Life Programme Booklet

MR ERIC CHUA

SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND YOUTH & MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT

10

2023 PM

7.30

DEAR FRIENDS,

The time between birth and death, and the experience of being alive, is a journey. This journey is very different for each and everyone of us.

But no matter how different our journey will be, one cannot run away from the milestones along the natural course of life; namely birth, growing up, settling down, old age, illness, and finally leaving our world one day.

In this natural course of life, emotions, bonds and memories are developed. This is very similar to music making; it evokes our emotions, which in turn brings us memories.

We hope that through this concert, our music brings you through an introspective journey of your life, awakens your senses, reflects and brings positivity, and letting you enjoy every moment of this journey.

Life is the greatest journey you will ever experience.

NANYANG COLLECTIVE.

NANYANG COLLECTIVE

The Nanyang Collective, constituted by the plethora of Asian and Western instruments performed by professional, local musicians, aims to embody a contemporary soundscape that is uniquely Singapore. Led by Music Director Wong De Li, the unique instrumentation creates a refreshing auditory experience. The Collective embraces the experimentation with interdisciplinary elements including theatrics, whilst seeking out fresh sonance through the performance of contemporary music inspired by Singapore, life and humanity.

VISION

To be the premiere new music ensemble in Singapore, with a myriad of different cultural instruments.

John SHARPLEY

SISYPHUS’S DILEMMA

Jon Lin CHUA

PROGRAMME CREATION

CHONG Kee Yong

SHERMAN LEE LE XUAN PRODUCER

Sherman is a composer and musician from Singapore. At first doing so out of passion, he started taking formal lessons in composition from Eric Watson in 2017. Sherman enjoys taking inspiration from traditional elements in his compositions, juxtaposing them against his modern sound world. His works have been read by groups such as Dicapella Dizi Ensemble and Ding Yi Music Company. Some recent works include Bencoolen Street for mixed Chinese and western instruments, the dizi chamber pieces Washoku and Seollal, and the Chinese chamber piece on.dreams. His piece A Night along Clarke Quay was premiered by the Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra alumni in May 2022.

As a dizi musician from young, Sherman has been invited to perform with numerous groups such as the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Ding Yi Music Company and Asian Cultural Symphony Orchestra. He auditioned into the Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra (SNYCO) in 2013, where he was appointed as the Dizi Principal from 2015 to 2017 and 2019 to 2020. In 2016, he performed the dizi concerto

信天游 composed by Phoon Yew Tien, accompanied by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra at the Esplanade Concert Hall.

Sherman currently holds the position of Composer-in-Residence in Dicapella. He was appointed as the NAFA Chinese Orchestra’s Dizi Principal in 2016 and 2020, graduating with a Diploma in Music in 2017 under the tutelage of Yin Zhi Yang. Recently graduating with a Bachelor of Music (Honours) at NAFA majoring in Composition under Dr Zechariah Goh, Sherman puts his musical knowledge to good use as the Orchestra Librarian at the Singapore Chinese Orchestra and finds passion in advancing the skills and techniques of this little-known career path.

WONG DE LI DEDRIC MUSIC DIRECTOR

Dedric aspired to be a conductor in his teen years, and his interest was ignited again by the renowned Chinese music educator and Singapore Cultural Medallion recipient Dr Tay Teow Kiat. With his Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, under the tutelage of renowned Professor Yang You Qing and guidance from conducting maestro Tsung Yeh, he aims to push Ding Yi to new heights of artistic excellence and to develop a unique Singaporean musical direction.

In 2013, Wong was selected to participate in the Conducting Masterclass by renowned conducting maestros Prof Zhang Guo Yong and Qu Chun Quan, organised by the Taipei Chinese Orchestra. While in 2015, he was again selected to attend the Conducting Workshop by Tsung Yeh, organised by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra.

As a 2014 National Arts Council (NAC) Arts Scholarship recipient and a two-time recipient of the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Arts and Cultural Bursary in 2004 and 2006, he has performed in many countries such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia.

