Dvořák: Cello Concerto

LAN SHUI Music Director

SUBSCRIPTION CONCERT

DVORĂ K: CELLO CONCERTO 22 November 2018

Esplanade Concert Hall

Performing Home of the SSO Pavel Baleff, conductor Ng Pei-Sian, cello

22 Nov 2018, Thu

DVORÁK: CELLO CONCERTO Singapore Symphony Orchestra Pavel Baleff, conductor ANTONÍN DVORÁK

Carnival Overture, Op. 92 10’

Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 40’

1. Allegro 2. Adagio ma non troppo 3. Finale: Allegro moderato

Ng Pei-Sian, cello

Intermission 20’

Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 “From the New World” 40’

1.

2.

3.

4.

Adagio – Allegro molto Largo Scherzo (Molto vivace) Allegro con fuoco

Post-concert autograph session with Ng Pei-Sian in the stalls foyer

Concert duration: 2 hrs Go green. Digital programme booklets are available on www.sso.org.sg.

Scan the QR code in the foyer to view a copy.

S ing a p or e S y mp hon y Or c he s t r a Since its founding in 1979, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has been Singapore’s flagship orchestra, touching lives through classical music and providing the heartbeat of the cultural scene in the cosmopolitan city-state.

In addition to its subscription series concerts, the orchestra is well-loved for its outdoor and community appearances, and its significant role educating the young people of Singapore. The SSO has also earned an international reputation for its orchestral virtuosity, having garnered sterling reviews for its overseas tours and many successful recordings.

Concert Hall. More intimate works and all outreach and community performances take place at the 673-seat Victoria Concert Hall, the home of the SSO. The orchestra performs 100 concerts a year, and its versatile repertoire spans all-time favourites and orchestral masterpieces to exciting cutting-edge premieres. Bridging the musical traditions of East and West, Singaporean and Asian musicians and composers are regularly showcased in the concert season. This has been a core of the SSO’s programming philosophy from the very beginning under Choo Hoey, who was Music Director from 1979 to 1996.

The SSO makes its performing home at the 1,800-seat state-of-the-art Esplanade

Since Lan Shui assumed the position of Music Director in 1997, the SSO has

performed in Europe, Asia and the United States. In May 2016 the SSO was invited to perform at the Dresden Music Festival and the Prague Spring International Music Festival.

This successful five‑city tour of Germany and Prague also included the SSO’s return to the Berlin Philharmonie after six years. In 2014 the SSO’s debut at the 120th BBC Proms in London received critical acclaim in the major UK newspapers The Guardian and Telegraph.

The SSO has also performed in China on multiple occasions.

Notable SSO releases under BIS include a Rachmaninoff series, a “Seascapes” album, two Debussy discs “La Mer” and “Jeux”, and the first-ever cycle of Tcherepnin’s piano concertos

and symphonies. The SSO has also collaborated with such great artists as Lorin Maazel, Charles Dutoit, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Neeme Järvi, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Diana Damrau, Martha Argerich, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos and Gil Shaham.

The SSO is part of the Singapore Symphony Group, which also manages the Singapore Symphony Choruses, and the Singapore National Youth Orchestra.

The mission of the Group is to create memorable shared experiences with music. Through the SSO and its affiliated performing groups, we spread the love for music, nurture talent and enrich Singapore’s diverse communities.

PAVEL BALEFF conductor Born in Bulgaria, Pavel Baleff conducted at the age of 18 his first concert and received in 1993 the Bulgarian Radio prize as Best Young Musician. Since December 1998 Baleff has been the Musical Director of the Dresden Chamber Opera. In 2003 he won the renowned Bad Homburg conductor award – one of the highest German conductor honours.

Since the beginning of 2007, Baleff has been Chief Conductor of the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the most traditional orchestras in Germany. Due to his extensive repertoire, he has been engaged as an opera, ballet and concert conductor at the Zurich Opera House, Semperoper Dresden, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Hamburg State Opera and the Bolschoi Theatre in Moscow.

