Facilitators

Susanna Saw, Music Director

Susanna Saw graduated from the Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music, majoring in piano and vocal singing as a second study. She attained her Australian Kodaly Certificate from the University of Queensland, and has performed in various concerts in Australia and Malaysia, both as a soloist and accompanist. She was selected to sing with the Melbourne Chorale on many occasions and worked with various internationally known conductors, such as Mariss Jansen and Neemi Jarvi. 

Starting her choral teaching experience with the Australian Boys’ Choir, Susanna moved on to become Assistant Choral Conductor and Vocal Coach at the prestigious MacRobertson Girls’ High School in Victoria in 1998.

On her return from Australia in 1999, she realized that the choral scene in Malaysia is not as vibrant as she had hoped it to be. Thus, she resolved to raise the awareness and standard of the local choral scene through education and sharing the experience she has gained whilst in Australia.

With that burning desire, she successfully set up the Ipoh Children’s Choir, The Young KL Singers and The KL Children’s Choir and was involved with the Penang State Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. Further to that, she had also been a choir tutor at various schools in Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur, some of which had gone on to become champions at national and international competitions under her tutelage. She is currently a tutor and choir director at the Malaysian Institute of Arts and University of Malaya’s Music Faculty choir.

When not teaching, Susanna immerses herself in the development and advancement of the choral scene in Malaysia. She founded the Young Singers Choral Festival in 2003, an annual festival for young musicians in Malaysia to gain choral knowledge from the various invited choir tutors from U.K, Denmark, U.S and Singapore. Through her choirs and numerous choral activities, she has created recognition and awareness on choral singing, and its importance. Always eager to share knowledge and experience, Susanna has also organized exchange programs between her choirs and visiting choirs from South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, Croatia, Australia and New Zealand.  

Her latest venture in the choral scene was the establishment of the Young Choral Academy in Kuala Lumpur, aimed as a venue for choral lovers to learn more about choral music and a venue for young Malaysian composers and arrangers to compose more choral works.

She has been invited by Interkultur Foundation, Germany, to be the Jury at the 1^st Asian Choir Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, November 2007. Her choir from SMK Sam Tet, Ipoh, has been invited by the Ministry of Education to represent Malaysia for the 2008 World Choir Games in Graz, Austria. Susanna is now venturing into the international choral scene. She has been appointed the Executive Committee Member of the Interkultur Foundation and is a member of International Federation of Choral Music (IFCM).

Tracy Wong, Assistant Music Director

B.Mus., L.Mus.A., A.Mus.A., ATCL, Performer’s Certificate (TCL)

Tracy Wong Wei Wen began her studies in music with Chong Li Han, Lai Mei Kuen, Ng Chong Lim and Geneviene Wong. She studied in University College Sedaya International (UCSI) and later graduated from the University of Newcastle Australia with high distinctions and was awarded the Madge Hoy Prize for the student with the best final year pass in Piano Studies. She was under the tutelage of Ann O’Hearn and Christopher Allan for piano performance and classical singing respectively.

In Newcastle, she was a regular accompanist for instrumentalists and singers, and performer in chamber music ensembles. Tracy became a member of The University of Newcastle Chamber Choir and competed in various competitions, including the Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC) Classic FM Choir of the Year 2006 which saw them crowned as Australian Adult Choir Champion.

Tracy studied classical and choral singing with Susanna Saw and Ian Lim Kean Seng and was a member of the Tarcisian Convent Ipoh Choir which emerged as the Malaysian National Champion at the Secondary School Choir Competition in 2000. Since then, Tracy has gone on to perform in productions with The Young Kuala Lumpur (KL) Singers, The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Center, as well as compete in The 1^st Asian Choir Games in Jakarta 2007.

In 2008, Tracy was chosen by The International Federation of Choral Music to represent Malaysia in Caen, France at The 1^st International Forum – Voice, Youth, and Arts Management. In 2009, she represented the country again for Asia Pacific Choral Summit in China.

Tracy is currently the Assistant Music Director of two-time BOH Cameronian Arts Award winner The Young KL Singers (YKLS) and performs regularly with the Young Choral Academy Chamber Choir. She is a tutor of the Kuala Lumpur Children’s Choir who obtained a Silver Diploma at the 2^nd Asian Choir Games in Korea. Tracy is also the Musical Director of ADAM The Musical which will be performed at The Actors Studio, Kuala Lumpur in May 2010.

Tracy is one-fourth of Caipifruta Vocal Quartet who is currently recording their debut EP, focusing on pop and jazz vocal music.

Tracy tutors various school choirs in KL and Ipoh, and teaches piano and singing. She is also an accompanist, a composer as well as a choral arranger.