In 2016, Wong staged his conducting recital with the China Conservatory of Music’s Middle School Youth Chinese Orchestra with reputable conductor Gu Guan Ren. In the same year, he assumed the conductor role for the Cultural Symphony Orchestra and was also featured as an outstanding NAC scholar in the 2016 Straits Times Scholars Choice.

LIM CHIN HUAT STAGE DIRECTOR

A cross-disciplinary arts practitioner who has over two decades of experience in capacities as creative director, choreographer, visual artist, performer, dancer, production designer, mentor and educator. Chin Huat is known for his stunning visual creative theatrical works with multi-disciplinary, site-specific, installation, outreach and non-conventional in nature. Prior to being an independent arts practitioner, Chin Huat was co-founder and artistic director of ECNAD with late Tan How Choon (19962013). Some of his signature and collaborative works were seen and presented locally and overseas with arts festivals, performing arts companies, cultural centres and special event commission such as Asia Interaction (1999 & 2001) in Yogyakarta, Belgrade International Theatre Festival (2001), Festival of Asia in New Zealand (2001), Singapore Arts Festival 2002, Flip Side (2004), Chaoyang Cultural Centre in Beijing (2005), Mercedez Benz Asian Fashion Award (2006), National Day Parade (2007 & 2008), Singapore River Festival (2008 & 2009), Wiener Festwochen 2009 (Asian Village) in Vienna, Mediacorp Star Award (2011), Esplanade RAW of The Studio Series (2012), Gardens By The Bay Opening Festival (2012), Teochew Festival (2014), Maritime Silk Road International Arts Festival in Quanzhou (2018) and SPH 90th & 95th Anniversary (2013 & 2018) among others.

A recipient of Young Artist Award 2000, NAFA Distinguished Alumni Medal 2019 and a nominee for the Spirit of Enterprise Award 2004. Chin Huat is currently a faculty member of movement at Intercultural Theatre Institute since 2015 to further his research in movement & theatre.

ABIGAIL SIN PIANO SOLOIST

Abigail Sin is a prize-winning Singaporean pianist who has performed in venues across Asia, Europe and North America as a concerto soloist, collaborative musician and solo recitalist. She is the co-founder of the More Than Music concert series, which has won acclaim for its engaging, innovative presentation of classical chamber music. In 2020, More Than Music recorded the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas, along with educational outreach content.

Abigail studied with Prof Thomas Hecht at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she won the Guildhall School’s Romantic Piano Prize. She won top prizes at the Lagny-sur-Marne International Piano Competition (France), the Norah Sande Award (UK), the Royal OverSeas League Competition (UK), and was a quarter-finalist in the Honens International Piano Competition (Canada). As a chamber musician, Abigail won the Guildhall School’s Ivan Sutton Chamber Music Award and was a finalist in the St Martin’s-in-the-Fields chamber music competition and the Royal Academy of Music’s Patrons Award.

Abigail is an alumnus of the prestigious Verbier Festival Academy and Yellow Barn Festival. Her artistic outlook has also been shaped by masterclasses with Leon Fleisher and coachings with composers including Thomas Adès, Jörg Widmann and Brett Dean.

A recipient of the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship, Abigail completed a PhD at the Royal Academy of Music, under the supervision of Dr Briony Cox-Williams and Prof Christopher Elton. In 2018, Abigail joined the faculty of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. Recent research projects include her doctoral work on Charles Griffes, explorations of transcription and performer agency in Ravel and Kirchner, and a multimedia collaboration confronting and reconceptualizing the Orientalist fantasy of Ravel’s Asie.

ORA ACTOR

Ora 晰月 is an artist of multi-disciplines. Trained as an actor, she is also a singersongwriter and a writer-director. She trained in East 15 Acting School (UK), Intercultural Theatre Institute (Singapore) and has travelled extensively around the world, researching and experiencing various traditional and contemporary performance systems.

In November 2021, after releasing her first music single《戏场》Play, Ora was awarded the Most Promising Youth Award by SCAPE at SingVoice 2021, a competition for Mandopop singer-songwriters. She is also an Apprentice Artist (Vocalist) at Siong Long Musical Association. Ora is a published poet, with a collection titled Coordinates. Her recent performances include a devised theatrical piece,《囚》Two Lines In A Square, staged at Now Theatre, Kuala Lumpur. She is currently working on her short film, Sunny, about a Vietnamese sex worker in Singapore. It is set to be released in early 2023.

