 years old and has beenhooked since. She has churned outabout 50 pop songs and 20 instru-mental pieces.

She has made her name as a per-former too. When she sang at theChildAid charity concert in 2008,she impressed Cultural Medallionrecipient Iskandar Ismail so much

that he invited her to sing thetheme song of the Asian YouthGames in Singapore the followingyear.

She also performed at the open-ing and closing ceremonies of theYouth Olympic Games in Singaporein 2010.

Last month, she released a Malaysingle, Bisik Cintamu, which shewrote with fellow Berklee studentsIrena Taib and Sandra Lim. It is get-ting airtime on Malay radio stationshere and there are plans to releaseit in Malaysia and put out a musicvideo.

For the B3 Concert, Amni com-posed music built around 30-year-old Nur Muhammad Hidayat Nor-din’s poem Budaya Bahasa Belia(Culture Language Youth), a call topreserve and be proud of Malay cul-ture and language.

The message resonates with her.It is, after all, the young who arecrucial in keeping the culture, lan-guage and music alive, she says.

“If it’s not us, then who else?”

Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh

2NABILLAHJALAL, 24

After four years of studying at theprestigious Royal College of Musicin London, Nabillah Jalal willreturn home for good later thismonth.

It was in London that the young-est of three children became inter-ested in Malay culture.

The pianist and conductor says:“I felt strongly about how I wasMalay. Being away from Singapore,I realised that it formed a huge partof me.”

For her thesis, she decided toresearch traditional Malay musicfrom the 1960s, an era with awealth of original music fromgenres such as pop yeh yeh, and onfilm soundtracks.

At first, Nabillah – who is theschool’s first Malay Singaporeanstudent – was afraid that herschool would not allow her to do it.

She says: “Being a Western classi-cal college, there is nobody whoknows South-east Asian music.”

But her tutors referred her tosupervisors from the School ofOriental and African Studies, University of London,who have the requisite expertise.

She also received help from musicians in Singapore,including Iskandar Khairuldin, a member of pop yehyeh band The Rhythm Boys, which was formed in the1960s.

Since then, she has developed a particular interest incontemporary music, in relation to her identity as aMalay Singaporean.

Together with six other Singaporean students in Lon-don, she formed The Bhumi Collective earlier this year.

The group premiered a work titled Bhumi at the Edin-burgh Festival Fringe last month, which married tradi-tional Malay dance and music. Nabillah was the musicdirector.

She says: “It was a humbling experience because Ihad to learn about instrumental Malay music. My back-ground is Western classical, so it was a whole newworld.”

She roped in her best friend, a Lithuanian composer,to help create some of the pieces for Bhumi.

She says: “He doesn’t know anything about Malaymusic. But he told me ‘there is a certain sound whenyou play that cannot be achieved by anyone else’. It’s a‘lenggok’, a type of lyricism that Malay music has.”

The collective is also part of Ikan Girl, a work featur-ing original music by composer Syafiqah ’Adha Sallehinwhich premieres next month. It includes elements oftraditional Malay, contemporary and Bharatanatyamdance. Nabillah is the music director of the work.

When she returns, she will teach piano, especially tothose from lower-income groups who may not haveaccess to classical music.

Back in 2012, her parents could not afford to send heroverseas, but she had help from scholarships and bursa-ries. Her father works in shipping and her mother is ahousewife.

“I received a lot of help from people and now I wantto help in any way possible. My dream is for a societythat allows individuals to realise their potential.”

Nabilah Said

Five young Malay composers

ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI

arts

ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI PHOTO: SHAWNA CHIA

ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI

PHOTO: JANE LAU

D2 life | THE STRAITS TIMES | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 |