This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 12, 2015.

Opera is a form of art that is still quite rare in Malaysia and Danny Chen and Ho Soon Yoon are hoping to change this. The executive producer and co-producer of The Eat, Sing & Travel People also known as the EST Opera are in the midst of incorporating an opera company to serve this purpose. Kuala Lumpur City Opera (KLCO) is an effort to resuscitate the Western opera scene in Malaysia and at the moment EST is spearheading a fundraiser, pending the incorporation of KLCO.

“Many people do not know that opera exists in Malaysia,” says Chen.  The duo met in 2002 when they were both in the Selangor Philharmonic Choir and before Chen left to Singapore for work, they performed in two operas — Turandot and Carmen — with the Penang Arts Council, which was also where they made the acquaintance of chorus master, Mak Chi Hoe.

“We have been thinking about it for at least a year already. It was initially very difficult because we did not know how to structure it or what to call ourselves,” Chen says when asked how KLCO, which is a separate entity from EST, came about. The initial idea was conceived when Chen’s opera teacher, Dr Michela Bertagnolli Febvre, found that the master classes she conducted here were quite a success. This sparked the idea to develop opera in Malaysia through the formation of a body specific to it.

“I learned the piano for six months!” Chen cheekily exclaims but quite apart from that, both Chen and Ho do not possess musical backgrounds. The former has a Bachelor in Business Studies, majoring in marketing and works in an oil and gas company, while the latter who holds a Masters in International Management works for a financial institution.

Despite having full-time jobs in different fields, the two of them share a passion for opera even before the inception of EST and are keen to develop the art here, firstly by raising public awareness. They speak fondly of the opera workshop that caters for children. Here, the participants are not only exposed to the art, but also have an opportunity to participate in the production of an opera.

“We can see that there are returning kids who have been following us for the past three years,” says Ho who also dabbles in the performing arts. He debuted in the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre’s Broken Bridges and Dharma Orchestra’s I Have a Date with Spring. Perhaps, the support garnered by the workshop is an indication of budding interest and young talent in this genre.

The 80-performer strong orchestra that is set to perform at the fundraiser next week was selected through annual auditions early this year. Expect to see a combination of established and veteran talent, various age range including children, retirees, students. “They have to work hard. Not only do you have to learn the music. You have to learn the language, the pronunciation,” Chen says referring to the performers who mostly have full-time jobs and find time for rehearsals after working hours.

“You know what’s exciting? The chorus has been rehearsing with just the piano and it’s the same with the soloist and the orchestra, (they have) been rehearsing separately. So [when] we patch them together, there are some beautiful moments,” Ho says. His favourite part of the performance is when the orchestra meets with the singers for the first time — that is a very magical moment for everybody. “I always enjoy that,” he says.

Similar to previous performances staged by EST, the show will commence with a 30- minute performance talk, an introduction to the show. “The mission is to promote opera music and raise awareness. So that people have an idea of what they are going to watch and during the show there are subtitles,” Chen tells us.

Crowdfunding is another way of raising awareness as the public form part of it but the response towards crowdfunding efforts for KLCO has been slow-paced with a total of RM8,000 raised so far. [As at last week when the interview was done].

However, as it is with any passion project, the end result is bound to commensurate with efforts. “Slowly you see everything coming together to form the show. I think what is very rewarding is [that] at the end you see people enjoying the show and applauding,” Chen explains.

Chen and Ho share a grand vision for KLCO and Ho is enthusiastic to make this known, “I want to reach for the sky. I want to build an opera house in Malaysia. It’s a big dream but I think dreams can only come through when we have a vision.”

The fundraising concert for KLCO will take place on Oct 16 (8.30pm), Oct 17 (8.30pm) and Oct 18 (3pm) at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, Sentul Park, Jalan Strachan (off Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah — formerly known as Jalan Ipoh), Kuala Lumpur. Pre-performance talk will take place half an hour before show time. Tickets priced at RM 68, RM88, RM108, RM128 can be purchased from www.ticketpro.com.my.