No matter what modality she uses - music, dance, theatre, film, literature, etc - Ora hopes to create art that connects through images and stories, that takes audience on colourful journeys into diverse worlds, and brings about healing, inspiration or discovery within them.

DOROTHY PNG LIGHTING DESIGNER

A lighting designer by profession since 1994, Dorothy has worked with most of Singapore’s theatre and dance companies. She also collaborates with independent artists for their own performances as a passion for creative experimentation. Her range of work spans across theatre, contemporary dance, ballet, opera, musical, site-specific works, outdoor productions and music concerts.

Trained in University of Iowa, Dorothy’s secondary profession is scenic design. She has increasingly done more set design in the recent years. Her latest set & lighting design works were for Intercultural Theatre Institute 2021’s graduation cohort final year production of “Accidental Death of An Anarchist” directed by Aarne Neeme, and Singapore Lyric Opera’s double bill: Salieri’s Prima la Musica e poi le Parole and Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor, directed by Tang Xinxin.

Dorothy is happy to be involved in this original music production, collaborating with young musicians and long time friend Lim Chin Huat.

NEO HAI BIN DRAMATURG

Neo Hai Bin is a performance maker and writer. He began his theatre debut with Drama Box in 2009, and studied actor’s training practices with SCOT (Summer intensive 2014, Japan) and SITI Company (Summer Workshop 2019, NYC). His literary practice includes scripts, prose and novels. He is part of the theatre reviewers team “thea.preter”. In 2017, he co-founded “Wei Collective” with lighting designer Liu Yong Huay.

CREATION

JOHN SHARPLEY, 2023

The creation of CREATION, commissioned by the Nanyang Collective, was inspired by the notion of birth, the coming into existence on infinite levels. Birth of a universe, birth of spacetime, a galaxy, a star with solar system, a planet (like earth), sentient beings, a human baby, a cell, a musical composition, your next thought… all undergoing a process of inception, gestation, development, and “birth”. Cultures and religions have their creation stories. Science and art also have their creation stories. I also concurrently created a poem of the same title that informs the form:

Mysterium of inception, Primeval Atom’s thund’ry roar,

Dance of raging entanglement, Awakened Cosmic Consciousness,

Emergence yearns… …into being.

The self is born into a deafening silence.

CREATION is musical mysticism inspired by both science and spirituality. All is energy. All is vibration, whether we consider it to be living or non-living. And, just perhaps, all is consciousness. There is a newly discovered particle, called the Higgs boson, which fills the universe and is responsible for giving (or birthing) other elementary particles their mass. There is also an ancient Hindu concept called Brahman which is the ultimate oneness of all things outside of spacetime, the cosmic womb of our universe.

The instrumentation is for 9 players: 1) suling, 2) venu / bansuri, 3) suona / guanzi, 4) euphonium, 5) tam tam / bass drum, 6) violin, 7) cello, and 7) extended piano / singing bowl.

SISYPHUS’S DILEMMA

JON LIN CHUA, 2023

As we grow and age, we are subjected to the daily demands of living in modern society. At times, we may feel bogged down by the weight of the daily grind, but at the same time, we may also find some levity within these invigorating moments of activity which imbue our lives with meaning. Within a perpetual cycle of motion and activity that we may call life, we may also encounter many moments of stasis, which may be heavy in its emptiness at times, but may also be liberating in its lightness. Motion and stasis, lightness and weight - don’t we all go through the process of life alternating between, and also seeking to alternate between all these different states?

DESTINY CHONG KEE YONG, 2023

This work is inspired by a verse from the poem Odes of Cao: Fu You:

“My heart is grieved; Would they but come and abide with me”.

Where is my home, where will I stay? Human life is short; splendour and silence seem to be just a moment; and life and death only happen between day and night. This gorgeous and short-lived state will remind people that time is fleeting and beauty cannot last forever, and they will fall into heavy grief once it is all over.

