A classical music festival is giving historic Melaka a fresh dose of culture

The Star

2 days ago

Melaka is often seen through the lens of tourism, but beyond its heritage facades and the jarringly out-of-place Fan Bingbing mural – a garish symbol of superficial placemaking – lies a growing appetite for cultural depth.
This month, the Melakan ReSonance 2025 classical music festival aims to showcase that dimension, positioning the historic city as a platform for international artistic exchange.
Running from June 20-22, the festival will present six events across city-centre venues, including a finale concert at Christ Church, an 18th-century Dutch-built Anglican church. A letterpress museum and a vinyl cafe are also featured in the line-up of venues.
Organised by the Melaka Classics team, the festival – established in 2018 – brings together classical musicians from Europe, Asia and Malaysia.
The Melakan ReSonance 2025 programme, with its hands-on and community-focused approach, features musicians such as violinist Orest Smovzh (Ukraine), violinist Martin Peh (Singapore), cellist Christopher Mui (Hong Kong), and violinist Andrew Ng (Malaysia), all contributing to concerts, workshops, recitals and pop-up events across the festival.
'Over the course of the past seven years, I'm very glad to be able to say that we have put Melaka on the classical music map,' says Krishnan. Photo: Gerald Ho
As a classical festival featuring a youthful line-up, there is ample room for flexibility - with family-friendly events, community engagement, and more included in the programme.
The introduction of a festival weekend pass also encourages both out-of-towners and locals to experience the full range of events.
'In Melaka, we practically had to start from scratch to build this festival. We still have plenty of room to grow, but I feel we're headed in the right direction, given how the classical community - young and old - has supported us,' says Cassel Krishnan, 28, co-founder of Melaka Classics and a music educator.
'Our (festival) repertoire requires acoustically resonant spaces, which is why we utilise churches and chapels – not for their religious function, but for their natural sound qualities. In the absence of dedicated concert halls in Melaka, we adapt creatively. Performing in iconic venues like Christ Church, we seek to offer fresh experiences that encourage locals to rediscover the city through new auditory perspectives,' he adds.
Melakan ReSonance started in 2018 as a modest initiative to consolidate classical music concerts into a focused weekend event, moving away from ad-hoc performances.
Smovzh, a musician from Ukraine, returns to the Melakan ReSonance festival this year, having been a familiar presence at Melaka Classics events over the years. Photo: Lim YF
Encouraged by the positive reception to its inaugural edition, the festival returned in 2019 with expanded partnerships, including the Dutch and Portuguese Embassies (in Malaysia), and various local collaborators.
The festival went on a hiatus during 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic but resumed in 2022 in collaboration with Rondo Productions, featuring a string quartet from the Netherlands.
In 2023, rather than a full festival, the organisers presented a series of four concerts spaced throughout the year at Christ Church, showcasing both Malaysian and international artistes from the United States, Singapore, Germany, and Thailand.
The 2024 edition saw the revival of the summer festival format, introducing St Mary's Chapel in Kampung Ayer Salak as a fresh venue for the event.
The Royal Press, a polyglot letterpress museum in Melaka, will host a letterpress workshop and live classical music performance on June 22. Photo: The Royal Press
'This year we're very excited to be partnering for the first time with The Royal Press museum, something that has been in the making for several years and has finally come to fruition this festival.
'Another unique partnership will be with Love Music Vinyl Cafe, where we're doing a crossover event,' says Krishnan.
The Royal Press, one of the world's oldest surviving polyglot letterpress museums, located on Jalan Hang Jebat, will host a letterpress workshop accompanied by live classical music.
In an age of loud volumes, the festival opts for small, adaptable performances suited to its venues and scale.
'There is no electronic amplification whatsoever. So whatever you hear is directly from the instruments organically resonating off the walls, beams, and people in the audience. There's nothing like that experience – feeling the sonic qualities of music being created by one or multiple sources,' he adds.
Sustaining the festival has been challenging, but Melaka Classics has built relationships with international artists through a combination of personal networks, returning performers, and broader cultural exchange initiatives.
'Over the course of the past seven years, I'm very glad to be able to say that we have put Melaka on the classical music map. Initially, it was almost exclusively through (violinist) Orest's network and artistic curation that we invited musicians from around the world to perform here,' says Krishnan.
Since 2023, Melaka Classics has received numerous requests from both local and international performers seeking to be featured in concerts in Melaka.
'In fact, for the second half of this year, we have concerts every month till the end of the year, hosting performers and ensembles that reached out to us, specifically wanting to come here to perform,' says Krishnan.
'Our hope is that local audiences come to recognise that Melaka is no longer sidelined in the artistic and classical music world. In fact, we present programmes that are unique and unavailable elsewhere in the region. We want to show the world that Melaka offers far more than just cendol stalls and strolls along Jonker (Walk),' he concludes.