PROFILE
UPM's Staff Profile
DR. ANG MEI FOONG
KETUA JABATAN
FACULTY OF HUMAN ECOLOGY
PROFESSIONAL
Dr. Ang Mei Foong (Cav.) | Soprano
Mei Foong’s voice was described as mellow, dulcet and soothing to the listeners. A multiple awards and scholarships winner, she was trained at the National Taiwan Normal University under Prof. Ren Rong, Conservatorio di Musica Santa Cecilia under Maestro Rebecca Berg, and the University of Melbourne under Merlyn Quaife. She now holds a PhD from University Putra Malaysia.
An award winning soprano, she was a recipient of numerous academic scholarships during her study notably the "Melbourne International Fee Remission Scholarships" (MIFRS) and "Melbourne International Research Scholarships" (MIRS) when she pursued her studies in the University of Melbourne. Other notable awards include the first prize winner of NTNU Vocal Concerto Competition of year 2002; 2nd prize winner of the Taiwan Rotary Club Artists' Awards of year 2002; the 8th prize winner, as well as a young artist award of "Mondial Chinese Vocalists Concours 2003"; and "Silver Medal Winner Award- Outstanding Achievement" in the Global Music Award, Oct 2014; In 2018, she was bestowed with “Ordine della Stella D'Italia, l'onorificenza Cavaliere” (The Order of Star of Italy, with the conferment of Knighthood), a prestigious recognition by the Italian government of her outstanding contribution to programming and performing vocal arts in the regions; followed with the Golden Medal Award from the Berliner International Music Competition in Sep 2018; the Best Solo Performance (Vocal) award in the 16th Boh Cameron Arts Awards 2019, one of the most prestigious performing arts awards in Malaysia; and most recently she received the National Academics Awards (category of Performing Arts) by Ministry of Education Malaysia in which the award was presented by the Prime Minister Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir, on 29 Oct 2019.
As an active recitalist, Mei Foong has given several well received solo recitals in Kuala Lumpur, Taiwan, Macau, Rome and Melbourne, where she performed Robert Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben, Gabriel Faure’s La Bonne Chanson, Richard Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder, Aldo Finzi’s Art Songs, Alban Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder, Joseph Canteloube’s Chants d’auvergne, and appeared as the soprano soloist in Handel's Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, Handel's Messiah, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. She is the founder and artistic director of The Song Weavers, the Malaysian first vocal ensemble that is dedicated to the performance and programming of Art Songs.
She has collaborated with a few major orchestras and ensembles in Malaysia, which include both the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO), and the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO), Kamerata String Ensemble and the Virama Ensemble. She has worked with the conductors such as Lee Kok Leong, David Chin, Juan Montoya, Kevin Field, Ciarán McAuley, Fabio Mechetti, Sergio La Stella, Guillaume Tourniaire and Naohisa Furusawa.
In 2013, Mei Foong made her Malaysia opera debut playing the title role in Bizet's opera Carmen with the EST opera company (now known as KL City Opera, KLCO), which had been received warmly at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Her other theatrical performances included “the mother” in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors with KLCO in 2014, and both the roles “Carmen” and “Mercedes” in Bizet’s Carmen with MPO in 2015; In 2016, she performed with KLCO as Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème with KLCO in Aug 2016; The First Lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with MPO in Jan 2017, and the Contessa in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with KLCO in Oct 2017; and most recently Violetta Valéry in Verdi's La Traviata with KLCO 2019.
Mei Foong's love to contemporary music always led her to work closely with the contemporary composers. She actively involved in the Malaysian contemporary music industry and had given world première to the vocal works by the Malaysian composers along with many internationally acclaimed musicians and orchestra, including MPO and the Society of Malaysian Contemporary Composers (SMCC). She has had vocal works composed specifically for her and dedicated to her.
While enjoying her busy performance career, she is also an active researcher in the field of voice rehabilitation, specifically for patients with Parkinson's diseases. She also involves a lot in community music works where she once served as the chairperson for the symposium for Asia Pacific Community Music Network (APCMN); She was also a columnist in the local Chinese press, Sin Chew Daily. She now serves as the Head of Music Department at UPM.
Reviews:
“Encore by The Canticle Singer, 2015” - “The Violetta Mei Foong portrayed was excellent. Her voice was beautiful and powerful, she has brought Violetta to life, and had transported the audiences into the emotional axis of the opera.” ~ Richard Chua, Sin Chew Daily. (originally written in Chinese).
Dr. Ang Mei Foong's upcoming major performances and engagements are listed on www.angmeifoong.com
Mei Foong’s voice was described as mellow, dulcet and soothing to the listeners. A multiple awards and scholarships winner, she was trained at the National Taiwan Normal University under Prof. Ren Rong, Conservatorio di Musica Santa Cecilia under Maestro Rebecca Berg, and the University of Melbourne under Merlyn Quaife. She now holds a PhD from University Putra Malaysia.
