SSYO Selangor Symphony Youth Orchestra 2023 Tour “From The New World” in PJ

The Selangor Symphony Youth Orchestra (SSYO) played its second concert of “From The New World” Tour that kickstarted in Ipoh in early June. This second concert was held on 18th June at St. Joseph’s Institution International School (Petaling Jaya). “From The New World” Tour concludes on 27th August at Chung Hwa High School (Muar, Johor) at 4pm. For further information and to secure your FREE tickets, log on to https://www.sso.org.my/ssyo

It was quite a treat for the audience on a Sunday afternoon, aptly hosted at the auditorium of St. Joseph’s Institution International School which offered great acoustics. Opening the concert was conductor Mustaqim Abdullah with Slavonic Dance No. 8. by Czech composer, Antonín Leopold Dvořák. The Slavonic Dances are a series of 16 orchestral pieces. Despite its name, the dances are not so much inspired by Slavic folk music in general but evoke the style and spirit of folk melodies through traditional rhythmic patterns and structures.

Following loud applause from the audience, although the concert hall was only half full, came Orpheus in the Underworld by German-French composer, Jacques Offenbach. This comic operetta is a satirical treatment of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus.

The third piece was In The Hall of the Mountain King, an orchestral composition by Edvard Greig, to the delight of the audience, as this was an easily recognisable theme with an iconic status in popular culture.

Sharing the first half of the concert with Mustaqim was Hong Konger, Tommy Ng, who is the co-conductor of SSYO, besides holding a position as Deputy Director of Heartstrings Music & Arts in Cyberjaya.

Tommy continued conducting the concert with The Sleeping Beauty waltz from the ballet adaptation by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Since 1890, it has remained the most famous of the three ballets in Sleeping Beauty. Amidst cheers from the audience, came Bacchanale, an orgiastic musical composition.

Bringing down the tempo, next came Salut d’Amour, Op. 12, a romantic piece that English composer Edward Elgar called “Love’s Greeting” which was gifted to his fiancée as an engagement present.

Tommy closed the first half of the concert with Bugler’s Holiday by American composer, Leroy Anderson. It’s an enduring classic that features a trumpet trio in a military style.

Back from intermission for the second half, SSYO visionary founder-principal-conductor Eugene Pook unveiled the orchestra’s first clarinet ensemble, making clarinet-playing appear cool again. After all, some say the clarinet is the king of reed instruments. With Eugene himself at the lead, the ensemble played two songs, beginning with Over the Rainbow, a ballad written by Harold Arlen, with lyrics by Yip Harburg for The Wizard of Oz film (1939).

This was followed by Tico Tico No Fuba, composed by Brazilian Zequinha de Abreu. Interestingly, Tico Tico No Fuba was written in 1917 and was originally named Tico-Tico no Farelo.

And then it was time for the full orchestra to come on stage. Under the batonship of Eugene Pook, the orchestra backed rising mezzo-soprano Jocelyn Cheah in A Million Dreams, one of the soundtracks for The Greatest Showman. Although Jocelyn started off unsure, she soon got herself into the groove to mesmerise the audience with her powerful vocals full of emotions that carried the message of the lyrics to the hearts of listeners.

This rendition was followed by Michael Jackson’s hit, Heal the World. Calling for humanity to make the world a better place, Heal the World sparked the establishment of Heal the World Foundation, a charitable organisation by Jackson to improve the lives of children around the world.

The concert closed with Symphony No. 9 in E minor, after Jocelyn had stepped off the stage. Popularly known as the New World Symphony, it was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893. What made it one of the most popular symphonies of all time was that its tape recording was taken along by astronaut Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 mission, the first moon landing in 1969.

“From The New World” Tour in Petaling Jaya officially came to an end, but the two-hour concert wasn’t enough to satisfy the appreciative audience, who called for an encore. Stepping on stage, Mustaqim answered the call, and delivered a medley of evergreen P. Ramlee songs that saw the attendees clapping enthusiastically along to the beat.

Catch the third (and final) concert of “From The New World” in Muar, Johor on 27th August. Admission is free-of-charge but reservations have to be made at https://www.sso.org.my/ssyo

Video: Video Message from SSYO Founder Eugene Pook

Event: Selangor Symphony Youth Orchestra 2023 Tour “From The New World” in PJ
Venue: St. Joseph’s Institution International School, Petaling Jaya
Date: 18th June, 2023
Time: 4pm