Our Founders

Orest Smovzh
artistic director

Orest Smovzh is a Ukrainian violinist, who is taking most interest in artistic collaborations, creating unusual programs, solo violin recitals, promoting contemporary music, and historically informed performance.

Orest collaborated in chamber performances with the members of Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Suntory Hall Chamber Music Academy, pianists Thomas Hoppe, Albert Tiu, Fazıl Say, cellist Michael Kannen, violinist Vadim Gluzman. He recently received the most memorable coaching sessions from pianists Ferenc Rados, Leon Fleisher, Jeffrey Kahane, Ellen Mack, conductor Gyorgy Takacs-Nagy, baritone Thomas Hampson and lute player Nigel North.

As a soloist he took part in historically informed performances with Masaaki Suzuki in Singapore and USC Baroque Sinfonia in Los Angeles, as well as participated in several outreach projects in Mexico, USA, and Japan.

Orest commissioned and premiered around 60 works from the leading composers of Ukraine, as well as Singapore and USA.

Winner of the International Tadeusz Wroński Solo Violin Competition (2015, Poland) and the finalist of the George Enescu International Violin Competition (2018, Romania).

Orest has performed on instruments by Guarneri del Gesù, Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, and others, loaned by the late Mr. Rin Kei Mei and private collections.

He appeared as a soloist with Orchestra Filarmonicii George Enescu, Yamagata Symphony Orchestra, Uzbekistan National Symphony Orchestra, Lublin Philharmonic Orchestra, Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra, Ukrainian Festival Orchestra, in such iconic halls as Romanian Athenaeum (Bucharest), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), Hitachi Systems Hall (Sendai) among others. His performances were broadcasted by Medici.tv, Lithuanian National Radio and Television, Danmarks Radio, Kol Ha Musica, WXQR, and The National Radio of Ukraine.

Orest holds degrees from National Music Academy of Ukraine (Kyiv), Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (Singapore), USC Thornton School of Music (Los Angeles), and Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins (Baltimore), where he studied with Yaroslava Rivnyak, Dmytro Tkachenko, Qian Zhou and Midori.

His artistic geography includes numerous countries in Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia.

Cassel Krishnan
executive director

A native-born Melakan, Cassel seeks to inspire the people of Melaka to look beyond, and to envision a city full of vibrancy, culture, and art.

Photos courtesy of Gerald Ho.

Logan Chai

Productions Lead

Logan Chai is a graduate student and research assistant at the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), National University of Malaysia (UKM). Logan is also the Head of Classical Music at Talenthaus Music Academy, having taught choir, musicianship, piano, cello and vocal to students of various ages. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Classical Music from UCSI University, where he majored in classical piano.

During his time at UCSI, Chai discovered a deep passion for singing, initially nurtured through his involvement in the university choir. His leadership roles included serving as Co-President of Lollapalooza Singers Jr., Vice President of the Junior Choir and Assistant Bass Section Leader for UCSI Singers. Chai’s choral journey has since expanded to various external choirs, performing with prominent ensembles such as the KL City Opera Chorus, Mendelssohnchor Malaysia, and Ottophony, among others.

His choral collaborations with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) have included notable performances in productions like Ola Bola (2017), Russian Bells (2018), and La traviata (2023). Through KLCO, he also had the opportunity to work with Singapore Lyric Opera, performing as a chorus member in Carmen at the Esplanade Theatres in 2019.

In 2024, Logan had the opportunity to perform in a main ensemble role as A-rab in Bernstein’s West Side Story, produced by Bentley Music Academy. In addition to his ensemble work, Logan has performed as a soloist in numerous concerts and recitals across both musical theatre and operatic genres. In 2023, he was awarded the Gold II Award in the Pop/Musical Category at the World Voice & Choral Competition.

His dedication to the arts continues to drive his musical pursuits alongside his academic research.