So how did the contest go for the fans of Slash? Benjamin, the man behind the scenes, has the answer.

So all 3 judges came and it started a little 10 minutes late. They are Paul, the principal of Bentley Music Academy; Farique, a sound engineer from Lim Kok Wing and the guitarist of our own local band, Melodica, who’s also teaching electric guitar here at the academy; and Rithan, the lead guitarist of Deja Voodoo Spells who’s the head of the electric guitar department here at the academy.

We had 6 people who braved the contest; some came earlier to warm up and fix that little glitch in their run later for the contest. It was nerve -wrecking even for me to see them preparing, jumping and stretching before being called in for their turn. The whole thing lasted an hour and a half and although there was a little hiccup with one of the contestants, everyone fared pretty well given that all of them got through to the finals. Yes, we were supposed to have 8 contestants chosen for the final round but if they play really bad there really isn’t any point in getting them for a run to win the grand prize, is there? Anyhow, all 6 of them were good although, according to sources, there was one or two of the six who is clearly competing for the Backstage Meet-and-Greet Session with SLASH in August in Sunway Lagoon Surf Park.

I really wish I had a video camera now so I can record all of these exciting events, practices, jamming session, recitals or auditions for you to have a peek to see what it’s like =)

It was a week later when the finalists are announced and called to prepare for the finals on the 25^th of July 2010. It was a BIG day for them – a day some deem as make it or break it to get a chance for the Backstage Meet-and-Greet pass with the legendary electric guitar icon, Slash.

The judges coolly took their seats in front of the stage as Raj, the funny emcee, began introducing them and, at the same time, trying to contain the excitement of the crowd. Everyone was cheering for their favourite finalist. I have to say the show was electrifying! Every finalist was at their best while they whip out song after song and I can see some who went to the extent of wearing Slash’s signature top hat and a wig to match his hair! I was thinking they better not lit any cigarettes on stage otherwise it would be a wet party in here. Anyways, right at the end of the contest, our honorary judges took some time to finalize all the marks and determine who will be meeting Slash after his concert. We had the honour of inviting Ken, the CEO of Bentley Music, to come up and give away the prizes, i.e. tickets and albums to the winners of the contest. Everyone received tickets to see his show live at Sunway Lagoon and a copy of his latest solo album, Slash.

Bentley Music Academy would like to take this opportunity to say a BIG thank you to EVERYONE who helped out from the preliminary round of the Slash contest leading to the finals, with my utmost salutation, YOU ROCK MY SOCKS! Also not forgetting Universal Music for the CD albums, Tangeryne Dream for making their dream come true, and Bentley Music for letting us use the venue.

Prizes; check,

Relief; check,

Smile; check

Melissa: Brilliant! *pat Ben’s back*

Ben: *Smiles*

—

Check out the photos on our Facebook page.

Come see our motto “Performance First” come alive at last on 23^rd and 24^th September 2010 with the inaugural concert of the Bentley Repertoire Orchestra (BRO) and the Bentley Harmonia Choir.

The concerts, to be held at the Bentley Music Auditorium in Wisma Bentley Music, will feature Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s final composition, Requiem in D Minor, which had to be completed by one of his students as he died shortly before completing it in 1791.

The ambitious work for full choir, orchestra and four soloists will be preceded by Beethoven’s Overture Coriolan, (which is based on Heinrich Joseph von Collin’s 1802 play and not, as is commonly believed, Shakespeare’s Coriolanus) and the Clarinet Concerto number 1 by Carl Maria von Weber.

The BRO has been formed from scratch and draws its ranks from professional and semi-professional musicians, instrumental teachers and music students who have achieved a minimum of Grade 8 in their chosen instrument. “The idea of the orchestra is simple,’ says Paul Baker, Principal of Bentley Music Academy and Principal Conductor and Musical Director of the BRO and the Choir, ‘Most musicians and music students in Malaysia, whilst technically proficient, don’t get the chance to rehearse and perform the orchestral repertoire regularly. BRO aims to put that right as well as giving players the opportunity to work with up and coming conductors and internationally renowned soloists as well as new talent.” The orchestra is led by well known violin virtuoso Lau Yew Hann, who is also Head of String Studies at Bentley Music Academy.

