Look up! It's the Singing Balcony series taking opera to the masses

Khairunissa performing an opera work at the recent Singing Balcony series last month. Photo: VerSeS

If you’re ever at the Zhongshan building in Jalan Kampung Attap, Kuala Lumpur, on a weekend, an operatic aria performed from the balcony of the highest floor there is the last thing you’d expect to hear.

Since last November, unassuming visitors to this three-storey independent arts hub have been treated to popular songs from operas and vibrant folk tunes. This is the Singing Balcony series, an initiative by VerSeS Music Ensembles (VerSeS) to take classical music to the masses. It is primarily run out of the Zhongshan building.