Nico Muhly Speaks Volumes

12 May

SAT, 8PM

SOTA Drama Theatre

1h 30m, with a 20m intermission

BY NICO MUHLY (UNITED STATES) WITH LIM YAN (SINGAPORE) LISA LIU (UNITED STATES) MATT ALBERT (UNITED STATES) PAUL WIANCKO (UNITED STATES) AND RAMU THIRUYANAM (SINGAPORE) PHOTO BY ANA CUBA

MESSAGE FROM THE FESTIVAL DIRECTOR I grew up looking forward to the Singapore Arts Festival every year.

Watching shows across different genres from around the world played a big part in shaping my artistic sensibilities. Shows such as Ninagawa’s Macbeth (1992), for example, entirely changed my perception of how Shakespeare could be performed.

In 1996, I acted in Singapore Repertory Theatre’s Sing To The Dawn; it was the first time a Singaporean musical opened the Singapore Arts Festival. Given this history, I was delighted and honoured to be asked to helm the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) for the next three years.

What is SIFA’s role? Where does it fit in the cultural landscape, both at home and internationally? Who does it serve?

Where would I like it to be in three years?

As I was thinking of how to shape the festival, what I did know was that I wanted to programme a festival that would inspire young people in the same way that I was impacted 25 years ago.

With the support of the phenomenal team at SIFA, I aspired to curate a season that would showcase different art forms and perspectives from Singapore and around the world. We also strove to programme a spectrum of shows that would appeal to a variety of audiences, from the first-time festival-goer to the seasoned art lover.

We believe we have programmed artists who are game-changers in their fields.

In parallel, discussions commenced with several of the game-changers in the Singapore arts scene. One of SIFA’s roles is to commission and facilitate the creation of new Singaporean work – giving artists the time and resources to develop shows over a two- or three-year horizon. We look forward to presenting the culmination of this process in SIFA 2019 and 2020.

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Two memorable experiences from arts festivals I have attended around the world have been the free outdoor performances, and a festival ‘village’ — a place where artists and audiences can meet after a show and discuss what they’ve just seen. Both these elements can be found in SIFA 2018. The free outdoor programmes on the opening and closing weekends have some sensational performances to be enjoyed with family and friends. Over these three weeks, The Arts House will become Festival House.

It will be the heartbeat of SIFA with performances, lectures, readings, music salons and, of course, a place to just hang out and chat. Artists will give talks, conduct masterclasses or host Q&As, and hopefully we will build relationships with them that last beyond the festival.

A key initiative that I introduced this year is the $10 front-row student ticket. I want the next generation of Singaporeans to know that they matter to SIFA. My hope is that they will fall in love with the arts in the same way I did at their age.

I would like to thank Sarah Martin and the incredible team of people I work with at SIFA and at Arts House Limited. Despite the tight six-month runway to programme this festival, they have been nothing short of amazing and have worked tirelessly to produce a festival that we hope resonates with you as much as it does with us.

Most of all, thank you for your support. The scope, breadth and reach of shows in SIFA will continue to grow over the next three years. We look forward to taking you on this exciting journey with us.

Gaurav Kripalani Festival Director

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

Festivals bring people together to celebrate causes or to mark momentous occasions. Arts festivals allow us to not only appreciate the arts, they allow us to experience and form lasting and transformative memories. It is through shared experiences that we come to form communities.

The inaugural Singapore Festival of Arts began in 1977 as a national showcase of the vibrant art forms found within Singapore’s diverse communities. In its many evolutions over the last four decades, the Festival has touched countless hearts, created invaluable experiences for many, and inspired even more to embrace the arts. From a time when Singapore was widely perceived as a cultural desert, the Festival has played an instrumental role in developing Singapore’s arts landscape and shaped the city-state into one of Asia’s leading cultural capitals.

This year, SIFA 2018 marks the 41st year and kicks off a new era with Gaurav Kripalani at the helm as Festival Director for 2018 – 2020. Condensed into 17 days of artistic adventures, it is our hope that

this exhilarating three-week format will create robust artistic engagement for a spectrum of diverse audiences. The Arts House will be transformed into the Festival House, and within its intimate spaces, there will be meaningful discourses on the various themes presented in the festival.