To prove the point, the Weber Clarinet Concerto will welcome virtuoso Clarinettist, Eugene Pook, to the stage as soloist. Pook is a graduate of the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York and has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall as well as throughout the world. He recently completed a three-stage solo recital tour of Malaysia and is also Principal Conductor of the new Kinta Valley Wind Orchestra in Ipoh.

On the other side of the coin, Mozart’s Requiem will feature as vocal soloists, four remarkable young people; Chin Kon Huoy, 21, is a graduate of the Malaysian Institute of Arts and her soprano voice has been described as ‘fresher than a nightingales.’; Darrel Chan Yew Chung is only 18 but has an astonishingly mature counter tenor (alto) voice, clear and precise; At 16, Soo Yon Han is the youngest of the soloists but already exhibits a tenor voice of a quality which far belies his age; and William Kow at 32 is the oldest and most experienced of the soloists. A pupil of renowned Malaysian baritone, Cha Seng Tiang, William has a deep and sonorous bass voice which he has already put to good use as Papageno in Mozart’s Magic Flute and many other performances.

The 40-strong Bentley Harmonia Choir was originally formed to perform Handel’s Messiah at KLPac in December of last year to rave reviews but is now permanently based at Bentley Music Academy, hence the change of name. Its members come from all walks of life and include doctors, dentists, solicitors, teachers and bankers all with a common passion for singing and performing choral works to a high standard.

The concerts will be held on Thursday 23^rd and Friday 24^th September 2010 at 8.30pm. Concert passes are available by calling 03 7727 3333 ext 112/113 or emailing: ticketsales@bma.com.my. Click here for more information.

We are pleased to have our master clarinet teacher, Eugene Pook, enchant us for an evening with works from genius Mozart to jazzy Copland with his friends, Jeremy Samolesky on the piano; Mayya Musaeva and Lim Jae Sern on the violin; Lau Yew Hann on the viola; and Robert Choi on the cello.

The concert will be held on Friday, 13th August 2010 at Bentley Music Academy Recital Hall.

(click image to enlarge)

For more information or to reserve your tickets, telephone 03-7727 3333 ext 112/113 or e-mail ticketsales@bma.com.my

An Introduction to the Foundation of the Orchestra
and the Meanest Instrument in Jazz

If you have been thinking of taking up a stringed instrument as a beginner or if you are a pianist or a guitarist who would like to take up a second instrument so you can play in a band or an orchestra, you are welcome to join in this FREE talk and demonstration on the Double Bass given by one of Malaysia’s foremost exponents of this majestic instrument, Eugenia Lou.

The Double Bass is a highly versatile instrument and even has the same fingering as bass guitar, thus giving you the opportunity to play classical, pop, rock, jazz and even in a wind band!

The talk will be held on:

Saturday, 31st July 2010 at 1.30pm
Bentley Music Academy Recital Hall

To reserve your place, telephone 03-7727 3333 ext 112/113 or e-mail melissa@bma.com.my

See you there!

Tune up your guitars and bring the house down with the tunes of the Riff Lord, Slash. If you could play like him, this is the contest to be at to showcase your ability. The winner of this contest will get the chance to meet the man himself backstage!

Download the registration form.

—————

Ever wanted to be a rocker like Slash? We’ll explain:

STEPS TO ROCK LIKE SLASH!

