Concerts

Just a photo blog. Two significant outings with two different groups of friends.


In January 2004, Leanne, Ming-Shien and I attended the annual New Year concert by the MPO.


The three of us never went for a concert together again, until last month. It was a brilliant performance of Cesar Franck's Symphonic Variations by Malaysian pianist Foo Mei Yi, and the all-French programme was sufficiently varied for a very pleasant evening. There were selections from Bizet's Carmen, Faure's Pelleas et Melisande, Ibert's Divertissement and Ravel's Bolero.




On Wednesday, Audrey, Tien, Joan, Shern Ren, Li-Shia and I went for the KL Music Festival's Jazz Night at the Istana Budaya. David Gomes and his sextet opened, followed by a band called the KLMF Selection, which included Steve Thornton on percussion, Greg Lyons (of Global Spirit) on saxophone and Mac Chew on the keyboard. The concert ended with a performance by Farid Ali aka. Mr Gambus on the gambus (a Malay string instrument) and Japan's Chie Hanawa on the shimasen (Japanese string instrument), backed by the Mr Gambus band.

The Idea of North, which came third, was definitely the highlight of the night, and I finally managed to get one of their CDs at the foyer, which, for some reason, are not retailed here in Malaysia despite their popularity on the local and international jazz circuits.

Tien brought some of her notes for Li-Shia. If you observe the picture below, who could've guessed that STPM Business Studies was hilarious? It's clear that Tien and Li-Shia are enjoying the subject very, very much. :-P


Here's a picture of Joan, Tien and Aud. Shern Ren and I will probably never forget our trips to the (wrong) Ladies' toilet, checking on Joan and Aud who took nearly a lifetime to settle on what Joan was going to wear. Oh, and for the record, I was the last to finish dinner, as usual.


Me and Shern Ren. The red-eye effect is partly because of my camera, and partly because Shern Ren's eyes are somewhat brown.


The concert lasted for 2 hours and 45 minutes, without interval. All the trains were shut down for the night, so Joan followed Aud home, and Shern Ren bunked over at my place. This picture, taken with the SLR, did not result in red-eye: