A September of shows and excitement!

August has been a little quiet and now we've bounced back refreshed and ready to present you with more performances and things!

In the first two weeks of September we have an art exhibition with 13 artists and 26 artworks.

The opening of the exhibition is on 6/9/2014 (Saturday) at 3pm; admission is free! 

Do come by and enjoy both art and some light refreshments.

New Music Series #8: Oh, Strings!

New Music Series #8 -Oh, Strings!

Violin: Ken Lee 

Zhong Ruan: Simon Chong 

Er Hu and Guitar: Ziyan Tung

Curator : Ng Chor Guan

Date: 20 August 2014

Time: 830pm 

Venue: Toccata Studio 19B,SS2/55, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. 

Admission: by minimum donation RM25

Contact: 016-3618504 

Email: etoccata@gmail.com 

Make Like A Tree

Make Like A Tree; A Concert by Sergey and Friends 

While one man was traveling

The seed of a tree fell into his heart It grew upAnd reached God...
Make Like a Tree is a musical traveling project started by Sergey Onischenko from Ukraine.All songs are recorded in different places of the world inspired by meeting with musicians who play in dissimilar music styles. Each concert is played with new members and can turn Make Like A Tree in a duo or in quite a large improvising ensemble. 
Check out Sergey's Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/makelikeatree
Date: 1/8/2014; 8.30pmAdmission by minimum donation of RM25. 

A Concert by Terence Chong and Friends

One. Two. Three. 

Friends of Terence include a pianist, Eugene Chong, an oboist, Nelson Wong, 

and guest player, Lawrence Fong on the clarinet.

Venue: Toccata Studio, 19b, SS2/55, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Date/time: 30/7/2014, 8.30pm. 

Admission by minimum donation of RM30. 

It's Mid July!

It's Dance=Music Series: Moonlight! 

Today is the second show for Dance=Music Series: Moonlight! Will you be joining us? It's at 3pm, at Toccata Studio, 19b, Jalan SS2/55 47300 Petaling Jaya (above Poh Kong SS2). We had an amazing show last night, with rather enthusiastic young members in the audience. It is always a pleasure to have children be exposed to the arts; their curiosity and wonder know no bounds!  

July has been busy and fulfilling, so far! In the first weekend we had Cake Project #13, where three dreamers submitted their proposals for a chance to kick start their projects; Lee Siew Min's idea, Art Elongation, is to connect the community to art by gathering people together to draw and paint on the same canvas. Second presenter, Teo Wey Herng, wants to organize a workshop titled Building Blocks for children to teach them about stories and the art of story telling. Third presenter is dancer Lee Ren Xin, whose proposal B.E.D. is a piece of dance theatre discussing the ideas and stories about resting and beds. 

 Lee Siew Min: Art Elongation

Teo Wey Herng: Building Blocks.

Lee Ren Xin: B.E.D 

 The audience listening in rapt attention.

The vote! Our cake sponsor did an amazing job 

with the Hummingbird cake, yum! 

Stay tuned for more updates about events! Thank you for reading. (: 

Today we're sharing a TED Talk that inspires us! Watch it, or save it for a Saturday afternoon, and come join us on Sunday. (click on the quote to get to the TED talk!)

1. Béatrice Coron is a papercutter artist who tells stories with layers of papercutting. 'But the result is always to have stories. So the stories, they have a lot of possibilities.' She became an artist only at 40 years old! Art and creativity has no age limit, friends! 

What do Creative People Say?

5 days to CAKE Project #13! Today we bring you 13 quotes on creativity by those of the creative ilk! 

Edward de Bono of 6 Thinking Hats says: 

We need creativity in order to break free from the temporary structures that have been set up by a particular sequence of experience. 

Edwin Land, the co-founder of Polaroid tells us to not fear failure: 

An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. 

Controversial performance artist Marina Abramovic is a bit stern, but speaks the very truth: 

Your ego can become an obstacle to your work. If you start believing in your greatness, it is the death of your creativity.

Classic Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe (really, she needs no introduction) reminds us of the humanity in creativity: 

Creativity has got to start with humanity and when you're a human being, you feel, you suffer. You're gay, you're sick, you're nervous or whatever. 

The great American poet of the 1920's T.S. Eliot remind us how anxiety is absolutely normal:

Anxiety is the hand maiden of creativity. (x)

Contemporary dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp reminds you to make creativity (creating) a habit:

Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is the result of good work habits. 

Yo-yo Ma, a world renown cellist and the founder of the Silk Road Project, says this about creativity: 

Passion is one great force that unleashes creativity, because if you're passionate about something, then you're more willing to take risks.

The powerful and inspirational African-American civil rights activist, Maya Angelou (may she rest in peace and power), believes that creativity is an innate quality:  

Everybody born comes from the Creator trailing wisps of glory. We come from the Creator with creativity. I think that each one of us is born with creativity.

Beyonce Knowles (who needs no introduction, the Queen Bee of pop music!) says creativity is her life: 

If I weren't performing, I'd be a beauty editor or a therapist. I love creativity, but I also love to help others. My mother was a hairstylist, and they listen to everyone's problems - like a beauty therapist!

Impressionist painter Henri Matisse reminds you to be courageous about your art: 

Creativity takes courage. 

Ken Robinson, who writes about creativity and finding one's passion says this: 

Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value. It is a process; it's not random.

Yoko Ono, a musician, artist and most known for being John Lennon's (of the Beatles) second wife, says this about her music: 

I always believed that my work should be unfinished in the sense that I encourage people to add their creativity to it, either conceptually or physically. Back in the 1960s, I was calling for 'Unfinished Music,' number one, and number two, with my artwork - I was taking unfinished work into the gallery. And that's how I was looking at it.

We'll end this post with another quote from dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp, who reminds us that creativity is for everybody: 

Creativity is not just for artists. It's for businesspeople looking for a new way to close a sale; it's for engineers trying to solve a problem; it's for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way.

We'll stop here, for now. Hope you've been appropriately encouraged and motivated reading these quotes; we'd love to see you this Sunday, whether as part of the audience or one who comes forward with a proposal. Though if you do have a proposal, send it to us (etoccata@gmail.com) immediately! 

Quotes taken from brainyquote.com. Check them out if you need extra motivation!