• Be calm. Don’t put up with crap from other people. Slash is rebellious.
• Learn blues and rock. Play guitar. An important thing is that Slash plays guitar
• Rock hard. Slash has been inducted into the rock wall of fame.
• Get the look. Slash wears leather pants and a leather coat. Top hat and aviator glasses are his signature style (if you can, don’t use the same combination; it wouldn’t be original anymore and would decrease your guitarist reputation).
• Be on the edge.
• Remove the raised finger rest from your guitar, which is what Slash did because it got in the way of his picking hand. His is a Les Paul. Make sure you know what you’re doing or you could do permanent damage to your guitar.
• Don’t give up easily when you just started playing guitar, Slash’s first guitar only had one string and he still can play songs with it.
• Grow your hair out. Slash has long, curly/frizzy hair. If your hair grows naturally straight, curl it! If your hair grows curly, obviously, leave it alone!!!

TIPS

• Slash sometimes plays in nothing but boxers so always do different things when you play.
• Learn to play the godfather theme on guitar.
• Learn Slash’s Style, hard blues rock and he never plays a solo the same way more than once.

WARNINGS

• You can idolize Slash, but he isn’t a great lifestyle role model.
• Slash may be an amazing guitarist, but he was also a druggie. He used heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and drank a half gallon of vodka every day. Do NOT fall into that vortex.
• Not to mention that he was very thickheaded during his teenage and young adult years, he was very reckless as well, so DO NOT do all these things because it is horrible.

THINGS YOU’LL NEED TO BE LIKE SLASH

• Leather jacket
• Converse or Black Cowboy boots with some awesome design on it
• Leather pants
• A Guitar
• A Band
• Top hat

—————

Good luck!

We are delighted to announce that one of the world’s top classical guitarists, XueFei Yang will be joining the Bentley Repertoire Orchestra (BRO) this November 22^nd for a performance of Concerto De Aranjuez by Spanish composer Rodrigo. In addition, the orchestra will be performing Rossini’s overture ‘The Barber of Seville’, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Cappricio Espagnol and Chabrier’s Espana.

Despite this being only the second planned concert by the fledgling orchestra, other international artistes are also lined up for a programme of concerts in 2011 culminating in the first Malaysian Steinway festival in August of next year where five local and international piano virtuosi will each perform a major piano concerto on 5 successive nights with the orchestra. A different professional conductor will be retained to conduct each concert.

The orchestra is open to all orchestral players with a standard of grade 7 or above and has no upper age limit. Grade 7 and above and Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra players need not audition but must register with proof of grade/membership. Others of a similar standard but without proof or certificates should apply to audition on Sunday 20^th June from 11am to 5pm.

The BRO Inaugural concerts will take place on 23^rd and 24^th September at the Bentley Music Auditorium with a performance of Mozart Requiem in D and rehearsals for that concert and the guitar concerto will commence on Monday 21^st June at 8pm.

[Watch XueFei Yang playing the 2nd movement of the concerto and read her bio.]

A simple motto “PERFORMANCE FIRST!” became a musical reality in spectacular style last Saturday (8th May) at the gala concert and official opening of the new Bentley Music Academy (BMA) in Mutiara Damansara.

Designed to showcase the talents of our faculty, students and musical friends, the concert presented an extravaganza of musical genres from rock to jazz to classical, from brass ensembles to choirs and from a classical guitar trio to a string orchestra; all presented in their 400-seat auditorium with flair, passion and an outstanding level of musicianship.

In his opening speech, our principal, Paul Baker, highlighted some of the issues facing music education in Malaysia today; in particular, the lack of performance opportunities for music students, the poor pay and lack of respect for music teachers and the politics surrounding many musical activities in the country. He went on to promise that BMA would do all it could to make a positive difference in these areas especially by ensuring that the Academy would become a focal point for performance and excellence in music making.

The concert commenced with a spine tingling rendition of Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man performed by the Bentley Brass Ensemble immediately followed by Life in One Day played by the rock band and led by Steve Thornton, internationally renowned percussionist and Head of Drums & Percussion at BMA; and James Boyle, legendary Malaysian Jazz Pianist.

