Brand New Beat - feature on the first MPO Forum for composers

Brand New Beat One man braved the riot police and tear gas to witness the birth of Malaysian art music repertoire. L6ok out for the next MPO Forum in March. It was a CNN moment. Iraqi flags flew and crowds chanted anti-war slogans. I emerged from Dewar Filharmonik Petronas, which moments earlier echoed not with the familiar strains of Bach or Beethoven, but with brand new music by six young composers given the rare privilege of kicking off a Malaysian art music repertoire right into the demonstrations that had made the news worldwide on S…