He wanted to return to his roots. After all his years of training and exposure to Western classical music, Chew Hee Chiat’s passion is still Chinese music. And the Penang-born music director of Professional Cultural Centre Orchestra (PCCO) hopes to build an orchestra that has a unique identity – one that embraces and fuses the traditional Chinese elements and the multi-cultural facets of Malaysia.
“I want to bring our music to the world,” says Chew, 31, who is not only the youngest conductor ever appointed to head a full Chinese orchestra but also an accomplished composer.
Chew is responsible for coaching and training the 60 mostly part time musicians who make up the orchestra. The orchestra, which began in 1988, has actively sought for public performances collaborations with internationally renowned conductors and composers such as Qian Zhaoxi, Yan Huichang, Henry Shek, Zhang Dianyi and other guest musicians with a quest to develop local talents.
Part-time PCCO musicians maybe, but their high musical standard has been tested in the various performances over the years. In July last year, PCCO paid tribute to the Chinese historical gallant females in The Heroine, and became the first local Chinese orchestra to premiere at the lstana Budaya under the invitation of the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism. It also had the largest number of musicians playing, with eighty members. The highlight was the very challenging Lady General Mu Guiying under the baton of guest conductor Yan Huichang, the Music Director of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.
Another of PCCO contributions was assisting several local secondary schools and organisations to establish their own Chinese orchestra, providing training and guidance. Many of these orchestras are still active today.
“Unlike the Western symphonic orchestra which is well established, the Chinese orchestra only began in the 1940s, having adopted the idea and structure of the Western symphonic setting,” explains Chew. “It has more instruments than a symphonic orchestra – up to about 30 different musical instruments.”
“To me, the full Chinese orchestra is so rich in sound. It is like a vast colour pallet where you can get distinct accents and tastes,” he says. The orchestra is divided into the bowstrings (e.g. erhu), the pluck-strings (pipa), winds (dixi) and a vast range of percussions (drums, gongs and cymbals). It has also imported a couple of Western orchestral instruments such as the cello and the double base.
In Chew’s opinion, his years of training in Western music were critical in providing him with a strong foundation. A former student of Penang’s Chung Ling High School, his first instrument was the dixi (bamboo flute) and he later took up cello lessons. Although he went on to take computer science for his first degree in the United States to please his father, Chew’s first love was still music. So, he took part in the university orchestra as the principal cellist.
After graduating, he pursued a Master of Music degree specialising in conducting, which offered tremendous exposure and experiences for a musician. He was appointed to the University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestra as an associate conductor, and he also learned from Chinese composer Qian Zhaoxi and Dr Donald Portnoy, the Conductor and Music Director of the Augusta Symphony Orchestra.
“Conducting is part of the creation and recreation process and it gives me great satisfaction,” says Chew. “The conductor is the link between the composer and the audience – you have to understand the music, translate and convey it to the musicians, and then to the audience,” he says.
As a composer, Chew’s affinity lies in exploring the interstice between traditional Chinese and Western orchestrations, and this is demonstrated in his compositions such as Bizet’s Carmen for Plucked Instruments, the Happy New Year Suite, Dizi and Small Orchestra – Traditions?. In March 2000, Chew’s composition entitled Orchestra Suite No. 2 won the third prize in the International Competition for Chinese Orchestral Composition organised by the renowned Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.
“My compositions are different from other Chinese composers as they have strong influences from my own multi cultural multi-lingual background of much diversity.” He says. For example, this was apparent in Fantasy Dance with an Islamic flavour that was played at The Heroine concert.
This month, PCCO will attempt a first of its kind ‘educational concert’ called Funtasia. Targeted to families, its aim is to promote Chinese classical music with a refreshing and creative repertoire that includes music from Disney cartoons and movie soundtracks to children’s folk songs.
“We want to let people know about the versatility of a Chinese orchestra. We chose something familiar and popular so it can easily be appreciated by all. A narrator will be introducing the songs in Mandarin with English subtitles on screen and there will be some musical activities as interludes to encourage audience participation. It will be fun,” says Chew enthusiastically.
The concert will open with the Children Folk Tune Suite that comprises of a medley of familiar folk tunes from all over the world, such as Little Feng Yang Drum, Che Lili, Chan Mali Chan, Grasshopper and Rooster and It’s a Small World.
Among the nine pieces are O’ Susanna, a nostalgic folk tune form the South of the United States, Do-Re-Mi, the evergreen from the musical The Sound of Music to Disney’s Pocahontas theme song Colours of the Wind and even the kung fu movie goers’ favourite, the theme from Wong Fei Hong. But the highlight of the concert, says Chew, is the finale To Know the Orchestra, composed by Guan Naizhong. It’s the Chinese orchestra version of Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra where the music will introduce the various Chinese orchestral instruments in a fun and educational way.
After that, there is practically no break for PCCO. In June, they will be staging a major concert The Yellow River Concerto, a piece originally written for piano and Western orchestra. The orchestra will present the fourmovement piece with Yangqin soloist Don Tew, and during that concert, audience will be able to hear Chew’s newest concerto composition Percussion and Orchestra, written specially for a group of percussionists accompanied by the orchestra.
“Music lovers here are well acquainted with the Western orchestra. It is my mission to expose them to the beauty of the East,” says Chew.
Article first published on kulture.com.my (09 April 2001).
First Published: 14.05.2002 on Kakiseni