Penang ChoralFest

Sometimes people complain to me that Penang has a dearth of "culture" (so called). That's because we don't have things like the MPO or Petronas Twin Towers etc, but what we DO get here is rather quite enjoyable.

Last night for example was the PESSOC (Penang State Symphony Orchestra and Chorus)'s 3rd Choralfest, run by dedicated musicians for musicians. People like the bubbly and irrepressible Leung Dee Ying, Head of Music at Uplands International School, and other musical heavies from KL, put together an entertaining and interesting evening at the Dewan Sri. It was a choir competition comprising participants from local schools, uni and even just adults who like singing - but the nice thing was they mixed them up, so they represented ALL the participating schools.

There was a nice mix of early music, jazz, musicals and contemporary - the latter being easily the most fascinating; it was "thinking out of the box", although the musical hits were fantastic. What was even more amazing was that all the singers (there were over 140 of them) were just given 3 days to learn everything. Well done you guys, and keep up the good work.

What was sad was they played to a not very packed hall. Considering all the effort, I thought they deserved to have a full house. Better luck next time I hope. Please do go next year - it's really worth it. The ticket (RM10 each and RM2 per programme) it's really worth it. Just about covers their costs.

Now I know it's not exactly the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and the acoustics at the Dewan Sri aren't brilliant either, but for what it cost, it was as entertaining as a night out in KL, and much better value!