Composing Malaysian popular music for the Orchestra in the early 21st century

This music composition practice-based thesis is aimed at documenting and analysing my professional context as a popular music orchestral composer in Malaysia. Out of the 120 minutes of music I had composed, conducted and recorded during my doctoral study in London, I have selected four pieces to be included in the composition portfolio for discussion and analysis. Accounting for lived professional experience of more than 26 years in Malaysia, and connecting these experiences to the doctoral studies and practice in London, I view my practice as the subject and I write evocative narratives on my creative, research and professional lives.
The main subject matters of this research are everyday professional composition practices striving for an improvement in the composition skills; and the use of traditional instruments juxtaposed with Western music ensembles in the compositions. I describe the professional music context in Malaysia, the powers that shape the everyday profession, and the Malaysian penchant for hybridity and multiculturalism. I examine my habitual use of jazz harmony, memorable melodies and dance-like rhythms in my compositions, and I trace these habitual usages to how these composition features intersect with my professional, cultural and social context in Malaysia. I analyse the compositions in the portfolio, illuminating on the inspirations, imaginations and solutions contained therein.
I argue that the dissertation together with the composition portfolio contribute to the popular music orchestral composition studies in Malaysia.