About
Born and musically raised in the diverse languages and cultural scenes of Malaysia, Yoong Wei now resides primarily in Jalan Puchong, Kuala Lumpur where she pursues her Master's studies in jazz and performs regularly with the Big Band Story, University of Malaya Big Band, Julian Chan Jazz Orchestra, and Kuala Lumpur City Opera.
Coming from a classical dominated background, she studies jazz improvisation with her two main jazz gurus: pianist Michael Veerapan, who is well known as one of Malaysian jazz's leading lights, and Jelani Bauman, trumpet from New Orleans. Both of them graduated from Berklee College of Music. Previously, she learned from the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) members including tubist Brett Stemple, trombonists Marques Young, and Fernando Borja from Spain.
Yoong Wei has performed with the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO), Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC) Orchestra, and KLPAC Symphonic Band, ASEAN Universities Orchestra, FAZZ, UPSI Big Band, UPSI Alumni Big Band, UPSI Pop Orchestra, UPSI Wind Orchestra, SMK Batu Lapan Marching Band, ASWARA Orchestra, and brass ensembles. She completed an internship with Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) and Ui Li Music Production in scoring. She also participated in Winter Guard International (WGI) with the Voice of Percussion, in Indonesia and Malaysia, as a vibraphone player.
BANDS/SERVICES
Yoong Wei performs as a soloist and in several groups and bands including Big Band Story, Big Band of Penang, BBS Trombones, and Dear Rose Music. Yoong Wei also provides bespoke arrangements and undertakes Writing Commissions.
It was called the Penang Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra. Yoong Wei's first concert with this band was in 2014 which was a joint concert with the UPSI Big Band. It is led by jazz pianist Jerome Quah, featured Malaysian jazz artists including WVC - Malaysian Jazz Ensemble, trombonist Prof. Don Bowyer, and guitarist Az Samad. Yoong Wei also performed with them at Hua Hin Jazz Festival and Thailand International Jazz Conference, Thailand.
Yoong Wei's first opportunity to play with the Big Band Story was in 2014 at ASWARA. The trombone section featured Khairul Anuar, Khairul Asri, Aidili Fitri, and Rizqin Nazhif, Ainul Aznan, and Hanif Hamid. This band is led by trumpeter and arranger Firdaus Zainal. The selection of repertoires covers from Malaysian jazz standards to Big Phat Band's Sing Sang Sung and Hunting Wabbits, which also include arrangements and compositions penned by Firdaus and other band members.
Trombone section from Big Band Story. This group explores Malaysian songs as well as jazz standards, using imaginative and accessible arrangements wrote by Yoong Wei and the group's bass trombonist, Rizqin. Local composers close to our heart melodies provide the perfect theme to be included in any event program.
A self-exploration project. Electronic music composition => electronic jazz music featuring an improvised solo, to promote organic improvised music from Jazz, Latin, and World music community.
Session Musician
Yoong Wei has been featured as a session musician in various sized classical and contemporary groups from duet to big band and orchestra settings. She has a library of trombone/brass music available to mail out so they can be used as rehearsal prior to a concert as guest soloist. She is also happy to fit in with the band's own repertoire, take a rehearsal, or work closely with individual sections. This flexibility and willingness to commit have proved particularly popular with student bands.
Writing Commissions
If you would like your own personalized composition and arrangement please contact Yoong Wei through email: yoongwei95@gmail.com.
COMPOSITION/ARRANGING
Yoong Wei's composition and arranging skills have been formally trained at the National Academy of Arts Culture and Heritage (ASWARA) under the tutelage of bassist Mr. Ruslan Imam and pianist Ms. Isabella Pek. She has taken lessons from jazz pianist Michael Veerapan to study more in-depth jazz harmony and percussionist Karim for Latin rhythms. In the year 2019, she has formed Aswarrangers & Co. / Instagram with her coursemates. Nowadays she is regularly called upon by her fellow musicians on all instruments and in many different genres to write tailor-made features for them.
Yoong Wei's arrangements have been featured at final recitals (PETA) and weekly performances at ASWARA, harmonica solo for a corporate event, string ensemble, choir group, Penang brass group, whom she has occasionally been a guest musician over the years, original composition 'Think of Me' that she put lyrics to it and arranged for big band. ‘Think of Me’ is her first song written when she studied composition and orchestration with Dr. Robert Burrell from Australia.
In other fields, Yoong Wei has transcribed the music from John William, Esperanza Spalding, Tokyo Jihen, and more for all sorts of groups from string quartet to orchestra. She has also ventured into electronic music composition creating electronic jazz music featuring an improvised solo.
Current highlight projects include BBS Trombone Quartet to promote the art of jazz/contemporary trombone and Malaysian songs, the ACG music group in Malaysia Rfbxproject, de-stress by being creative The Healing Art Project, and Penang Jazz Society events.
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