Let's Go Mamak @ KLPac
Band Profile
Inner Voices made an impressionable appearance during their first musical showcase at the Pentas 2, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Center (KLPac) entitled "Lets Go Mamak!" last year. Composer/arranger Ken Hor and music director/saxophonist Julian Chan along with 12 other contemporary/ethnic Malaysian musicians bagged 4 BOH Cameronian Arts Awards for their performance under the Music Category: Best Group Performance, Best Music Direction, Best Composition & Kaki Seni Audience Choice Awards.
Inner Voices heralds the beginning of a fresh new experience in the movement of contemporary Malaysian Music. Inner Voices will bring the essence of the music combining four of the main cultures present in Malaysia, bringing together Western and traditional Malaysian instruments, to showcase and highlight the beauty of harmonizing of these elements, creating a fusion that will possibly evolves into a whole new sound.
Having had a higher music education and a career in the United States, composer/arranger Ken Hor visualized and envisioned a concept of music(s) that maximizes the potential and flavor of Malaysian culture. In search of a 'new' sound where both contemporary/western and ethnic Malaysian music can be fused together as one, Ken returned home to assemble 12 of the country's finest Malaysian talent from both traditional and western musical influences.
Under the musical direction of Julian Chan, every part of the Inner Voices Band's music falls carefully but not conclusively into different styles of music such as jazz, pop, traditional and world music. If there was a specific music genre description of this band, it would be as close as being coined 'Contemporary Malaysian Music'. After all, elements of traditional Malaysian music in its rich culture of the 3 main races are showcased and fused in to frames of western and contemporary music styles.
Inner Voices delivers an intimate experience that will allow the listeners' audible imagination to vividly visualize how condensed and intricate a composition can be when played by an ensemble comprising of both western and ethnic instruments. The band members boast of an array of authentic traditional instrumentalists from the Malay, Chinese and Indian culture. It is only in Malaysia that one can experience a diversed-cultured band performing onstage side-by-side. Why not bring their cultural musical-ethnicity along? This ensemble is not only rich-sounding in tone colour, timbre and styles but also in versatility and adaptability as they collide in melody, harmony and rhythm.
Objective
The main objective of the ' Lets Go Mamak' performance, as intended by the musicians and composer of Inner Voices, is to
Conceptually, the production metaphors a typical Malaysian social institution, called MAMAK, to symbolise the unification of different types of people (races, culture or ethnicity) - a place where everyone meets for a snack or a drink with friends, business clients, or even to watch a sports match.
Inner Voices made an impressionable appearance during their first musical showcase at the Pentas 2, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Center (KLPac) entitled "Lets Go Mamak!" last year. Composer/arranger Ken Hor and music director/saxophonist Julian Chan along with 12 other contemporary/ethnic Malaysian musicians bagged 4 BOH Cameronian Arts Awards for their performance under the Music Category: Best Group Performance, Best Music Direction, Best Composition & Kaki Seni Audience Choice Awards.
Inner Voices heralds the beginning of a fresh new experience in the movement of contemporary Malaysian Music. Inner Voices will bring the essence of the music combining four of the main cultures present in Malaysia, bringing together Western and traditional Malaysian instruments, to showcase and highlight the beauty of harmonizing of these elements, creating a fusion that will possibly evolves into a whole new sound.
Having had a higher music education and a career in the United States, composer/arranger Ken Hor visualized and envisioned a concept of music(s) that maximizes the potential and flavor of Malaysian culture. In search of a 'new' sound where both contemporary/western and ethnic Malaysian music can be fused together as one, Ken returned home to assemble 12 of the country's finest Malaysian talent from both traditional and western musical influences.
Under the musical direction of Julian Chan, every part of the Inner Voices Band's music falls carefully but not conclusively into different styles of music such as jazz, pop, traditional and world music. If there was a specific music genre description of this band, it would be as close as being coined 'Contemporary Malaysian Music'. After all, elements of traditional Malaysian music in its rich culture of the 3 main races are showcased and fused in to frames of western and contemporary music styles.
Inner Voices delivers an intimate experience that will allow the listeners' audible imagination to vividly visualize how condensed and intricate a composition can be when played by an ensemble comprising of both western and ethnic instruments. The band members boast of an array of authentic traditional instrumentalists from the Malay, Chinese and Indian culture. It is only in Malaysia that one can experience a diversed-cultured band performing onstage side-by-side. Why not bring their cultural musical-ethnicity along? This ensemble is not only rich-sounding in tone colour, timbre and styles but also in versatility and adaptability as they collide in melody, harmony and rhythm.
Objective
The main objective of the ' Lets Go Mamak' performance, as intended by the musicians and composer of Inner Voices, is to
- Collaboratively research into defining the Malaysian sound, and to encourage the ever-evolving spectrum of what “Malaysian Music” can be interpreted as.
- Present to the audience fresh new approaches to the making of Malaysian Music
- To expand the interpretation and spectrum of the presently defined scope of music; in both contemporary and traditional styles
- Promoting the evolution of music development in Malaysians, cultivating new ideas and cultural awareness
- Increase the standard of local arts and culture through advancement of Malaysian-based music ; and
- To expand the sounds of Malaysian music, its industry and talents to international horizons.
Conceptually, the production metaphors a typical Malaysian social institution, called MAMAK, to symbolise the unification of different types of people (races, culture or ethnicity) - a place where everyone meets for a snack or a drink with friends, business clients, or even to watch a sports match.