Built upon the foundation and achievements of those who came before, SIFA is the sum of many parts made possible by a team of many talents who has worked tirelessly and passionately to deliver the Festival Director’s vision.

I thank everyone who has had a hand in shaping the Singapore International Festival of Arts into a tradition for both new and existing audiences and making it the stalwart of Singapore’s dedication to artistic excellence.

Gaurav and the team have put together a festival of multiple layers allowing you to make up your own artistic adventures.

It is my hope that you will walk away with unique memories of the Festival.

Sarah Martin CEO, Arts House Limited

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MESSAGE FROM THE COMPOSER I am incredibly excited to bring this collection of music to the Singapore International Festival of Arts. The work stretches from my graduate student days till last year, and although the combination of instruments and scale of the pieces range from quiet, intimate piano music (A Hudson Cycle) to all six of us ecstatically pulsing (No Uncertain Terms), collaborative music-making is at the heart of this concert.

Honest Music, for instance, is the first of many works for primarily one solo string instrument and pre-recorded electronics. I wrote it for my friend Lisa Liu when we were both at the conservatory, and she joins us here in Singapore to play it tonight. I will play one solo piano piece by Philip Glass, for whom I worked with for years, followed by No Uncertain Terms, which takes as its starting-point the kinetic joy of Steve Reich’s music.

And finally, the ensemble and I will round off the evening by playing a set of quiet, dronebased pieces overlaid with virtuosic solo string playing.

Nico Muhly Composer

PROGRAMME NOTES New York-based classical music composer Nico Muhly makes his concert debut in Singapore with a repertoire named after his first solo album. In this 90-min show, Muhly comes together with his closest American collaborators and Singaporean musicians pianist Lim Yan and percussionist Ramu Thiruyanam to perform a comprehensive selection of his compositions for solos, duos and small ensembles.

A much sought-after collaborator whose influences range from American minimalism to the Anglican choral tradition, the Juilliard- educated 37-year-old has achieved a level of success many composers can only dream of. His artistry also reflects a versatility that has seen him collaborate with musicians as diverse as Bjork, Hilary Hahn, Emanuel Ax and the Paris Opéra Ballet.

Greatly influenced by the work of Philip Glass, Muhly has written over 80 works. Notable ones for the stage and cinema include scores for the 2013 Broadway revival of The Glass Menagerie and for the films Kill Your Darlings; Me, Earl And The Dying Girl; and the Academy Award-winning The Reader. Most recently he produced Looking Up (2017), a work for choir and orchestra for the Cathedral Choral Society.

For the show at SOTA Drama Theatre, the ensemble will perform Nico’s works including A Hudson Cycle, Honest Music, and Skip Town. He will also perform some of his commissioned pieces, including No Uncertain Terms, a 2017 piece commissioned

by Carnegie Hall, in celebration of Steve Reich’s 80th birthday, and Drones & Violin, commissioned by the Muziekgebouw.

Classical music fans can expect nothing less than an evening of virtuosic and exceptional music.

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SET LIST First Half

Second Half

A HUDSON CYCLE – solo piano Composer’s Note (CN): One of the worst things that can happen to you when you live in New York is that your friends get married and move away. A Hudson Cycle, while dedicated specifically to my friend Megan, is also dedicated to everybody left behind.

ÉTUDE NO. 12 for piano by Philip Glass

ÉTUDE 3 FOR VIOLA – viola & electronics (CN): These études were written for my friend Nadia Sirota. They are designed as performance pieces as well as practice études for dealing with the messy fifthbased string crossings my harmonic language sometimes outlines. Étude 3 is also about rhythmic uncertainty, and the piece unfolds in various small episodes with increasing degrees of intensity.

SKIP TOWN – piano & electronics (CN): Skip Town is a piece for piano and electronics which obsesses over two small gestures, which repeat and interlock aggressively over its short duration.

