COMMONWEALTH SECONDARY SCHOOL CHOIR
THE CHOIR Under the dynamic musical tutelage of Mr. Foong Hak Luen, the Commonwealth Secondary School Choir has been actively contributing to the musical culture in school, as well as participating in regular public performances. The choir has received Gold, Gold with Honours and Distinction Awards in the biannual Singapore Youth Festival Arts Presentation since 1999 and has also received two Gold Awards in international choral competitions held in China and Malaysia. Under the care and direction of teachers, Commonwealth Choir has also been active in the area of community involvement, touching the loves of different segments of the society with their beautiful voices. They have presented at organizations such as Jamiyah Nursing Home, Lion’s Befrienders and St Luke’s elder Care centre. Besides being actively involved in Values in Actions projects, they have also continued to master their craft and deepen their passion for singing through consistent Choir practices under the guidance of the teachers-in-charge. Commonwealth Choir is made up of sections of passionate students making music together. The Choir’s motto, “We live to sing”, is the focus that connects every member, instructor and teachers guiding the group.
CONDUCTOR Foong Hak Luen, Masters in Choral Conducting (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of St. Joseph and Fellowship in Choral Conducting from London College of Music. Foong started his choral journey singing in one of Singapore’s premier semi-professional choir, The Vocal Consort, where he develops his knowledge of singing and conducting skills under the baton of Mr Nelson Kwei. Foong is the only choral conductor in Singapore to have choirs receiving Gold with Honours Awards at the Primary, Secondary and Junior College level. He led all his choirs to attain the Distinction awards in the Singapore Youth Festival Arts Presentation 2013, 2015 and 2017. In the international arena, Foong has led choirs to achieved Gold awards at many international choral competitions and he was specially awarded the Outstanding Conductor Prize for his excellent work with choirs at these competitions in 2009, 2011 and 2013. In 2015, Foong took up the role of Festival Director of the Inaugural Singapore Choral Festival which sees over 1000 singers from 35 choirs performing in 3 concerts in the Victoria Concert Hall. The festival was a SG50 celebration event supported by the Ministry of Culture, Community & Youth and the National Arts Council.
PROGRAMME Hark All Ye Lovely Saints Above Thomas Weelkes This song was composed by Thomas Weelkes and was produced during the renaissance period. This ironic, charming little madrigal is typical of Elizabethan musical wit, with its straight-faced text and teasing music. The message conveyed in this song is that surely with the pangs of love causing no more pain, women will have no more reasons to mourn. Of course, the text's hidden point is that those who believe they suffer most from love truly enjoy the experience. The Long Day Closes
Arthur Sullivan
"The Long Day Closes" composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1868. This piece beautifully presents the last hours of life, as it describes intricately, the bittersweet serenity of death. Ave Verum Corpus W.A. Mozart / Arr. Ben Perry Ave verum corpus is a latin motet in D major which translates to Hail, true body. Originally composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1791. It is a setting of the Latin hymn Ave verum corpus. The piece foreshadows "aspects of the Requiem such as declamatory gesture, textures, and integration of forward- and backward-looking stylistic elements". While the Requiem is a dramatic composition, the motet expresses the Eucharistic thoughts with simple means.
Daemon Irrepit Callidus Gyorgy Orban This song was composed by Hungarian composer Gyรถrgy Orbรกn, it contrasts the devil's temptations of seduction, gluttony and universal praises with the pure heart of Jesus. This religious piece wants the audience to believe that Jesus is far better than those transitory pleasures. The music itself has a wild rhythm, chromatic scale and dissonance that complements the temptations of the devil and depicts how creepy and alarming the devil's lure is. Dies Irae Rangga Aristo Kulas "Dies Irae" or "Day of Wrath" is a Latin hymm attributed to Thomas of Celano of the Franciscans, composed Indonesian Composer, Rangga Aristo Kulas. The Ground Ola Gjeilo "The ground" is an ending chorale piece for "Sunrise mass" written in 2008. Inspired by the initial idea of Sunrise mass, the composer depicts the song from a pristine and clear start to emotional and dramatic climax before ending in a warm note, like how in life all of us came to the world, pure but after experiencing the world's cruelty that went through low times and embracing the people around and the world after these times. Hence the title was to convey the sense of peace and grounded strength after going through obstacles in life.
