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aSSembling The Team
In May 2014, a meeting was called at the ADFM Daycare Centre in Petaling Jaya and the idea to organise a concert to raise funds to build a new centre was mooted. Planning for a concert sounds like a fun and rewarding experience but it also involves lot of hard work and coordination put in by a large team of people, mostly volunteers.
ConTraCTing an inTernaTional CaST
Eugene Pook, the concert’s conductor and artistic director, proposed The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO) for the concert. SSO has a 135-year history and is considered among one of the best in the region. Najwa Mahiaddin, a popular singer-songwriter based in New York, was contracted to perform with the orchestra. World-class performer and award-winning violinist Huang Bin also agreed to participate. Huang won her first international competition at the age of 14 followed by the Paganini International Violin Competition at 23.
SeCuring SPonSorShiPS
A Sponsorship Sub-Committee headed by Puan Sri Wendy Ong (Patron), Dato’ Jeffrey Ng (Organising Chairman and President Board of Trustees), Toh Puan Aishah Ong (Charter Trustee) and Datuk Dr. Yim Khai Kee (EXCO Chairman) was tasked with donorship appeals. The ADFM committee also held meetings with sponsors: Alan Mark Pryor (General Manager of Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre) and his team to secure the venue for the concert. Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur was the top choice as hotel venue for the performing artistes. Azran Osman Rani (CEO, Air Asia X) and his team readily agreed to sponsor the return trips for the SSO.
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