I feel the biggest challenge in Southeast Asian classical music, is to create repertoire that is accessible, economically and logistically viable to be performed. There is also the urgency to shift our paradigm away from Eurocentrism in SE Asian musical language, yet at the same time do not deny the role of European age of enlightenment in our contemporary culture as a global citizen. I truly hope to see new reproduceable works, particularly opera in SE Asia. We are also being challenged with the reality of actively declining government sponsorship of arts in western nations which will affect the future of classical music as a whole. Is there still a future in big orchestra-s, aside from the national levels? There are a lot of problems to be solved, but we should also look into the welfare of musicians in Southeast Asia, of whether it is possible for artists to make a living without having to resort to just teaching and quasi-voluntary work in financially unsustainable orchestra companies.
I feel the biggest challenge in Southeast Asian classical music, is to create repertoire that is accessible, economically and logistically viable to be performed. There is also the urgency to shift our paradigm away from Eurocentrism in SE Asian musical language, yet at the same time do not deny the role of European age of enlightenment in our contemporary culture as a global citizen. I truly hope to see new reproduceable works, particularly opera in SE Asia. We are also being challenged with the reality of actively declining government sponsorship of arts in western nations which will affect the future of classical music as a whole. Is there still a future in big orchestra-s, aside from the national levels? There are a lot of problems to be solved, but we should also look into the welfare of musicians in Southeast Asia, of whether it is possible for artists to make a living without having to resort to just teaching and quasi-voluntary work in financially unsustainable orchestra companies.