JOHN SHARPLEY COMPOSER

JOHN SHARPLEY, composer, performer and teacher, possesses a unique and multi-faceted career that spans geographic and cultural borders. He earned a Doctorate in Music Composition from Boston University; a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Houston; and, diplomas for piano, violin, and composition at the National Conservatory of Music in Strasbourg, France. His composition teachers include Michael Horvit, David Del Tredici, John Harbison and Leonard Bernstein. His piano teachers include his mother, Geraldine Sharpley, Bill Chaisson, Ruth Tomfohrde, Olivier Gardon, Lily Krauss and John Perry.

He was appointed Assistant Professor of Music at Boston University in 1985 to co-direct a pioneering music program in Singapore. He has since held teaching positions at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Singapore) and LaSalle College of the Arts (Singapore) where he currently lectures and where is he is developing both a course and a book based on improvisation for classical musicians. He was co-founder of OperaViva (Singapore), Our Music Foundation (Kathmandu) and was also formerly composer-in-residence for the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. His book, We Are Music: An Existential Journey Toward Infinity, published by World Scientific is set to be released later in 2022.

He has been internationally featured as both composer and pianist in numerous concerts, conferences, residences and festivals recently including the Performer’s Present Symposium, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory (Singapore), Illinois Wesleyan University, the New Composition Festival (Bangkok), the Texas Music Teacher’s Association Convention, the Asian Composers League Festivals (New Zealand, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines), Singapore Piano Pedagogy Symposium, the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Symposium (Melbourne), Across Oceans International Festival (Toronto), the Autumn Artist Festival (Houston) and the Hong Kong Asian Arts Festival, San Francisco State University, Hendrix College (Arkansas), University of Kansas, Concordia (Montreal), University of Houston and the Present of Orchestra Festival (Kyoto, Japan), Universe of Sound (Singapore) and Our Music Foundation Nepal (Kathmandu). Sharpley’s honours include the Texas Music Teacher’s Association Composition Commissioning Prize, an American Cine-Eagle Award (October Garden), and the New York Film Festival Award (Silent Hope). The film Gourmet Baby scored by Sharpley that has been featured in major international film festivals including New York and Los Angeles. Datura, a Singaporean film that Sharpley scored, won the Singapore International Film Festival Award for Best Short Film. He was awarded a special citation from Stanford University (USA) in recognition of his contributions as a teacher and is listed in the Cambridge Dictionary of International Biography, the American Biographical Institute and the Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges.

JON LIN CHUA COMPOSER

Singapore-born composer Jon Lin Chua credits her versatility in traversing musical cultures and genres to her eclectic musical background. She has had works premiered and performed in numerous concerts and festivals in the United States, Singapore, Canada, South Korea, China, Taiwan, New Zealand, and Malaysia, and is the current Composer-in-Residence of the Ding Yi Music Company. In 2021, she was commissioned to compose a piece in honour of the 100th year anniversary of the Eastman School of Music, her alma mater, featuring the award-winning American mezzo soprano Katherine Ciesinski as well as American violinist Renée Jolles, a concertmaster of the world-renowned, Grammy Award-winning, conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

In 2018, she received the First Prize (large ensemble category) as well as the Young Singaporean Composer award at the 3rd Singapore International Composition Competition for Chinese Chamber Music, “Composium 2018” organized by the Ding Yi Music Company, and also received a “Work of Excellence” award on the 2021 Dunhuang Awards for Chinese Chamber composition.

Jon Lin studied composition and music theory at the Eastman School of Music, where she graduated with highest distinction as a recipient of numerous scholarships, including the prestigious Presser Scholar Award and the National Arts Council of Singapore Arts Scholarship. She is currently a doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham, and also holds a B.A. (Hons) in philosophy from the National University of Singapore and a performance diploma in erhu performance from the Central Conservatory of Music in China. Her teachers in composition include Robert Morris, Michael Zev Gordon, Oliver Schneller, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, David Liptak, and Robert Casteels. Jon Lin is also currently an adjunct lecturer at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.

CHONG KEE YONG COMPOSER

Dr. CHONG Kee Yong, is one of the leading contemporary music composers, possesses one of the most exciting voices in new music today. The uniqueness of his music stems not only from a rich palette of sounds, but his experimentation into traditions, infusing his own Chinese and multi-cultural heritage into his work.