Virtuoso performances by Dr Oh Yann Shie on Piano, a classical guitar trio led by Chua May Ling and vocal numbers from Stephen Tok and acclaimed local soprano Ang Mei Foong completed the first half so that Mr Phua Sin Loke, Chairman of the Bentley Music Group could perform the ribbon cutting ceremony.

The second half was even more spectacular and opened with Hristo Dobrinov and Foo Chie Haur playing Doppler’s Andante and Rondo for two flutes and piano. As well as a master flute teacher at BMA, Hristo is also Principal Flute with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and his performance sealed the new relationship between BMA and the new MPO Tutors-in-Residence Programme where BMA becomes the first music school approved for MPO players to teach at. The performance also earned the duo the first standing ovation of the evening.

A foot-tapping rhapsody on Scott Joplin piano rags followed, played on two pianos with eight hands and the evening closed with performances by the Bentley Repertoire Orchestra, the Bentley Harmonia Choir and the Bentley Rock Band with a rousing rendition of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody specially arranged for the evening for Choir, Orchestra and Rock Band.

Witnessing the virtuosity of all the performers and touring the new state-of-the-art, performance-based teaching facilities, it is evident that Bentley Music Academy is heralding in a new era for music education in Malaysia.

In line with our official opening this weekend and ground-breaking partnership with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO), here is what the CEO of the MPO has to say:

I’m delighted to announce The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra’s new association with Bentley Music Academy (BMA) in Mutiara Damansara, “MPO Tutors In Residence.”As an orchestra of international standing, the MPO are committed to excellence in performance whilst supporting and helping raise standards of musicianship throughout Malaysia, particularly in music education. The new BMA is committed to raising standards of musicianship through excellence in music education with a first class faculty and state of the art facilities whilst supporting a performance based approach through their motto “Performance First!”

As such, coupled with our respective geographical locations – The City and PJ respectively, this collaborative synergy represents a significant step forward in improving both access to and standards of musical education in Malaysia. For the first time, MPO players will be able to teach externally to students who find it difficult travelling into the city, at BMA.  Through sharing facilities we will be able to offer an enhanced training programme at our MPYO and Endeavour training orchestra music camps and MPYO players will be encouraged to join the Bentley Repertoire Orchestra to rapidly build their orchestral repertoire experience on a weekly basis.

Several other areas of mutual benefit are still being explored but I am confident that through this unique partnership, we will be able to further enhance all round musicianship in the country and make a significant contribution to the growth and profile of music making in general.

Karina Ridzuan
Chief Executive Officer
Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and Dewan Filharmonik Petronas

Mr Phua Sin Loke, chairman of Bentley Music Academy (BMA), is pleased to announce that BMA will be officially opened on Saturday 8^th May 2010 and a Gala Concert commencing at 4pm featuring the BMA faculty, orchestra and choir will kick off the proceedings.

At the same time, BMA and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) will formerly announce a historic partnership. In association with BMA, the ‘MPO Tutors in Residence’ programme will mark the first time MPO players have been officially sanctioned to tutor students away from their home base in KLCC.

Karina Ridzuan, CEO of the MPO, commented “This new association underpins our desire to take our educational work out into the community. Not all students can get into the city centre for lessons with MPO players and the location of Bentley Music Academy coupled with its excellent teaching and performance facilities is an ideal choice for our first joint venture of this nature.”

BMA and the MPO will also be sharing facilities for junior music camps and an ‘MPO Chamber Music in PJ Series’ is being planned for later in the year in the new BMA recital hall.

As part of the Gala Opening Concert and in addition to performances by BMA faculty members such as Steve Thornton, internationally renowned percussionist; James Boyle, acclaimed Malaysian jazz pianist; Dr. Oh Yann Shie, Piano; and virtuoso clarinetist Eugene Pook, the Principal Flute of the MPO, Hristo Dobrinov will be performing a duet for two flutes and piano to seal this unique arrangement.

It’s not every day that a way of life is re-invented in Malaysia. But that is exactly what is happening at the new Bentley Music Academy (BMA) in Mutiara Damansara near The Curve.