DRONES & VIOLIN – violin & piano (CN): Drones & Violin was written for Pekka Kuusisto, and was commissioned by the Muziekgebouw, Eindhoven. Each movement begins with either the piano or violin establishing a drone which lasts for the duration of the movement. The violin exists in constant disagreement with the drones, with only occasional tonal resolutions. Drones & Violin lasts roughly 11 minutes.

KEEP IN TOUCH – viola & electronics (CN): Keep in Touch is a lament, a sort of chaconne divided up into sections by more freely-composed cadenzas for the viola.

Every dimension of the piece accentuates the “inbetweenness” of these two strange voices: Vocalist Anohni’s (née Antony) singing and the equally sweet falsetto of the viola.

HONEST MUSIC – violin, piano & electronics (CN): Honest Music is a piece for solo violin and electronics. When I met Lisa Liu in 1999, my sense of string playing was limited to the early music style, with limited vibrato and a paucity of outward expression. Lisa plays in a fashion completely at variance with this, and I became addicted to her sound. Our first version of this piece was constructed hastily in her kitchen on the upper west side of New York; this version represents a more up-to-date version, but maintains the rhapsodic intent of the original.

QUIET MUSIC – solo piano NO UNCERTAIN TERMS – piano, violins, viola, cello & percussion (CN): No Uncertain Terms is dedicated to Steve Reich, and is meant to be a sort of archive of the ways his music has influenced mine. It starts with a direct ripoff of the first five seconds of Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians and then explodes into a gallery of my own obsessions. The piece ends with a sequence of pulses, fading in and out. This music is designed to expose in no uncertain terms how important Steve’s music is in my life and work.

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ABOUT NICO MUHLY Nico Muhly is an American composer whose influences range from American minimalism to the Anglican choral tradition. The recipient of commissions from The Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, St. Paul’s Cathedral and others, he has written more than 80 works for the concert stage, including the operas Dark Sisters (2011), and Marnie (2017); the song cycles Sentences (2015) for countertenor Iestyn Davies; the choral work Recordare, Domine (2013) written for the Tallis Scholars, and most recently Looking Up (2017), a work for choir and orchestra for the Cathedral Choral Society.

Nico is a frequent collaborator with choreographer Benjamin Millepied and, as an arranger, has paired with Joanna Newsom and Antony and the Johnsons. Planetarium, a large work co-written with Sufjan Stevens and Bryce Dessner, was released on 4AD records.

Nico has also composed for the screen, with credits that include scores for the films Kill Your Darlings and the Academy Award-winning The Reader.

Born in Vermont, Nico studied composition with John Corigliano and Christopher Rouse at The Juilliard School before working as an editor and conductor for Philip Glass.

He is part of the record label Bedroom Community, which released his first two albums, Speaks Volumes (2006) and Mothertongue (2008).

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THE MUSICIANS

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LIM YAN | Piano

2006 Young Artist Award recipient Lim Yan was a student of David Hartigan at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, UK, and subsequently graduated from the University of Manchester and the Royal Northern College of Music under the tutelage of Ronan O’Hora. After placing first in the Piano Open category in the 1997 National Piano and Violin Competition, Yan’s competition results in Europe led to concert engagements around the world. Nearer home, Yan has appeared with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra several times in concerto performances, and has collaborated with the Orchestra of the Music Makers as well as re:Sound. Yan is a highly soughtafter collaborative pianist and chamber musician, having worked successfully with many leading musicians. His current chamber groups include a piano trio as well as the established piano quintet series Take 5.

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LISA LIU | Violin

Lisa began her musical studies on the piano with her mother, a professional opera singer, at the age of 4. She fell in love with the violin at the age of 8 and continued her studies on both instruments until college. Lisa studied at The Juilliard School, where she received a Pre-College Diploma, Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in violin performance. Her musical interests have led her to perform with Gorillaz and Duran Duran at Coachella; to play the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Southwest Symphony; and to collaborate with groundbreaking artist Our Lady J. She has served as concertmaster for shows The Voice, X-Factor and American Idol. Lisa’s good fortune as a Hollywood studio violinist has allowed her to play on numerous TV shows and films, including Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Deadpool, Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Jumanji.

