Advertisement

TUTAS Conservatory Degree Programme: A collaboration of academics and the artistes

Anne Grace Savitha
·4-min read
(Left to right) Behind the inception of TUTAS Taylor’s Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Pradeep Nair, TAS co-founder Dato’ Dr. Faridah Merican, Taylor’s Vice Chancellor Prof. Michael Driscoll and TAS co-founder Joe Hasham. — Picture courtesy of KLPAC
(Left to right) Behind the inception of TUTAS Taylor’s Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Pradeep Nair, TAS co-founder Dato’ Dr. Faridah Merican, Taylor’s Vice Chancellor Prof. Michael Driscoll and TAS co-founder Joe Hasham. — Picture courtesy of KLPAC

PETALING JAYA, February 26 – Former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi once told theatre stalwarts Datuk Dato Faridah Merican and Joe Hasham a long time ago, he told the that they needed to get their theatre work connected to a higher education institution.

He had pointed out that their theatre productions that were mostly held in The Actor’s Studio (TAS) were just “not enough” to sustain their legacy.

“That seed was planted in our minds, and for a long time, we wanted to team-up with a tertiary institution,” says Faridah.

Now, welcome the Adjunct Professor and Programme Development Director of the joint venture of TUTAS (Taylor’s University and The Actor’s Studio).

Faridah is one of the founders of Malaysia’s first Conservatory Degree Programme in Performing Arts.

During the launch of TUTAS yesterday, Hasham, who is also the co-founder of TAS told the audience in his welcome speech,

“For a university like Taylor’s that is worth that reputation and ranking in the world of academia to come and approach us, and ask whether we would like to get “married”, it was something like a much joyous celebration.”

TUTAS’s Conservatory Degree allows students to engage in practical work and have the option to choose between two tracks – Performance Track or Technical Theatre Track.

Interested applicants need to attend a two-day guided audition process (group audition and individual session) to gain admission to the course that will be held in Taylor’s University and in KLPAC (Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre).

Among the modules that will be offered under the degree programme include Performance, Directing, Dance, Technical Theatre, Stage Lighting and Stage Sound.

Industry experts such as Faridah, Joe, Chris Higgs, Ian Chow, Mark Beau de Silva, Omar Ali, Sandee Chew, Sayyid Shafiee, Tung Jit Yang and Yusman Mokhtar will be guiding the next youngsters.

Vice Chancellor and President of Taylor’s University Professor Michael Driscoll, in revealing that it was his first time setting foot in KLPac said he found the place to be fascinating.

In his speech, he said while there are world class performances in the country, little provisions were provided by the government to boost this creative sector.

“Who would have thought that a South Korean film would have bagged the most awards for the movie Parasite? We should take heart by their accolades and strive to get the next international prestigious award in the performing arts sphere.

“South Korea has massively invested in the arts, and it’s time we do too.”

One for the album - lecturers from Taylor’s University and KLPAC’s performing artists. — Picture courtesy of KLPAC
One for the album - lecturers from Taylor’s University and KLPAC’s performing artists. — Picture courtesy of KLPAC

Members of the media were given a sneak-peek into one of the lessons that students would learn under the conservatory degree programme moderated by the Stream Coordinator of TUTAS, Mark Beau de Silva who is also a resident director of KLPAC.

Mark Beau de Silva in a reflection session with some of the members of the media. — Picture courtesy of KLPAC
Mark Beau de Silva in a reflection session with some of the members of the media. — Picture courtesy of KLPAC

The launch event also saw a short sharing session by Faridah, Hasham, and also Taylor’s Head of School of Liberal Arts and Sciences Associate Professor Dr Anindita Dasgupta.

“One of the unique features of this conservatory degree programme is that students can take up performing arts as their major, and have the option to choose their minors with subjects like marketing or education if they want to pursue a career in business or in the teaching line.

“The modules are specially designed to enrich students’ lives throughout their university and also when they’re finished with their degree,” he said adding that they were able to incorporate strategies from theatre into their job, such as into corporate training courses where theatre modules have been absorbed into the programme.

According to Hasham, aside the Performing Track that is considered the “glamorous” side where students can opt to be actors, playwrights, and directors.

The Technical Theatre track however should be a course that students should consider pursuing as not many know about stage management, production management, and the various lightings and sounds on stage.

“There is a shortage of people working in this area, and students get to work with working professionals who are experts in these technical aspects.

Faridah, Hasham, Anindita and other members of the performing arts, together with academicians from Taylor’s University all echoed how they were able to come up with the degree programme, by combining their knowledge.

“It has been an interesting journey together, and most importantly, we created this programme to groom a younger generation of artists, so that they would be able to give back to the world of performing arts one day,” Hasham said.