Malaysian-born Tengku Irfan has appeared around the world as a conductor, pianist, and composer. He made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the Juilliard Orchestra in April 2024. He was invited as a guest conductor with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and was the assistant conductor of NYO-USA, working alongside eminent conductor Sir Andrew Davis. Through his work as a conductor, he is the recipient of the Bayreuth Stipendium Award and runner-up and audience prize winner of the 2021 Los Angeles Conducting Competition. He also worked as assistant and cover conductor for David Robertson, JoAnn Falletta, Jörg Widmann, Simone Young, and Speranza Scappucci. He recently finished his Masters of Music in orchestral conducting with David Robertson. As part of the commencement, he was the inaugural recipient of the Robert Craft Igor Stravinsky Grant in Orchestral Conducting. He was a proud recipient of the Juilliard School Kovner Fellowship Award. Currently, he is the founder and music director of his own group, Ensemble Fantasque, promoting works from the 20th and 21st centuries, and underperformed pieces from earlier time periods.
Schedule
ENSEMBLE FANTASQUE (MAY 9 2025)
Tyson Gholston Davis - Distances
Schoenberg - Chamber Symphony No. 1
Arrangements of early music by Rusca, Ockeghem, and Josquin des Prez
Ligeti/arr. Howarth - Mysteries of the Macabre
Tengku Irfan, founder and conductor
Sam Jones, trumpet
Cary Hall, The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, 7:30pm EST
CHINESE MUSIC ENSEMBLE OF NEW YORK (MAY 18 2025)
Tengku Irfan and Julian Gau, conductors
Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Symphony Space, 3pm EST
MUSE CHORUS (MAY 21 2025)
Fauré - Requiem, among others
Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church, 7pm EST
Tengku Irfan, conductor
ORCHESTRA OF THE LEAGUE OF COMPOSERS (MAY 22 2025)
Music by Justin Weiss, Pamela Madsen, Paul Salerni, and Roger Reynolds
Cary Hall, The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, 7:30pm EST
Louis Karchin and David Fulmer, conductors
Tengku Irfan, cover conductor
RONDOFEST GALA AND TOUR (JUNE 7 and 10 2025)
Koetsier - “Rondo” from Brass Symphony
Stravinsky - Suites No. 1 and No. 2 for Small Orchestra
Chan - Drum Dance
Schubert - Symphony No. 9 D. 944, “The Great”
Tengku Irfan, conductor
RondoFest Festival Orchestra
June 7 2025 - Auditorium, Stonyhurst International School, Penang, Malaysia Tickets here
June 10 2025 - MACM Auditorium, Bangkok, Thailand Tickets here
