Cantus Musicus

Cantus Musicus, Malaysia's only international amateur mixed chamber choir based in Kuala Lumpur, is acknowledged to be the best choir in Malaysia and has received favourable comment from various musicians and singers, including leading British choral conductor and chorus master, Peter Broadbent, who conducted it in Kuala Lumpur and Dr Michela Bertagnolli, opera singer and judge of the SongFest Singing Competition 2004. The choir is noted for its unique performance and programming philosophy, its diverse international make-up and the fact that several of its principal singers have sung in some of the best choirs in the world or have studied under well-known vocal coaches and opera singers.

History

Cantus Musicus was formed on 11 April 2003 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by Lisa Ho and Glenis Butterworth. The original choir consisted of Lisa Ho as the Choral Director and accompanist on the piano and pipe organ, and 17 singers drawn from a previous choir which had been disbanded. Glenis Butterworth coined the name "Cantus Musicus" which means "harmonious singing". The choir's gave its first public a cappella performance two days later on 13 April 2003 at the St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Two choral works were sung - Lotti's Crucifixus a 8 in the original Latin and Tchaikovsky's Crown of Roses (in English).

The choir remains to this day a strictly secular choir. Ten of the original singers are still with the choir which now has a permanent establishment of 56 singers. Lisa Ho is now the Choral and Music Director and Glenis Butterworth remains the Assistant Director. The choir's Assistant Choral Director is Timothy Ooi.

In August 2005, Cantus Musicus was requested to record a special CD entitled Cantus Musicus for the listening pleasure of Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood, the late wife of current Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi, who was then undergoing cancer treatment in the United States of America. They also sang before Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi on 6 September 2005, after which the CD recording was presented to him.

Later in 2005, selected members of the choir sang for the recording of the official anthem for the 11th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit backed by the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

In November 2006, Lisa Ho and Janneke Bomhoff-Bos were invited to perform before the 12th Queen of Malaysia or Raja Permaisuri Agong, Her Royal Highness Tengku Fauziah binti Almarhum Tengku Abdul Rashid in a private royal function.

On 21 June 2008, Cantus Musicus held its most recent concert, Everything But The Diva! to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the founding of the choir and also as a farewell concert for the outgoing German ambassador, His Excellency, Mr.Herbert Jess, who has been a staunch patron of Cantus Musicus. Mr. Jess made a surprise announcement at the end of the concert by giving an open invitation to Cantus Musicus to perform in Germany.

Policy

Cantus Musicus never charges its audience as part of its overall commitment to promoting the choral tradition in Malaysia and is probably the only secular choir in Malaysia to do so.

Cantus Musicus is also strongly committed to developing choral singing in Malaysia and Music Director Lisa Ho actively participates in choral workshops and festivals in Malaysia teaching youth choirs. The choir has also given exhibition performances at choral festivals. Ms Ho, Janneke Bomhoff-Bos and Timothy Ooi are often called upon to serve as judges in local choral competitions.

The choir sings for the sheer pleasure of making good music and the fun of eating and drinking after the singing.

Repertoire

Cantus Musicus has a repertoire ranging from madrigals to sacred works, from lieder to gospel, from folk songs to symphonic choral works as well as good sampling of 20th and 21st century choral compositions, including original arrangements and compositions by Lisa Ho. Ms Ho's latest sacred choral composition, Magnificat, was premiered at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church on 9 December 2007.

Cantus Musicus are known to sing in more than 15 different languageswith a strong emphasis on English, German and Latin choral works.

The choir also has its integral group of musician-singers who play on old European instruments or clever adaptions of traditional Asian instruments to simulate old European instruments to accompany medieval songs. Cantus Musicus has been known to perform in period European costume. Cantus Musicus was known for its madrigal concerts in its early years, the most popular being Mad as a Hatter - Spring Madrigals and other May Maladies held on 28 May 2005.