An award winning soprano, she was a recipient of numerous academic scholarships during her study notably the "Melbourne International Fee Remission Scholarships" (MIFRS) and "Melbourne International Research Scholarships" (MIRS) when she pursued her studies in the University of Melbourne. Other notable awards include the first prize winner of NTNU Vocal Concerto Competition of year 2002; 2nd prize winner of the Taiwan Rotary Club Artists' Awards of year 2002; the 8th prize winner, as well as a young artist award of "Mondial Chinese Vocalists Concours 2003"; and "Silver Medal Winner Award- Outstanding Achievement" in the Global Music Award, Oct 2014; In 2018, she was bestowed with “Ordine della Stella D'Italia, l'onorificenza Cavaliere” (The Order of Star of Italy, with the conferment of Knighthood), a prestigious recognition by the Italian government of her outstanding contribution to programming and performing vocal arts in the regions; followed with the Golden Medal Award from the Berliner International Music Competition in Sep 2018; the Best Solo Performance (Vocal) award in the 16th Boh Cameron Arts Awards 2019, one of the most prestigious performing arts awards in Malaysia; and most recently she received the National Academics Awards (category of Performing Arts) by Ministry of Education Malaysia in which the award was presented by the Prime Minister Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir, on 29 Oct 2019.
As an active recitalist, Mei Foong has given several well received solo recitals in Kuala Lumpur, Taiwan, Macau, Rome and Melbourne, where she performed Robert Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben, Gabriel Faure’s La Bonne Chanson, Richard Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder, Aldo Finzi’s Art Songs, Alban Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder, Joseph Canteloube’s Chants d’auvergne, and appeared as the soprano soloist in Handel's Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, Handel's Messiah, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. She is the founder and artistic director of The Song Weavers, the Malaysian first vocal ensemble that is dedicated to the performance and programming of Art Songs.
She has collaborated with a few major orchestras and ensembles in Malaysia, which include both the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO), and the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO), Kamerata String Ensemble and the Virama Ensemble. She has worked with the conductors such as Lee Kok Leong, David Chin, Juan Montoya, Kevin Field, Ciarán McAuley, Fabio Mechetti, Sergio La Stella, Guillaume Tourniaire and Naohisa Furusawa.
In 2013, Mei Foong made her Malaysia opera debut playing the title role in Bizet's opera Carmen with the EST opera company (now known as KL City Opera, KLCO), which had been received warmly at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Her other theatrical performances included “the mother” in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors with KLCO in 2014, and both the roles “Carmen” and “Mercedes” in Bizet’s Carmen with MPO in 2015; In 2016, she performed with KLCO as Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème with KLCO in Aug 2016; The First Lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with MPO in Jan 2017, and the Contessa in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with KLCO in Oct 2017; and most recently Violetta Valéry in Verdi's La Traviata with KLCO 2019.
Mei Foong's love to contemporary music always led her to work closely with the contemporary composers. She actively involved in the Malaysian contemporary music industry and had given world première to the vocal works by the Malaysian composers along with many internationally acclaimed musicians and orchestra, including MPO and the Society of Malaysian Contemporary Composers (SMCC). She has had vocal works composed specifically for her and dedicated to her.
While enjoying her busy performance career, she is also an active researcher in the field of voice rehabilitation, specifically for patients with Parkinson's diseases. She also involves a lot in community music works where she once served as the chairperson for the symposium for Asia Pacific Community Music Network (APCMN); She was also a columnist in the local Chinese press, Sin Chew Daily. She now serves as the Head of Music Department at UPM.
Reviews:
“Encore by The Canticle Singer, 2015” - “The Violetta Mei Foong portrayed was excellent. Her voice was beautiful and powerful, she has brought Violetta to life, and had transported the audiences into the emotional axis of the opera.” ~ Richard Chua, Sin Chew Daily. (originally written in Chinese).
Dr. Ang Mei Foong's upcoming major performances and engagements are listed on www.angmeifoong.com
NAME :
(Dr.) Ang Mei Foong
POSITION :
Ketua Jabatan
ENTITY :
Faculty Of Human Ecology
PUBLICATION
2021:
Exploring The Reception of The Tele-Based Music Program In People With Parkinson’s Disease During the Period of the Movement Control Order Due to The Covid-19 Pandemic
2021:
A Vocal Health Survey among Primary School Teachers in Klang Valley, Malaysia
2021:
Attitudes, Awareness, And Roles of Parents in Children’s Musical Instrument Learning at The Klang Valley Music Centre