Janger
Arr. Budi Susanto Yohanes
The word janger simply means humming in balinese. Janger is a traditional Balinese song and dance that was introduced to the Indonesian island around 1925. the sounds are meant to imitate balinese traditional music. swaying to and fro, let us dance janger in the jabe ten-gahe which means is the middle section of a traditional house. traditionally, the piece would be performed at parties, featuring trance like humming, singing and dancing from the women and boisterous vocal outburst from the men. Itsumo Nando Demo Youmi Kimura / Arr. Nelson Kwei Itsumo Nando Demo, also known as Always With Me, is a song released in 2001 in Hayao Miyazaki's film, spirited away. It is a song composed by Wakako Kaku and performed by Yumi Kimura. The movie is about a 10 year old girl that was unsatisfied with her life and wanted to search for a source of happiness. She accidentally got transported into another dimension where her parents were turned into pigs, and had to work in the bathhouse that catered to the gods and spirits in order to free her parents from the curse. The song shows how she slowly learns to be happier and more appreciative of what she has in her life, and also how happiness was not to be searched for but to be found within oneself.
Commonwealth Alumni Choir Sohran Bushi Arr. Osamu Shimizu INTERMISSION Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Jule Styne / Arr. Jon Halton One Small Child
David Meece * Soloist: Aloysius Wong
One Small Child is a sacred song composed by a contemporary musician, David Meece. The song was published back in 1990, in the album called “Our Christmas”. The title of the song, One Small Child, basically refers to the sacred story of the birth of the savior. The song itself includes a sudden change in its atmosphere, which respectively tells the story of the savior’s birth and the march of the army to kill the baby. The message conveyed in the song is that the savior is born to save people’s life from suffering and create a world that has no brutal leaders. Mama Mia Medley by ABBA Beny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson
CHOIR MEMBERS SOPRANOS Jolin Leong Wan Ting (Section Leader) Katriel Loh Wan Ting Isabelle Tan Hui Ying Tan Jia Xin Sherlyn Hew Kai Xin Shannice Fok Min Xuan Tan Hwee Sze Naomi Teo Zhi Yi Ariel Wong Yin Hui Tan Xin Ning Ranjini D/O Balachandran Ravikumar Akshaya Hoe Jia Yu Rohini D/O Balachandran Luong Qi Hui Hilary Preeti Kumar Balu Zou Ning Lee Laura Eunbee Jia Xiran Zahinathunnisa Binte Ziawdeen Harvande Advika Sandeep Jose Thomas Akssa Mary Mandy Tan Hui San Angelina Catherene Joseph Wu Jiarui Faith Ng Zhen Xin Sharon Tan Zhi Xin Marsya Putri Naima Bte Ahmad Najib
CHOIR MEMBERS ALTOS Lim Jia En (Section Leader) Chua Ju Yun Humayraa Binte Mohamed Nazar Gan Qi En Elaine Goh Ban Yi Arunmozhi Vikneswari Krispreet Kaur gill Jatin Suresh Samantha Lee Rei Yee Kenley Hong Kunrui Jilyn Chua Cheng Lin Poon Zhi Han Katie Goh Chee Suan Tan Xin Yi Tay Li Ning Helena Key Pei Xuan Tiffany Zheng Yiling Han Su Yin Sakinah Binte Wahyudi Yan Qian Ying Joann Lock Soo Yuen Clara Hau Xin Jie Angela Chai Xiaoying Lee Kai Li Kylie
CHOIR MEMBERS TENORS Aloysius Wong (Section Leader & Student Conductor) Lucius Teng (Section Leader & Student Conductor) Shin Thant Wai Yan Jack Sia Yong Hong Sek Ming Feng Darren Lee Ng Jyn Yuan Bryan Du Ren Siang BASSES Jaden Darrius Png Ryan (Section Leader) Li Haotian (Section Leader) Ker Kai En Eugene Pattaraphon Wongchamcharoen Lim Zheng Fong Pang Shi Bo Jasper Ian Wu Chengrui Edmund Ng Zheng Rong Wang Wei Yu Garrette Toin Jing Feng
ALUMNI CHOIR MEMBERS Betsy Tan Jia Min Chloe Tiu Yan Xuan Liew Yvswenne Malbas Kasey Soh Tan Yan Tong Wong Liang Yan Boh Jia Min Chong Hui See Isabel Tan Rui Xin Janelle Koh Chih Ching So Ching Man Katherine Lim Yu Xi Toh Jie Ru A.K.R. Abdul Baaree Leong Jian Xi PL Raamanathan Tun Tauk Naing Wang Siyu Waylon Tan Chi Beng Chaiyoswittayakul Intach
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Commonwealth Chorale would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude towards the following people and organizations Our principal, Mr Ng Boon Kiat and school leaders for providing the platform and opportunities that enabled us to perform at Esplanade Our choir teachers, Ms Liew Ziyi, Ms Noella Yee and Mr Aaron Lum for their dedication and their belief in us; their constant and unyielding moral and sacrificial support for us without which this concert would not have been possible Our pianist, Mr Lim Chee Yap for playing so beautifully and enhancing our performance Staff and crew of Esplanade for coordinating and providing the technical and logistic support for our concert And lastly, our parents, school teachers and friends who support us by gracing this concert with their presence and standing by us through the challenges and euphoric moments THANK YOU!!!