Dr. Chong’s distinctive style has won him many awards and commissions. His list of prizes at various competitions is remarkable, as the Prix Marcel Hastir, the Andrzej Panufnik prize, the Grand Prix of Seoul International Competition for Composers, the Max-Reger-Tage award, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra International Composers’ Award, prestigious commission grant award by the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation and Giga-Hertz-Award.

He has been awarded the composer-in-residency with Akademie der Künste, Herrenhaus Edenkoben, Asian Cultural Council, Center Henri Pousseur, SWR EXPERIMENTALSTUDIO, Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship, National Gugak Center Fellowship, ignm-vs_forum Wallis, Spring Workshop, CulturalSummit Abu Dhabi and Villa Ruffieux.

Dr. Chong is the creative director of Studio C, He was the artistic director of the 2009 Kuala Lumpur Contemporary Music Festival and Biennial SMCC “SoundBridge” Contemporary Music Festival 2013-2021. He was visiting professor of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and visiting professor of Danish Royal Academy of Music.

NIRANJAN PANDIAN BANSURI/VENU

Niranjan Pandian, 29, is a Singaporean multi-award winning exponent of the Indian bamboo flutes. With initial training under Dr Ghanavenothan Retnam, he graduated with a specialisation in Indian Classical music from Nrityalaya Aesthetics of Society. Currently, Niranjan receives advanced training from world renowned artists namely maestro Amit Nadig (Bangalore), Grammy nominee - Shashank Subramaniam (Chennai) and Pundit Deepak Ram (US). Niranjan also received the prestigious Arts Scholarship from the National Arts Council (Singapore) to pursue BA (Hons) in Music at the LASALLE College of the Arts.

With his versatility, he has performed and toured with numerous ensembles, bands and orchestras as a soloist and as an ensemble musician for prestigious local and international festivals travelling across South East Asia, East Asia and South Asia. Besides performing, Niranjan has recorded in more than 120 tracks sharing his unique sound for dance drama productions, media productions, short films, singles, EPs and background scores for composers from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and India.

Additionally, Niranjan is the music director of Brahmastra, an Indo-Asian contemporary ensemble and have been producing music that have received numerous international accolades such as an Honourable Mention (Best Lyrics Video Song) for Thadai Edhuvai at Munich Music Video Awards 2021, Finalist at New York International Film Festival 2022 and an Official screening at theLos Angeles Film Festival 2022, to name a few. Niranjan also produces concerts bridging arts, music and narratives of the community. Some of his productions include “7 Wonders of Punggol” (Arts In Your Neighbourhood 2019), “Kuralum Kuralum” (Tamil Language Festival 2020 -2021), AikyamThe Oneness (Kala Utsavam 2021), Tamizhe (Tamil Language Festival 2022) and Brahmastra Festival of Arts and Music in partnership with Somerset Belt and powered by Ministry of Community, Culture and Youth (MCCY) and National Youth Council (NYC).

CAO HUIYING CELLO

Cao Huiying studied cello with her father since childhood and then won a lot of first prizes. In 2017, she studied at the Affiliated Middle School of the Central Conservatory of Music, under the tutelage of a student of cellist Green House, Prof. Yu Jia. Huiying has a strong record and she had many domestic and international performances with National Symphony Orchestra and the Preparatory Troupe for the Young Symphony Orchestra as the Principal cellist. She has been invited to perform frequently at the major music festivals which was held in many cities such as Beijing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Qingdao. She has won the first place of the competition organized by the Chinese Educators Association and has repeatedly won good results in the Chinese cello competition. She has been invited many times to perform at the opening and closing ceremonies of major music festivals. In 2017, at Shanxi Radio Station, she recorded the famous Chinese song “Song of Saliha” with the president of the Chinese Musicians Association’s Cello Society, Prof. Yu Mingqing. In 2018, she was invited by the executive director to participant in New York music festival. 2021, she was invited to perform with Asian Cultural Symphony Orchestra(ACSO) and share the Chinese music with Ding Yi Music Company. In 2022, she was chosen to perform Bach St. John Passion with Red Dot Baroque in Victoria Concert Hall. she was admitted by the Orchestra of Music Makers in Singapore, and was invited to play with Martha Argerich, ... etc. She had several concerts with Singapore Lyric Opera in Victoria Concert Hall and Esplanade Theater in 2022.

