大象传媒

This week Music Life welcomes musical theatre royalty, as Lea Salonga hosts a conversation between four of the biggest names in composition and musical theatre. She鈥檚 done everything from playing Kim in the original production of Miss Saigon, to playing Fantine and 脡ponine in Les Mis茅rables and has 12 of her own albums.

Joining her is a French record producer, actor, singer and musical theatre composer with a prolific career in music. He is best known for his collaborations with lyricist Alain Boublil and has scored some of the biggest works in musical theatre including Les Mis茅rables, La R茅volution Francaise and Miss Saigon. It鈥檚 Claude-Michel Sch枚nberg.

Next up is a Filipino conductor, composer and arranger who is currently the Resident Conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur. He started playing piano at the age of 5 and sang duets with Lea, his sister, for her first album, Small Voice, before going on to study at Berklee College of Music. He's conducted orchestras across the Philippines and has worked with distinguished conductors and composers across the world. It鈥檚 Gerard Salonga.

And finally, a musical director, composer and arranger who has written for music for both screen and stage. He was the musical director of the world premiere musicals King Kong, Strictly Ballroom and Dream Lover, as week as the award-winning show Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. He鈥檚 also worked closely with Lea on various projects, such as writing the music for her 2020 single Dream Again, which was released to raise funds for Covid-19 charities. It鈥檚 Daniel Edmonds.

Together they discuss the process of working through a piece that isn鈥檛 going well, what drives them when starting a new project and the most important things they look for in a performer of musical theatre.

In part 2, Claude-Michel Sch枚nberg will be taking us through a playlist he鈥檚 called Music Is Life, featuring music from The Righteous Brothers, Gustav Mahler, 脡dith Piaf and many more.