Children's concert presenter Alasdair Malloy is no stranger to the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra's Family Fun Day series and on May 23, he will be back at Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS for another family concert, simply titled The Incredible Voyage Of Alasdair Malloy.
Led by Jebat Arjuna Kee, the MPO and Malloy will bring the audience on an adventurous journey from Scotland to Kuala Lumpur through classical and popular compositions that connect with a particular kind of transport, interspersed with fun interactions.
Malloy says he hopes to bring a sense of discovery and adventure to every concert he performs with the MPO. But this time, he adds, there's a new element: The concert tells the story of his “incredible voyage” from Scotland to Kuala Lumpur where things don’t go as planned and he must find alternative means of transport to reach the city.
Above all, Malloy says he is passionate about music education. "I feel very strongly that these concerts are for all in the family and not just children. To me, this means that this should be an experience that the whole family looks forward to," he says in an e-mail interview.
Song selection
Malloy says the process of choosing the songs is a long and involved one. "I have done concerts about sports, pirates, superheroes and space among others, and the theme will inevitably leads me towards certain pieces."
"However, I need to make sure that there is a great musical contrast in the programmes as well as including pieces which may be unfamiliar to audiences ... so I always start out with far more music to choose from than I will eventually include," he says.
The songlist includes Ponchielli's The Dance of the Hours: Finale, Grieg's Peer Gynt: Morning Mood, Williams' Star Wars Suite: The Imperial March and Menken's Aladdin: A Whole New World.
It is important to give audience a sense of familiarity, he says, and using music from pop culture can provide that sense of arrival at something we instantly recognise and have an association with.
"Let’s not forget that the most-listened-to composer of all time is John Williams and his music from Star Wars and Harry Potter is every bit as classic and relevant as the music by Grieg, Rossini and Saint-Saens which we have in this programme," he says.
Parental encouragement, Malloy adds, can help children dicover music. "They can let the children know about the way music can represent different emotions, and they will then discover that in this concert, we will experience joy, suspense, delight, dismay, frustration, fulfilment and many others."
"I think the important question to ask afterwards is always 'how did the music make you feel?' Children have such fantastic imaginations and it is always fascinating to hear their responses to the music they hear in concerts like these."
Still discovering
Despite his familiarity with the hall, musicians and audience, Malloy says he is still discovering and each experience is different.
"From the stage, I can see everyone’s faces and I love to see the sense of wonder and amazement in the audience as each piece in the programme is performed. I have been working with the MPO for many years, and I feel a great sense of trust from everyone involved when putting these programmes together," he says.
He adds it's also very important that the musicians feel that their craft is being well represented. "That is one of the reasons that I make it very clear in the concert when we are listening to them and when we are participating with them," he adds.
The Incredible Voyage Of Alasdair Malloy will be staged on May 23 at 2.30pm at Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS. More info: www.mpo.com.my
