KL’s Classical Scene Goes Full Volume With A Free City-Wide Festival

By Lara Kramer  •  08 Jun 2026 in Events

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KL is getting a free classical music festival this June, and it’s not playing it safe.

From 21 to 28 June, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) is turning the city into a week-long stage for the ASEAN Youth Orchestra Festival. There are workshops, community performances, and concerts spread across Kuala Lumpur, and most of it is free to walk into.

The main event is on 27 June at Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS, where 84 young musicians from seven ASEAN countries take on a programme that doesn’t really ease you in. It opens with John Williams, moves into Rachmaninoff, then ends with Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, ‘The Titan’.

That last one is the statement piece. Mahler’s First was basically a flop at its premiere in 1889, criticised for being too long and too strange. Now it’s a classic, but still a heavy lift even for seasoned orchestras. Giving it to a youth orchestra feels like a test, or a flex, depending on how generous you want to be.

The Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini features Malaysian pianist Celestine Yoong Qian Yi, tackling one of the most technically brutal works in the piano repertoire. It’s 24 variations built around a single theme, ending in that famous slow 18th variation that always gets reused in film scores. She performs with the orchestra under Gerard Salonga.

But the festival actually starts earlier…

From 23 to 25 June, there are free workshops at Rumah Tangsi. MPO musicians run them, and they’re open to the public, more about sharing process than polished performance.

Then on 25 June, the tone shifts at the DBKL Auditorium, run by Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur. This will be followed by a free community concert and a Gala Concert.

The MPYO & Friends show brings in Aina Abdul, Amir Masdi, Ruebben Chelvan, and Ruhil Ariana, performing alongside the youth orchestra. The set moves between ASEAN folk songs, local favourites like Rasa Sayang, and pop crossover tracks like You Raise Me Up. It’s the least formal part of the whole festival, and probably the most accessible.

There’s also a world premiere by Malaysian composer Sebastian Ooi called ‘Memories of Childhood’, which quietly anchors the whole thing in local work rather than just imported repertoire.

Tickets for the Gala range from RM75 to RM250. Grab them here.

For more cool stuff, click here.

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