He works with international renowned artistes such as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Anna Netrebko, Krassimira Stoyanova, Diana Damrau, Edita Gruberova, Vesselina Kasarova, Ramon Vargas, Thomas Hampson, Nicolas Testé, Piotr Beczala and Luca Pisaroni. Baleff won the German Record Critics Award as well as the International Classical Music Award in 2012 and the German Record Critics Award again in 2014. In 2015

Russian Arias with Vesselina Kasarova was released. In Sofia he was awarded Bulgarian “Conductor of the Year” for The Ring of the Nibelung at the National Opera. Baleff is First Prize winner at the Carl Maria von Weber Competition and received an award by the Herbert von Karajan Foundation.

In December 2016 he made his debut with Gaetano Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore at the Vienna State Opera. Together with Diana Damrau and the French bassbaritone Nicolas Testé, Baleff toured Asia in 2017 and received critical acclaim. In the 2017/18 season, Baleff appears as guest conductor at the Opera Zurich in productions of Ravel’s L'heure espagnole and L'enfant et les sortilèges as well as the ballet Swan Lake. In 2018/19, he will conduct The Dead City at the Opéra de Limoges.

NG PEI-SIAN cello Ng Pei-Sian was Commonwealth Musician of the Year in 2007, winner of the Gold Medal and First Prize at the 55th Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition held in London.

He has performed concertos with major Australian symphony orchestras, Singapore Symphony, Estonian National Symphony, Evergreen Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Malaysian Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Music Makers, Oulu Symphony, Philippine Philharmonic, Sichuan Philharmonic and the Sun Symphony and performed around the world in venues including Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Konzerthaus (Berlin), Lincoln Centre and Carnegie Hall.

Born in Sydney in 1984, Ng began studies in Adelaide with Barbara Yelland and later with Janis Laurs at the Elder Conservatorium of Music before winning the prestigious Elder Overseas Scholarship to study at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

He completed his studies under Ralph Kirshbaum during which he was awarded the RNCM Gold Medal, the highest prize given by the college.

Ng has had appearances in important music festivals including the Brighton, Edinburgh, Manchester International Cello Festival, Kronberg Academy, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and Adelaide International Cello Festival. Ng performed Tan Dun’s Crouching Tiger Cello Concerto with The Festival Orchestra and the composer and also performed with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, Cho-Liang Lin, Renaud Capuçon, Alina Ibragimova and the Borodin Quartet.

Upcoming highlights include concerto performances with Collegium Musicum Basel, Sichuan Symphony Orchestra (Darrell Ang) and National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra (Lan Shui). Recently, Ng played alongside Yo-Yo Ma and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) performing the fresh and exciting double cello concerto Violoncelles Vibrez! by Giovanni Sollima.

Ng is currently Principal Cellist of the SSO and a faculty member at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Singapore.

He performs on a 1764 Giovanni Antonio Marchi cello, Bologna.

SSO MU SICIAN S Lan Shui Music Director joshua tan Associate Conductor andrew litton Principal Guest Conductor Choo Hoey Conductor Emeritus Eudenice Palaruan Choral Director WONG LAI FOON Choirmaster

Margit Saur Shao Tao Tao Ikuko Takahashi^ Lillian Wang Wu Man Yun* Xu Jue Yi* Ye Lin* Yeo Teow Meng Yin Shu Zhan* Zhang Si Jing* VIOLA Zhang Manchin Principal Guan Qi Associate Principal Gu Bing Jie* Fixed Chair Marietta Ku Luo Biao Julia Park Shui Bing Tan Wee-Hsin Janice Tsai Wang Dandan Yang Shi Li

FIRST VIOLIN

CELLO

Igor Yuzefovich1 Concertmaster, The GK Goh Chair Lynnette Seah2 Co-Concertmaster Kong Zhao Hui* Associate Concertmaster Chan Yoong-Han Fixed Chair Cao Can* Chen Da Wei Duan Yu Ling Foo Say Ming Gu Wen Li Jin Li Cindy Lee Lim Shue Churn^ Karen Tan William Tan Wei Zhe

Ng Pei-Sian Principal Yu Jing Associate Principal Guo Hao Fixed Chair Chan Wei Shing Jamshid Saydikarimov^ Song Woon Teng Wang Yan Wang Zihao* Wu Dai Dai Zhao Yu Er

SECOND VIOLIN Michael Loh Associate Principal Hai-Won Kwok Fixed Chair Nikolai Koval* Lee Shi Mei^ Chikako Sasaki*

