Datuk Mustafa Fuzer Bin Nawi, PWM

Born in Ipoh, Perak in 1960 Datuk Mustafa Fuzer received his early formal violin lesson  under the guidance of Datuk Abdul Fatah Karim. Recipient of a Malaysian Federal Government Scholarship, Datuk Mustafa Fuzer furthered his studies ( Violin Performance ) at the Hochschule für Musik und  Theater, Hannover, Germany from 1986-1991 with Professor Oscar C. Yatco. Upon his return to Malaysia, he was appointed Concert Master of the newly established National Symphony  Orchestra of Malaysia in 1993, a post he held until 1997.

During this period, Datuk Mustafa Fuzer was actively involved in numerous orchestra and chamber music programmes, and was instrumental in the formation of the group Kamerata Kuala Lumpur and The Suria String Quartet. He was also invited to join the Kölner Kammerorchester in 1996, where he made recording and toured several cities in Germany and France under the baton of Helmut Mueller-Bruehl.

In 1997, Datuk Mustafa Fuzer was awarded Cultural Grant from the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism Malaysia to further his postgraduate study in Conducting  (Orchestra and Choral Conducting) for two years at the Conservatorium Hogelschool Enschede in Netherlands.

Since 1999, Datuk Mustafa Fuzer has been appointed Music Director and Conductor of National Symphony Orchestra of Malaysia, and has since received great acclaim for his work in Kuala Lumpur. This has led to extraordinary collaboration with the Yayasan Seni Berdaftar where Mustafa Fuzer has been appointed the Conductor and Music Director of the International Piano Festival at Istana Budaya for five seasons from 2000 – 2004.

His highly acclaimed operatic conductor appearing with the Lyric Opera Malaysia amongst others, Puccini’s Tosca premiered at the Panggung Sari, Istana Budaya in July 2003 and Franz Lehar’s Merry Widow in 2004.

Some of his most memorable concert engagements include appearances with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO), NSO at The Esplanade Singapore, NSO at The ASIAN Orchestra Week in Tokyo & Osaka Japan 2004, Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra Bosnia 2004 and have collaborated with Malaysian Prominent Artists such as Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza, Dato Jamal Abdillah, Datuk Ahmad Jais, Anuar Zain, Ella, Yuna, Jaclyn Victor, Stephen Rahman Hughes, Amy SEARCH and WINGS.

Datuk Mustafa Fuzer also has established a national reputation as a teacher of violin and conducting and his many distinctions include guest at Malaysian universities and music colleges in Malaysia. He has taught and mentored many talented young musicians especially violinist who are now members of NSO or other major orchestras in Kuala Lumpur.

In 2008 Datuk Mustafa Fuzer has been awarded Ahli Mangku Negara  (AMN) and in February 2018 Panglima Mangku Wilayah (PMW) which carries the title Datuk for his distinguished service to the Malaysian music industry.

Since 2010 Datuk Mustafa is honoured to have had the privilege as Music Director and Conductor of the PERMATA SENI MUZIK (PSM) now GENIUS SENI MUZIK (GSM), a special programme for gifted children.

Although Datuk Mustafa has retired from NSO in 2020 after serving more than 27 years, he is still very much active promoting Early Child Education in Music, playing Chamber Music with his Trio, giving Masterclasses, Talks, Seminars and Conducting Workshop.