#SHOWBIZ: Melody Quah returns to perform Chopin with MPO
Born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, the 37-year-old pianist still makes it a point to return every summer to visit her parents here.
Slated to perform solo in the first instalment of the two-part Chopin Festival at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas on Aug 16, Quah is thrilled to take the stage in Malaysia again.
"This will be my second time performing here," said Quah, who last played at the concert hall in 2018 with a Beethoven masterpiece.
"And now, I'm going to play Chopin."
The concert will be led by Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra music director Junichi Hirokami.
"For pianists, he is a special composer because he wrote primarily for piano.
"The beauty of Chopin lies in his love for opera, especially the Italian style of singing, which gives his music an intimate, vocal-like quality.
"His works are rich with nuance, offering listeners something truly special if we, the performers, do our job right."
Quah will perform Chopin's iconic Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, a work that debuted to great acclaim in Warsaw in 1830 when the composer was just 21.
The piece is often described as romantic, calm and somewhat melancholic, evoking the emotional landscape of cherished memories.
Quah first performed the concerto as a teenager while attending the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney.
"I've played it several times as an adult too. I hope that with the years of experience and skill I've accumulated, I can now offer an even more mature and thoughtful interpretation."
Currently a professor of piano at Pennsylvania State University, Quah boasts an impressive international resume.
Dubbed a "poet with titanium fingers" by the 'Vancouver Sun', she has performed extensively across Asia, Europe, Australia and North America.
Her multifaceted career spans solo and collaborative performances, chamber music, education, adjudication and artistic direction.
A prizewinner of the 7th International Paderewski Competition in Bydgoszcz, Poland, Quah has graced the stage at Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall and performed as a chamber musician at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theatre.
She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras around the world, including the Ku-Ring-Gai Symphony and Central Coast Symphony (Australia), the Pomeranian Philharmonic (Poland) and numerous North American ensembles, such as the Richmond Philharmonic, Academy Philharmonic, Vancouver Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony, West Coast Symphony, Penn's Woods Festival Orchestra, Williamsport Symphony and Altoona Symphony Orchestra.
An advocate of contemporary music, Quah has premiered more than two dozen new works by living composers and commissioned pieces for solo piano from prominent names across Asia and beyond, including Adeline Wong and Tazul Tajuddin (Malaysia), Parisa Sabet (Iran and Canada), Sidney Boquiren (the Philippines), Marisa Hartanto (Indonesia), Emily Koh (Singapore) and Piyawat Louilarpprasert (Thailand).
She has also recorded works by Tom DeLio and Baljinder Sekhon.
Her academic contributions are equally notable.
She has served as artist faculty at the Nanyang International Piano Academy (Singapore) and Euro Arts Festival (Poland) and conducted masterclasses at institutions such as UCSI University and Universiti Teknologi Mara (Malaysia), Medan Musik School (Indonesia), Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (United Kingdom) and various universities across the United States.
An active adjudicator and presenter, she contributes regularly to the Music Teachers National Association and the College Music Society and currently serves as president of the Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association.
Quah earned her Doctor of Musical Arts from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and holds graduate degrees from the Yale School of Music and the Juilliard School.
She received her Bachelor of Music from the Vancouver Academy of Music after completing high school in Australia.
Her principal teachers included Boris Slutsky, Peter Frankl, Matti Raekallio, Lee Kum Sing and Snezana Panovska.
Quah recalls starting on the piano as a toddler.
"I was probably around 2 or 3, playing by ear while my older sister was already taking lessons.
"When my mother heard me play, she enrolled me in lessons too."
She also plays other instruments, guitar and violin among them, and once told her mother she wanted to learn the flute.
Laughing, she adds: "After retirement, I'll probably pick up the cello."
Having performed around the world, Quah said one of her most cherished memories was her solo debut at Carnegie Hall, which was reviewed by 'The New York Times'.
Another unforgettable moment was when she played the Electone at the opening ceremony of the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
"I was accompanying a famous singer. I can't quite recall who. It wasn't Siti Nurhaliza. Maybe Ning Baizura? But don't quote me on that," she said, laughing.
Now a mother of two and married to an American trumpet player, Quah continues to make waves on the global classical music stage.
The Chopin Festival continues on Oct 11, when the MPO will present Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2, performed by pianist Martin Garcia Garcia.The evening will also feature Sibelius' Symphony No. 2, with conductor Rune Bergmann leading the orchestra.
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In Kuala Lumpur, she attended SK Taman Tun Dr Ismail (2) for her first two primary years before moving to Sekolah Sri Cempaka in Damansara Heights from Standard Three to Form One. 'I had a lot of fun with music as a child and sought opportunities for it to be a part of most facets of my daily life – from accompanying Negaraku at school assemblies to playing violin at church and for Christmas carolling!' Quah's love for the piano began when she was only two years old. Quah completed high school at the Australian Institute of Music and earned a Bachelor of Music from the Vancouver Academy of Music, Canada. She later received a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, along with graduate degrees from the Yale School of Music and The Juilliard School. Through the years, she's been taught by respected pianists such as Boris Slutsky, Peter Frankl, Matti Raekallio, Lee Kum Sing, and Snezana Panovska. 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In more intimate settings – be it special requests or family gatherings – she's just as comfortable tucking a violin under her chin or coaxing warm, intricate tones from a classical guitar, reminding those around her that her relationship with music is as versatile as it is profound. Quah at the Penn's Woods Music Festival in 2022, which was when she last presented Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor. Photo courtesy Melody Quah. Even then, Quah still considers the Chopin concerto she will be playing 'a challenging one'. She last performed this Chopin piece at the Penn's Woods Music Festival in the US in 2022. 'I think one of the challenges lies in the fact that it is so expressive. The piano is inherently a percussive instrument, because you play it and then the sound dies right away. But in this concerto, through the piano, we have to create the illusion that we are a singer,' says Quah. 'Another challenge is in how the soloist is tasked to draw the audience in with all of this lyrical material and bring out the contrast between all of the drama that's in it. It's up to the soloist to decide what colour of sound they want to create, and this sort of nuance and subtlety can only be best appreciated when it's heard live in concert,' she concludes. Melody Quah will perform at the MPO's Chopin Festival at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, Kuala Lumpur on Aug 16, 8pm. The MPO will also present Russian composer Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 in D minor at this festival opener. More info:
