2 berita untuk renungan. Rosmah di New York dan MPO di Kuala Lumpur

Berita-berita di bawah diambil dari akhbar The Star untuk renungan yang mana fantasi dan yang mana realiti. Sejauh mana prospek kerjaya pemuzik di Malaysia hari ini harus dikaji betul-betul.

Jangan kita asyik syok sendiri kerana kesukaan kita tetapi realiti penerimaan di kalangan rakyat bawahan amat berbeza. Apa yang pemimpin suka tidak semestinya rakyat suka.

Boy wonder: Tengku Ahmad Irfan playing his own composition ‘Twelve Tone Variation’ for Rosmah and Bakti members during their visit to Juilliard School in New York. — Bernama

ROSMAH DI NEW YORK

NEW YORK: A Malaysian teenager has been praised as a genius by a renowned classical pianist.Tengku Ahmad Irfan Tengku Ahmad Shahrizal is a rare talent who, at the age of 13, has shown “sophistication and depth” in his work, according to his piano professor Dr Yoheved Kaplinsky.

Dr Kaplinsky, a lecturer and professor of music at the Juilliard School here, said the young man excelled in piano and composition. The pre-college artistic director of the institution, who teaches young talented musicians aged between seven and 17, said she was impressed with Tengku Ahmad Irfan's performance even when he auditioned at the school in February last year.

Dr Kaplinsky said Tengku Ahmad Irfan had made tremendous progress although he had only been under her tutelage since last September.

“His compositions are so mature and sophisticated that even his teachers are amazed,” she told Bernama and RTM after a visit by the Prime Minister's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and Bakti members to the prestigious performing arts school here on Thursday. Founded in 1905 as the Institute of Musical Art by Dr Frank Damrosch, the school accepts less than 7% from the thousands of applicants each year. Last year, 5,000 people applied for the coveted spots.

Tengku Ahmad Irfan, who is pursuing a double major in piano and composition as well as an elective in conducting at Juilliard, also studies at the Professional Children's School here. Rosmah said she hoped more talented performing artistes from Malaysia would be given the opportunity to pursue their studies at Juilliard.

She said the Permata Negara early childhood education and care programme, of which she is the patron, had identified under its Permata Seni or Jewel of Arts programme talented young artistes aged seven to 17 who needed international exposure.

Expressing her gladness over Tengku Ahmad Irfan's acceptance to the school the first Malaysian to do so Rosmah said she hoped that under the personal tutelage of Dr Yoheved, he would be able to realise his potential as a pianist and become a world-renowned musician.

Juilliard School president Dr Joseph Polisi, in his welcoming remarks, said the school, which offers education up to doctorate in fine arts, currently had 800 students and only 30% were foreigners.

MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA DI KUALA LUMPUR

PETALING JAYA: The sound of disharmony is reverberating through the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) following its restructuring exercise, with those asked to leave claiming that the termination of their contracts was uncalled for.

Several musicians given the six-month notice to leave at the end of this season are key expatriate members who have been with the MPO since it was set up in 1998. A founding member, who declined to be named, said his contract was terminated without explanation.

“My employer has chosen not to renew my contract and I have not been given a reason,” said the musician, claiming that such a move was unprecedented. A Facebook page called “Save Our Malaysian Orchestra” has been set up while British music commentator and novelist Norman Lebrecht also questioned MPO's move in his blog Slipped Disc.

There are allegations that those asked to leave had wanted the orchestra's music director Claus Peter Flor out. There is also speculation that the expatriates were removed to bring in locals to give MPO a Malaysian identity.It is also learnt that the decision to renew or end a contract is made by MPO based on the music director's advice.

When contacted, MPO marketing assistant director Mufidah Mahmud said all musicians with the orchestra were employed on a fixed-term contract basis. “The renewal is subject to the MPO management's decision in consultation with its music director,” she said, confirming that a six-month notice was issued as required under the contract terms. MPO belongs to Petronas.

Petronas board member Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas said it did not have much experience when it came to music as it was not its “core business”. We have to rely on other people to manage it. Sometimes, we feel that we are being led up the garden path' by some people because of this,” he said.