Concert hall hits a higher note

Hassina: Clients can also hire our MPO talents for a musical performance. — ONG SOON HIN/The Star

SINCE opening its doors in August 1998, the Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (DFP) has played a pivotal role in the music and cultural landscape of both Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia. The home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO), the grand concert hall has been exclusively dedicated to classical music and epic concert performances.

Over the years, it has entertained audiences through concerts by established musicians of the MPO as well as and other world-renowned orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, BBC Symphony and Vienna Symphony. The venue has also played host to international superstars the likes of Harry Connick Jr, Diana Krall and Laura Fygi.

In addition to being a popular cultural hub, DFP has also announced that it will be expanding its series to cater to corporate clients and event organisers. And by all accounts, the space itself is more than capable of accommodating events and functions beyond classical music.

Grandiose experienceDesigned by Cesar Pelli, the grand hall takes its inspiration from the traditional shoebox shape of the great 19th century European concert halls with the magnificent Klais Pipe Organ providing a spectacular backdrop to the stage. The hall, which includes corporate suites, box seats and a royal suite, seats 920 people.

Beyond its world renowned stage for symphonies and concert performances, DFP is now serving as a multi-purpose space for hosting corporate events; from product launches, brand activations, private concerts to conferences and recordings.

The hall is set to redefine corporate event landscape by offering a range of premium services designed to meet diverse needs.

“We have aspirations to make DFP like London’s Royal Albert Hall,” explains Hassina Begam Abdul Ghani, chief executive officer of DFP. “That is what we want to emulate because we want to make DFP a place to foster collaborations and partnerships due to its branding association, exceptional acoustics quality and technical expertise.”

According to Hassina, DFP has always been open to hall hires and collaborating with corporate partners for private concerts and events like Toyota Classics.

However, she admits, that they weren’t actively pursuing this aspect of the business until recently.

“We had performances on weekends and we didn’t have room for other people to come in,” she explains.

But Hassina admits that the pandemic forced them to re-evaluate their position. “People were stuck indoors, performances were shelved and that was when we began looking at our direction and what our contribution to the music industry should be.”

“We realised that this beautiful hall should be enjoyed by the nation and this has served as an inspiration for us, because we aspire for this hall to be enjoyed and utilised more by others and not just confined to the MPO.”

A sound business moveCrafting experiences aside, the pivot towards creating these new service offerings is part and parcel of the intent to generate revenue with the DFP. “It’s always about sweating your assets,” she explains.

As such these days, most MPO concerts are held on Saturdays with only popular ones getting the option of additional shows on weekends. This will now increase the accessibility of the hall, especially on weekdays.

The DFP’s decision to market its hall and services has evidently been a good move as the response has been encouraging.

Hassina reveals that the DFP is fully booked until end of the year. “It was a pleasant surprise to us,” she enthuses.

“We introduced different packages to cater to a variety of events with the option of whole day as well as hourly rentals.”

Thus far, the DFP has played host to a diverse range of events such as MOV Asia 2023 and Animenz Live Asia Tour 2024. “Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman also rented our hall for its collaborative concert with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in August,” reveals Hassina.

Recently, the DFP provided the setting for Dewan Perniagaan Wong Malaysia’s “The Knights Award” as well. According to Hassina, besides hall bookings, the DFP also offers venue hires such as the promenade and circle areas, gallery, foyer, corporate suites and music rooms for events.

“Clients can also hire our MPO talents for a musical performance and we can even curate an entire concert for them if they need.”

Music at its coreDFP’s suite of offerings extends to guided hall tours as well as corporate sponsorships of concerts and its suites. Those looking to expand their repertoire of music experiences can also leverage the DFP’s own recording studio.

The DFP provides the gold standard when it comes to sound with its top-notch recording studio and broadcasting facilities with 4K capabilities.

The facilities combined with state-of-the-art equipment and the DFP’s very own skilled personnel allow the studio to be utilised for movie productions and album recordings.

Beyond this, the DFP is expanding into other areas of entertainment, including stand-up comedy as well as dance and ballet performances, which will feature in this year’s season and beyond.

“All of these plans are designed to make the DFP a sustainable business,” stresses Hassina. “We don’t want to rely strictly on donations; we want to create these revenue streams so that we can be sustainable as a business.”