Slated to open officially on 8^th May 2010 and with the motto “Performance First!” BMA claims to be already  “changing the face of music education in Malaysia – For Ever!” A bold claim indeed but one that the Principal, Paul Baker, is happy to explain:

“When we started to plan the academy last year” said Paul, 51, and originally from London “our chairman Mr Phua Sin Loke asked us to plan an academy which he had intended to focus not on what we could achieve as a company but on how we could make a real difference through a unique positive contribution to music education in Malaysia.”

The new Bentley Music Academy is indeed everything and more that you would expect from the country’s largest music retail specialist, Bentley Music Sdn Bhd. 22 acoustically-designed teaching studios, an impressive and versatile recital hall capable of seating 150 and a 400-seat concert hall, not to mention superb facilities for the teaching faculty.

Impressive though it may be, the facilities alone are not what lie at the core of BMA, as Paul continued to explain. “We carried out a lot of research at the planning stage and discovered a number of issues we felt we could contribute to correcting. Firstly, as we all know, Malaysia, like many Asian countries, is overly obsessed with exams. But music isn’t about taking exams and being taught solo in little cubicles. Yes, exams are an important tool to monitor progress but music is much more about sharing the joy of music making with others and communicating that joy to an audience, however big or small. In other words – performance. This obsession with exams has led to many music students giving up playing or developing a good technique but with little real musicianship which can only come from the experience of playing regularly with others. This problem was highlighted by nearly every single music lecturer we spoke to who teach the music degree and diploma courses at local colleges and universities.

So to address this fairly major shortcoming, we decided to take a radical approach. In every other music school, fees are charged according to the ability or grade of the student. A beginner starts on the lowest fees which are progressively raised each time they pass an exam. Quite apart from being completely irrational (what other industry can you name which charges according to the experience of the customer?) it also gives schools a financially vested interest in pushing students through exams, even if they’re not ready. Our fees, on the other hand, are charged according to the ability and experience of the teacher. Why should someone who has spent 25 years obtaining a doctorate in performance or decades at the very top of international performing be paid the same or less than a fresh music graduate simply because the student they’re teaching is a beginner? (Try that argument in a law firm or even a hair salon and see where it gets you).

To give further impetus to the performance first motto we’ve also ensured that every single one of our teaching faculty is performance oriented and are fortunate enough to have secured the talents of some of the finest musicians in Asia. Just some of our senior tutors include Steve Thornton, internationally respected percussionist who is head of our drums and percussion department; Chua May Ling, one of the finest classical guitarists in the country; James Boyle, legendary Malaysian Jazz pianist and son of the late Jimmy Boyle; Rithan, co-leader of the cult rock band Deja Voodoo Spells and regularly voted Asia’s top rock guitarist; Eugene Pook, virtuoso clarinetist and conductor; and Dr. Oh Yann Shie, the first Malaysian to graduate from the prestigious Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire with a Doctorate in Piano Performance.

Finally, the Performance First motto will live and breathe every day and every week. There is already a senior choir and a symphony orchestra established which does not require members to be students at BMA. This will shortly be followed by a wind band and a jazz big band. Every Saturday from June will see lunchtime concerts being performed by students from 1 til 2pm and on Sunday afternoons and evenings, workshops, clinics and a professional chamber music concert series will be launched. Major concerts will take place every month in the auditorium and groups will be performing in various shopping malls and other venues in the Klang Valley throughout the year.”

One of the other visions held by BMA is to break down the unhealthy ‘ownership’ of choirs, orchestras and other ensembles. Believe it or not, some groups actively discourage their members from playing with other ensembles. At BMA all are encouraged to play with as many different types of ensembles as possible, wherever they may be, thus enhancing and improving sight reading, team work and all round musicianship. That’s the primary goal.

So it seems this new music academy really will change the face of music education in Malaysia – For Ever!