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MATT ALBERT | Viola

Violinist and violist Matt Albert is the Chair of Chamber Music at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance at the University of Michigan. He previously served as the Director of Chamber Music and SYZYGY at the Meadows School of the Arts in Southern Methodist University. He was a founding member of Eighth Blackbird, with whom he received numerous awards, including first prizes at the Naumburg, Concert Artists Guild, Coleman, and Fischoff Competitions, and three Grammy awards for their recordings on Cedille Records. He has performed with Alarm Will Sound, Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble, Seraphic Fire, ICE, the Shreveport Symphony (as concertmaster), the Baltimore Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. His summer festival experiences include performances with the Eastern Music Festival, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Ojai Music Festival, and three years as the Artistic Director of the Music in the Mountains Conservatory in Durango, Colorado.

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PAUL WIANCKO | Cello

Paul Wiancko is a composer, cellist and chamber musician. As a student of Ronald Leonard, he won top prizes at several international cello competitions, which led him to Poland to perform the Lutoslawski Cello Concerto with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and to Brazil where he performed Shostakovich with the Bahia Symphony.

Leading a double life, Paul converted his dorm room into a production studio and began arranging and recording strings for underground punk artists, eventually leading to collaborations with bands like Pennywise, Veruca Salt, and Yellowcard. After his first summer at the Marlboro Music Festival, Paul moved to New York City and has since worked with a diverse array of artists, ranging from Chick Corea and Jóhann Jóhannsson to Yo-Yo Ma and the Guarneri Quartet. Paul is the recipient of the S&R Foundation’s 2018 Washington Award for composition, and has been composer-inresidence at the Caramoor, Twickenham, and Methow Festivals.

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RAMU THIRUYANAM | Percussionist

Ramu Thiruyanam is a widely sought-after performer, clinician and adjudicator. Born and raised in Singapore, he was awarded the National Arts Council Arts Bursary (Overseas). He graduated summa cum laude from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education, with a Concentration in Child Psychology. As an instrumentalist, Ramu has performed with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the Singapore Lyric Opera and the Boston Civic Orchestra. He has also collaborated with international artists such as Andrea Bocelli, K-Pop group SHINee and Delta Goodrem. He was appointed adjunct faculty member at School of the Arts Singapore in 2012, and became a full time music faculty member in April 2013. He is currently a Vic Firth Education (USA/SG) Product Endorser and coaches percussion ensemble groups at the National University of Singapore.

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THE CREATIVE TEAM Composer: Nico Muhly Musicians: Lim Yan, Lisa Liu, Matt Albert, Paul Wiancko and Ramu Thiruyanam Lighting Co-ordinator: Suen Kok Khuen Sound Engineer: Joel Fernandez Music Assistant: Alex Mills Thanks to ZoĂŤ Knight and Fritz Myers Special thanks to Gaurav Kripalani, Sarah Martin and Sara Fang Nico Muhly is managed by St. Rose Management and published by St. Rose Music Publishing/ Chester Music Ltd.

SUPPORTER

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TICKET HOLDER PRIVILEGES

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ABOUT SIFA Into its 41st year, Singapore International Festival of Arts 2018 presents diverse and distinctive work from Singapore and around the world that ignites the imagination, inspires myriad audiences, and provokes reflection and dialogue.

Get ready for a plethora of theatre, music, dance, literary and visual arts at the pinnacle national arts festival that will happen over three weeks from 26 April to 12 May, and across ten performance spaces, including the Festival House, located at The Arts House.

ABOUT ARTS HOUSE LIMITED Arts House Limited (AHL) is a not-for-profit organisation committed to enriching lives through the arts.

AHL manages two key landmarks located in the heart of Singapore’s Civic District – The Arts House, a multi-disciplinary arts centre with a focus on literary programming, and the Victoria Theatre & Victoria Concert Hall, a heritage building that is home to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. It also runs the Goodman Arts Centre and Aliwal Arts Centre, two creative enclaves for artists, arts groups and creative businesses, and performing arts space Drama Centre. AHL presents the Singapore International Festival of Arts, the annual pinnacle celebration of performance and interdisciplinary arts in Singapore commissioned by the National Arts Council.