She has participated in expert classes such as Lynn Harrell, Qin Li-wei, Tian Bonian, Ludwig Quandt, David Geber, Martti Rousi, Krill Rodin, Michel Strauss, Benjamin Lash, Richard Bamping, Natalie Clein, Troels Svane and won unanimous praise. As playing in the chamber group, she had masterclass with Li Weigang from Shanghai String Quartet, Tang Quartet, Verona Quartet, In 2021, she won the highest score in the group at the St. Petersburg International Competition in Russia. The first prize in the London Youth International Competition in the United Kingdom; the first prize in the romantic period works in the cello group, and was highly appreciated by the professors of the Royal Academy of Music. First prize winner of the Salzburg Artists’ Prix and the Beethoven House-Bonn International Competition in Germany. In the same year, she was admitted to the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore. She got the full scholarship award and has been studying with cellist Prof. Li-Wei Qin. She has the chance to perform in Yong Siew Toh Conservatory many times. 2022, she was admitted to Cello Rutesheim Akademie 2022 in Germany.

KANG CHUN MENG EUPHONIUM

Born in 1996, Kang Chun Meng has been hailed as one of the most exciting brass soloists in Singapore. Currently, he serves as Principal Euphonium with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Central Band and the Lion City Brass Band. He is also the Adjunct Principal Study Lecturer of Euphonium at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA).

A graduate of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Chun Meng first began learning the euphonium at the age of nine under the guidance of Singaporean euphonium player, Ng Kok Hin, before moving on to British euphonium soloist Mark Glover from 2013 to 2016.

In 2017, he made his debut with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, with a local premiere of Philip Wilby’s Euphonium Concerto, being the first brass soloist in history to be featured in the Orchestra’s annual President’s Young Performer Concert. Aside from solo performance, Chun Meng is also one of the founding members of TEH Trio, a first-of-its-kind ensemble that is revolutionising brass playing in Singapore.

With his undying passion for music, Chun Meng strives to push the limits of his instrument and continues to be recognised as a world class virtuoso, concurrently bringing the euphonium into its deserved recognition locally and abroad.

Chun Meng is currently a Besson artist in Singapore, and performs on a Besson Prestige BE2052 Euphonium.

TOH KAI SIANG EUGENE PERCUSSION

Eugene is a percussionist active in the local percussion performance as well as education scene. He has performed under the baton of Tsung Yeh, Lan Shui, Lim Yau, Tan Dun, Chan Tze Law, Quek Ling Kiong, Günther Herbig, among others. Some highlights of his concert appearances include the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Festival Orchestra, Ding Yi Music Company, and The Nanyang Collective.

Eugene first studied Chinese percussion with Mr Quek Ling Kiong when he joined the Dunman High School Chinese Orchestra at the age of 13. Since then, he had actively explored various fields of percussion under the guidance of teachers such as Ngoh Kheng Seng, Tan Loke Chuah.

Eugene holds a Bachelor of Music(Hons) degree conferred by the Royal College of Music, under the tutelage of Mark Suter. From 2015 to 2017, he was a fulltime chamber musician with Ding Yi Music Company. He teaches at School of the Arts and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, and currently studies South Indian percussion under the tutelage of Sri D Rajagopal at the Temple of Fine Arts. He has also studied Middle Eastern percussion with Yshai Afterman, and Konnakol with Pete Lockett.

CHUA YEW KOK PIPA

A National Arts Council Young Artist Award Recipient, Chua Yew Kok has forged an impressive career as a pipa instrumentalist and as an educator.

Born in Singapore, Chua clinched his first major award, winning 1st prize at the 1998 National Chinese Music Competition, Pipa Open Category. Since his graduation from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 2006, he has pursued his passion avidly. Chua’s endeavours were not in vain, for he was awarded the National Arts Council Arts Scholarship in 2013 for him to pursue his studies at the China Conservatory of Music.