Cantus Musicus Quartet

The Cantus Musicus Quartet was formed for smaller, private performances focussing on art songs. Despite its name, the Quartet actually consists of 5 singers: Lisa Ho (soprano), Janneke Bomhoff-Bos (mezzo-soprano), Chan Wen Li (alto), Timothy Ooi (tenor) and Thomas Kniepkamp (baritone) but only up to 4 sing at any one time. The piano accompanists for the Quartet are Lisa Ho, Timothy Ooi and Chan Wen Li.

The Swinglow Singers

The Swinglow Singers are a spin-off from Cantus Musicus and was formed by several of its younger Malaysian singers though there are now a few singers in the group with no association with Cantus Musicus at all. This purely a cappella vocal ensemble was formed in 2005 and gave its first public performance at the Wei-Ling Gallery in Kuala Lumpur in September 2005. The Swinglow Singers sing mainly close harmony contemporary pop songs and jazz though they have been known to sing madrigals and gospel songs. This group sang before the previous Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad at the Women of the Year Awards in November 2005.

Lieder

Cantus Musicus are currently recognised as the main promoters of lieder or German art songs in Malaysia and have given a number of lieder concerts and recitals ever since their first Liederabend concert in Kuala Lumpur in 2004. For this and for the annual Weihnachtskonzert (German Christmas Concert), Cantus Musicus have been strongly supported by the German and Austrian Embassies in Malaysia, the German Speaking Society,Kuala Lumpur (GSSKL) and the Malaysian-German Society in the Malaysian state of Penang.

Known Cantus Musicus lieder concerts include Liederabend (June 2004), Liederabend im Penang (4 March 2006), Love, Grief & Obsession - The Vision of the Herald & the Hawk (8 August 2006) and Leise Flehen Meine Lieder (21 May 2007).

The Cantus Musicus Quartet have also given lieder recitals - one recital in 2005, two in 2006 (one of which was a farewell recital for Datuk Ooi Chean See, the former Resident Conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra) and two more in 2007, the latest on 22 November 2007 in conjunction with the launch of the publication, 50 Years Malaysian-German Relations: Portraits of Friendship - Then and Now by current Malaysian Information Minister, Datuk Ahmad Shabery Chik, at the German Ambassador's Residence in Kuala Lumpur.

Christmas concerts

Cantus Musicus are particularly noted for their annual Weihnachtskonzert (German Christmas Concert), and their Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols which are performed annually in December. Since 2003, the choir has been performing the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at 6.00pm on every second Sunday of December in St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Kuala Lumpur. Cantus Musicus are responsible for reviving and promoting the Festival as a popular traditional annual Christmas choral event in Kuala Lumpur.

Music collaborations

Cantus Musicus has collaborated with members of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra String Section at the EUphoriA Concert on 26 May 2006 in conjunction with the European Union Delegation Celebrations headed by Austria. The latest collaboration has been with the Encounter High Winds Ensemble (founded by Joost Flach under the auspices of the Education/Outreach Department of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra) in a concert entitled Voices in the Wind on 30 April 2008.

Riddell-Eminent pipe organ

Cantus Musicus has been accompanied by various pipe organists playing the Riddell-Eminent pipe organ in St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Kuala Lumpur, on a number of occasions. The Riddell-Eminent organ is a hybrid made up of components of the original 1939 Riddell organ married to the 1998 Eminent console by organ builder Mr Robert Navaratnam of Singapore (who also built the 9-rank Choir Organ in the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in Singapore). The original Riddell organ once had the distinction of being the only pipe organ ever to be completely built in Malaya (today's Malaysia). In 1939, Mr J. A. Riddell used the skills of local craftsmen to fashion all its components except the 29 display pipes which were cast and milled in England. During the Second World War, the Imperial Japanese Army looted all the organ pipes. In 1948, Mr. Riddell restored the pipes but this time employing local materials and expertise, making the Riddell organ the only 100% Malaysian made pipe organ for the next 50 years until the organ upgrade of 1998. All other pipe organs in Malaysia were and still are imported from Europe.

Pianos

Cantus Musicus' preferred accompanying pianos are the Boesendorfer grand piano from Austria and the Seiler grand piano manufactured in Bavaria, Germany. For rehearsal purposes, the choir uses the K. Kawai from Japan.

References