AHL was set up in 11 Dec 2002 as a company limited by guarantee (CLG) under the National Arts Council and was formerly known as The Old Parliament House Limited. It was officially renamed Arts House Limited on 19 Mar 2014.

AHL BOARD Chairperson: Christine Ong Members: Chong Yuan Chien, Deborah Ho, Kelvin Ang, Lynette Pang, Madeleine Lee, Maniza Jumabhoy, Mok Wei Wei, Ong Chao Choon, Ong Choon Fah, Paul Tan, Sarah Martin (Ex-Officio)

SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS THE SIFA TEAM Chief Executive Officer: Sarah Martin Festival Director: Gaurav Kripalani Chief Financial Officer: Yong Yuet Mei Advisor: J P Nathan Head, Programming: Jobina Tan Head, Production: Cindy Yeong Head, Marketing: Jasmine Gan Head, Communications: Carolyn Tay Head, Partnership Development: Payal Michelle Parekhji Assistant Head, Event Services Management: Emma Izzabella Tagoe PROGRAMMING Producers: Sara Joan Fang, Rydwan Anwar, Ye Junmin Senior Manager: Lisa Marie Lip Senior Manager, Place Making: Natalie Tan Managers: Kong Yen Lin, Shridar Mani, Pang Su Li Assistant Manager: Alicia Chong PRODUCTION Production Managers: Christopher Chua, Natalie Lim Production Co-ordinators: Celestine Wong, Melissa Chin Technical Co-ordinators: Huang Xiangbin, David Li Production Assistant: Chong Wee Nee MARKETING Senior Managers: Elizabeth Wong, Winnie Chan Assistant Manager: Koay Yi Ling Senior Designers: Muhammad Hakim bin Rahim, Md Firdaus bin Wari Executives: Diana Othman, Juliana Tan Interns: Clara Janssen, Lim Yi Shuen, Michelle Chia COMMUNICATIONS Assistant Manager: Willy Beh Wei Hong Intern: Rifdi Jaffar TICKETING Executive: Nor Limah binte Ja’ffar PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Manager: Norita Senin Executive: Tan Yanru EVENT SERVICES MANAGEMENT Frontof-house Hospitality Manager: Dorothy Neo Front-of-House Manager: Mohd Afham bin Abbas Back-of-House Hospitality Manager: Nursheehana binte Akbal Ahmad Event Services Manager: Johnson Kee Secretariat Manager: Carine Lee Transport Manager: Syafiq Zulkepli FINANCE Manager: Vivian Gan Executives: Mandy Choo, Lai Zhi Ying, Priyasini D/O Balachandran HUMAN RESOURCE Manager: Noraliza Ramli Senior Executive: Elaine Neo ADMINISTRATION Manager, Arts: Liza Mustapha Executive: Norhanim binte Mohamed Tayib 10

DON'T MISS THESE FREE PROGRAMMES AT THE FESTIVAL

Enjoy a slew of interactive visual arts displays and an elegant jazz concert to round off this year’s enthralling line-up.

BY GEOFF COBHAM AU

26 Apr – 12 May, daily, 10am – 10pm Gallery I, Festival House Step into this immersive installation and bask in the wonder of light.

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SG

26 Apr - 12 May, daily, 10am - 10pm Gallery II, Festival House A multi-dimensional approach to question memory, space and legacy through lapses in structure, text and image.

BY FERRY SG

Duke Ellington Orchestra

10 - 12 May, Thu - Sat , 10am – 5pm Play Den, Festival House Unlock new dimensions to experiencing sound in this tactile audiovisual installation.

US

12 May, Sat, 6pm – 7.15pm Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage, Singapore Botanic Gardens The legendary Duke Ellington Orchestra will play some landmark jazz pieces in a festival closing performance.

For more details, visit sifa.sg.

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