Music was always on his mind

Up until his last days, Singapore music maestro Iskandar Mirza Ismail was still working on his music.

The Cultural Medallion winner died at his condominium in Tanjong Rhu yesterday at 3.10am in the presence of his wife, son and daughter, after battling lung and brain cancer in the past four years. He was 58.

According to his wife Ernawaty Sorianto, 60, his final projects included the fund-raising ChildAid concert, where he was the artistic director, and the Esplanade's New Year countdown show, where he was the producer.

She said: "His health deteriorated in the past one year and he was always in and out of hospital, but he was very firm about finishing his music projects. He was very passionate about music."

During his illness, musicians and collaborators would go to his home to work with him, including his younger brother, musician and music director Indra Shahrir Ismail.

In April, Iskandar travelled to Xiamen, China, to work with the Xiamen University orchestra and choir for a fund-raising concert held in Singapore for the Singapore Buddhist Free Clinic. Though physically weak and needing a wheelchair, he would communicate with them with the help of his 27-year-old daughter Valerie, a media professional. His son Emil, 28, is a businessman.

The family also travelled to South Korea for a holiday the following month, after which he joked with friends that the country had "many beautiful girls".

The eldest of five children born to pioneering Malay singer Nona Asiah and the late singing and music veteran Ismail Kassim, Iskandar was a child prodigy mentored by Majulah Singapura composer Zubir Said.

He later studied at and graduated from acclaimed music school Berklee College of Music in the United States, where he was awarded the John Lewis Jazz Masters Award for excellence in jazz music.

Since his professional debut in Singapore in the 1970s, he has performed in nightclubs, taught music, and also composed and arranged music for major events that included multiple National Day Parades, Chingay and the Youth Olympic Games.

He also worked on internationally staged musicals including Snow. Wolf.Lake and Chang & Eng, and arranged music for Mandarin pop stars such as Jacky Cheung, Sally Yeh and Aaron Kwok.

Iskandar, who, according to his wife, was not a smoker or drinker, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010, which later spread to the brain.

He went through several treatments, including radiosurgery and chemotherapy.

Iskandar was last admitted to Mount Elizabeth Hospital early last month and discharged on the 25th.

Although he did not talk much during his last days, his mother Nona Asiah said he would acknowledge family and friends who came to visit him.

She said: "His younger brother, Talib, would even joke with him and pretend to be someone else, but he would reply 'Foolish, I know you're Talib'."

Said Iskandar's wife: "He passed on peacefully."

Iskandar Ismail's mother Nona Asiah (centre), supported by family members, and his wife Ernawaty Sorianto (with black head scarf), shielded by an umbrella by theatre veteran Jeremiah Choy and supported from behind by daughter Valerie (with sunglasses), at yesterday's burial in Lim Chu Kang.

A wake was held at his mother's house in Kembangan yesterday morning.

An estimated 200 people - family, friends and many professionals from the arts, music and entertainment industry - came to offer prayers and pay their last respects.

Among them was the chief executive of Esplanade, Mr Benson Puah, who told The Sunday Times: "His works have touched a wide community of Singaporeans. All the lives he had touched, and the deep friendships that he had forged, reflects how special he was to all of us. He is a true son of Singapore."

The senior vice-president of MediaCorp Studios, Mr Suhaimi Jais, called Iskandar "one of the best musicians, arrangers and music directors that I've worked with, if not the best".

They had been working together since the 1970s, and he added: "He was very professional; he took care of all the details." Iskandar's childhood friend, Islamic Religious Council of Singapore president Mohammad Alami Musa, said his death was "a great loss to Singapore".

"He had always been the same humble guy that I had known from our primary school days, very down to earth, never failed to smile and crack jokes whenever we met."

In the afternoon, Iskandar's body was taken to Kassim Mosque for prayers before being buried at Muslim cemetery Pusara Abadi in Lim Chu Kang.

Many paid tribute online, including the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Mr Lawrence Wong.

On Mr Wong's Facebook page, the minister called Iskandar "a man of music, a man who made life better for all of us through his music".

ACHIEVEMENTS

1979: Graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, United States.
1988: Composer and music arranger for the National Day Parade for the first time.
1997: Orchestrated the music for musicals Snow.Wolf.Lake with Cantopop king Jacky Cheung, and Chang & Eng with theatre director Ekachai Uekrongtham.
2003: Named Berita Harian Achiever of the Year.
2006: Music producer for the opening ceremony of the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar; composer of multicultural performance Generation/s, performed in Tokyo, as part of events to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Singapore and Japan.
2006: Artistic director for ChildAid, a charity concert for young talent organised by The Straits Times and The Business Times, and worked with ChildAid in consecutive years.
2008: Awarded the Cultural Medallion for Music.
2009: Music director and composer of theme song for the Asian Youth Games in Singapore.
2010: Music director and producer for the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.
2013: Launch of his biography, Iskandar Ismail: The Music Man

IN TRIBUTE

"He was always interested in the 'Singapore sound' - a sound that is authentic yet contemporary, and a reflection of our multicultural society. He cared about the future, and would keep trying to break new ground and champion the potential of our local artists." - IVAN HENG, Wild Rice artistic director, who was by Iskandar Ismail's bedside last Friday

"I met him several times when I participated in ChildAid in 2012. That year, he also directed the music for the Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital Charity Concert. He looked more tired than usual, but when the music started, he was full of energy and vigour. That's what I remember most about Iskandar - a man of music, a man who made life better for all of us through his music. Thank you Mr Music Man. We will miss you." - MR LAWRENCE WONG, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, on Facebook

"Iskandar's advice was to never let go of my quest for artistic perfection, and to never compromise. We were in the midst of preparing for the SG50 celebrations. We are in the process of finding someone else, and he will be sadly missed." - JEREMIAH CHOY, ChildAid director and creative director of Sing50 concert

"The best thing about Iskandar is that he was always very good-natured. He never lost his cool and always delivered on time. He was still so young and had so much more to give." - Singer-songwriter DICK LEE, who studied music at Yamaha Music School with Iskandar in their teen years

"He has written music that transcends boundaries and connects communities... Never one to rest on his laurels, Iskandar continued to create new sounds, embracing the East-West, classical and pop music and working with new genres." - MS KATHY LAI, chief executive , National Arts Council

"He was a prolific, all-rounded musician - composer, arranger, producer and conductor. I have witnessed him excelling in all these roles over the last two decades. He had a great heart, and was caring, loving and generous. Singapore has truly lost one of her great musical icons." - DR EDMUND LAM, chief executive and director of the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore

dinohadi@sph.com.sg

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