WHO WE ARE
The Song Weavers |
The narration of humanistic experiences takes shape in different forms. Some people find it in the play of words, you call them writers; some in impersonating other characters, you call them actors; some in creating a mirage of colours, you call them painters. Those, like ourselves, who find joy in narrating the wealth of such experiences through art songs, are called song-weavers.
Weaving, in European folklore is connected to magic or even witchcraft. One of the Grimm brothers warned that it is a very bad sign, should a man, while riding a horse over land, come across a woman spinning. We call ourselves Song Weavers, not because we can conjure up black magic through singing, but rather because we like to think of ourselves as weavers of art songs, spinning out the beauty and emotional depth of the genre. We are founded in 2015 with six musicians, to be precise: four singers (Soprano: Ang Mei Foong; Alto: Lim Yee Fen; Tenor: Tan Chee Shen; Bass: Mak Chi Hoe) and two pianists (Samuel Tan and Wong Chee Yean). In conjunction with our inaugural concerts “Von ewiger Liebe” in May 2015, we toured to local music institutions including universities and schools for giving talks and lecture recitals; we are planning to do more outreaching community music projects to be of more educational value to wider audience in Malaysia. And we also hope to be able to work closely with local composers to further enrich the repertoire of art songs. We are very much in our infancy and although there is not much in our record, we have much hope to be able to keep sharing this wonderful genre of art songs with you in the future, and hopefully, to be able to sing some good magic into people’s lives. |
The musicians |
Soprano | Ang Mei Foong
Mei Foong is the alumni of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), Conservatorio di Music Santa Cecilia, Rome; and University of Melbourne. She was the recipient of numerous academic scholarships and music awards, notably the "Silver Medal Winner Award- Outstanding Achievement" in the "Global Music Award, Oct 2014". As an active recitalist, Mei Foong has given several well received solo recitals in Kuala Lumpur, Taiwan, Macau, Rome, and Melbourne. She had performed Robert Schumann’s “Frauenliebe und Leben”, Gabriel Faure’s “La Bonne Chanson”, Richard Strauss’s “Vier letzte Lieder”, Aldo Finzi’s Art Songs, Alban Berg’s “Sieben frühe Lieder”, Joseph Canteloube’s “Chants d’auvergne” and many other chamber music and operatic repertoires. Her active involvement in the contemporary music industry leads her to work closely with the contemporary composers and had given world première to many Malaysian vocal works. Mei Foong is now a full time lecturer at University Putra Malaysia. Apart from being an active performer, she is now pursuing her PhD and actively researching into the field of Voice Rehabilitation. www.angmeifoong.com |
Bass | Mak Chi Hoe
Chi Hoe graduated from the Birmingham Conservatoire in the UK where he obtained his MMus in Vocal Performance with Distinction, the Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Performance and was named one of Birmingham’s ‘New Generation Artists’ in 2008. His principal singing teachers include Henry Herford, Gordon Sandison and Julian Pike. Chi Hoe enjoys a varied career in opera, concert and for consort work internationally. His recent stage work include the role of ‘Raja Narai’ (King Narai) in ‘Puteri Saadong’ (Princess Saadong), a Malay contemporary opera by the Malaysian composer Tazul Tajuddin, Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore), Zuniga (Carmen), Colline (La Boheme), Verdi Opera Gala, all for EST Opera and Dottore Grenvil (La Traviata) for Singapore Lyric Opera. Recent concert engagements have included ‘Prince Ralse’ in Distant Worlds - Music from Final Fantasy with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozart Coronation Mass with EST Opera Chorus and High Winds, appearances at the “SoundBridge” Contemporary Music Festival, 2nd China-ASEAN Music Festival in China, and several song recitals in the UK and Malaysia. www.chihoemak.net |
We love new projects!
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Contact us for future collaboration, could that be performances, workshops, lecture recitals to schools and institutions, or more creative projects like working with composers in premièring their works!
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