Contributing to the development of Singapore’s Chinese orchestral scene, Chua currently serves as the pipa soloist of Ding Yi Music Company and the Secretariat of Singapore Pipa Society. He is also a dedicated mentor, doing his part in inspiring the future generation of the Chinese music scene.

BRIAN LIM

SULING/CLARINET/GAMELAN

Brian Lim is a multi-instrumentalist, specialising in the clarinet and various central Javanese Gamelan instruments from Indonesia. He teaches at Singapore American School as a band teacher.

Brian directs and founded Not a Clarinet Choir, and also served as Concert Master and Principal Clarinetist of the Philharmonic Youth Winds. He performs with various gamelan ensembles in singapore, including Singa Nglaras Gamelan Ensemble (NUS), and BronzAge Gamelan.

Brian has collaborated with ensembles such as Siong Leng Musical Association, Bhaskar Arts Academy, Marsiling Malay Orkestra, and Asian Cultural Symphony Orchestra, and with his various groups, he has performed internationally.

JACKY NG YONG HOE SUONA/GUANZI/SAXOPHONE

Jacky Ng Yong Hoe began his musical journey at the tender age of 7, where he learned the traditional Sheng under the tutelage of Yu Chang Song. He also picked up the Suona at the age of 13 under the tutelage of Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) Suona musician Liu Jiang. With his mentor’s support, he joined the Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra (SNYCO) in 2012 and was appointed the Suona/Guan Principal in 2017. Jacky also followed the youth orchestra to perform overseas – in Beijing, Shanghai, and Taiwan.

Jacky graduated from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) where he majored in Suona performance and was the Principal Musician of the Suona and woodwind section in the NAFA Chinese Orchestra. He is also highly active in the local arts scene, he performed with various arts groups such as Siong Leng Musical Association, Nam Hwa Opera, Odyssey Dance Theatre, Cappella Martialis, Reverberance, Open Score Project, Monsoon, Asian Cultural Symphony Orchestra, Novo Winds, Brahmastra and Nanyang Collective. During his National Service, he was a Saxophonist in the SAF Ceremonial Band B and was appointed the Saxophone and woodwinds Sectional Leader.

Jacky participated in the National Chinese Music Competition in 2014, 2016, and 2018, and was awarded first Runner-up in the open category. He is currently a Suona/Guan music in Ding Yi Music Company.

NG WEI PING VIOLIN

Ng Wei Ping is the concertmaster of Asian Cultural Symphony Orchestra since 2018, championing Asian cultural symphonic music and has produced many live performances and video recordings with Adrian Chiang and Dedric Wong under the support of National Arts Council during this pandemic. He is also a regular member of re:Sound Collective, a local professional Chamber Orchestra which collaborated with many reknowned artist from around the world. In 2022, he worked with many excellent local musicians in Nanyang Collective to deliver a very successful inaugural concert at the Esplanade recital studio. Ng Wei Ping has been appointed the principal violinist and concertmaster of Metropolitan Festival Orchestra, and has performed with Cologne New Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra for more than fifty concerts throughout Germany and Australia.

Ng Wei ping received his BA (First-Class Honors) in Music at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), validated by University of Wales, and was presented the best graduate award and the Embassy of Peru Award for his outstanding achievement in various music disciplines. He was under the tutelage of Foo Say Ming and Alexander Souptel, while serving as the leader of NAFA Symphony Orchestra. He was also the concertmaster when the orchestra performed at the Bötersheim Music Festival in Germany organized by Professor Prosper C. Otto, Music Director of Hamburg Arts Festival. Professor Ulf Schneider and Professor Oliver Wille from Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover has great influence on his style of playing as well.

Wei Ping plays on a 1881 Justin Poirson violin, generously on loan from Mr and Mrs Rin Kei Mei.

SPECIAL THANKS TO

PHOTOGRAPHER

LIM SHAO YONG

RECORDING

POCO PRODUCTIONS

DESIGNER

JERRYTAN.WORK

STAGE CREW

YOLANDA CHENG KAM YIU

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

CALISTA LIAW

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER

GAO SHI HUI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

NATIONAL ARTS COUNCIL

DING YI MUSIC COMPANY

INTERCULTURAL THEATRE INSTITUTE

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