DOUBLE BASS Guennadi Mouzyka Principal Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal Karen Yeo Fixed Chair Olga Alexandrova Ma Li Ming^ Jacek Mirucki Wang Xu FLUTE Jin Ta Principal Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal

Roberto Alvarez Miao Shanshan

TRUMPET

Roberto Alvarez Assistant Principal

Jon Paul Dante Principal David Smith Associate Principal Lau Wen Rong Sergey Tyuteykin

OBOE

TROMBONE

Rachel Walker Principal Pan Yun Associate Principal Carolyn Hollier Elaine Yeo

Allen Meek Principal Damian Patti Associate Principal Samuel Armstrong

PICCOLO

BASS TROMBONE COR ANGLAIS

Wang Wei Assistant Principal

Elaine Yeo Associate Principal TUBA CLARINET Ma Yue Principal Li Xin Associate Principal Liu Yoko Tang Xiao Ping

Hidehiro Fujita Principal TIMPANI Christian Schiøler Principal Jonathan Fox Associate Principal

BASS CLARINET

PERCUSSION

Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal

Jonathan Fox Principal Mark Suter Associate Principal Lim Meng Keh Zhu Zheng Yi

BASSOON Wang Xiaoke Principal Liu Chang Associate Principal Christoph Wichert Zhao Ying Xue

HARP Gulnara Mashurova Principal

CONTRABASSOON Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal HORN Han Chang Chou Principal Gao Jian Associate Principal Jamie Hersch Associate Principal Marc-Antoine Robillard Associate Principal Kartik Alan Jairamin^

*With deep appreciation to the Rin Collection for their generous loan of string instruments.

Igor Yuzefovich plays an instrument generously loaned by Mr & Mrs G K Goh Lynnette Seah performs on a J.B. Guadagnini of Milan, c. 1750, donated by the National Arts Council, Singapore, with the support of Far East Organization and Lee Foundation. ^Musician on temporary contract Musicians listed alphabetically by family name rotate their seats on a per programme basis.

1 2

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A leading industrial group in the Asia Pacific with businesses in Precast & Prefabricated Bathroom Unit and Environmental Services, NSL believes that while achieving business goals is important, its actions need to also create a positive impact on the community, environment and all stakeholders.

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Bloom SNYO COMMISSION, WORLD PREMIERE Trumpet Concerto Enigma Variations, Op. 36

Peter Stark SNYO Principal Guest Conductor

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Pacho Flores @ snyo.sg

T he G K G oh C h a ir The SSO Concertmaster Chair is named for Mr GK Goh. We would like to thank the Family and Friends of Mr Goh Geok Khim for their donations. We are especially grateful to Mr and Mrs Goh Yew Lin for their most generous donation.

Igor Yuzefovich, Concertmaster The GK Goh Chair

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Major Corporate Patrons Temasek Foundation Nurtures CLG Ltd Far East Organization Santa Lucia Asset Management Pte Ltd Interchem Pte Ltd John Swire & Sons (S.E. Asia) Pte Ltd Aquilus Pte Ltd Lee Foundation, Singapore G K Goh Holdings Ltd Kingsmen Exhibit Pte Ltd NSL Ltd Major Corporate Sponsors Conrad Centennial Singapore SMRT Corporation Singapore Airlines Ltd Singapore Press Holdings Ltd

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Thank you for attending Dvoล รกk: Cello Concerto

This man above is Portuguese-American conductor Jacomo Bairos - and the SSO's former Principal Tuba from 2004 - 2007.

Now Music Director of the Amarillo Symphony and Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director for the Miami-based Nu Deco Ensemble, Jacomo returns to lead our second Red Balloon Series concert.

ROCK IN 60 MINUTES ESPLANADE CONCERT HALL 31 JAN 2019 Jacomo Bairos, conductor Nick Omiccioli, electric guitar Paul Cesarczyk, electric guitar

31-year-old Korean-German pianist Christopher Park, described as "young, jovial, exceptionally gifted and truly impressive" (GB Times), makes his Singapore debut this coming February over two nights at the VCH with veteran maestro Bruno Weil.

CHRISTOPHER PARK PLAYS MOZART VICTORIA CONCERT HALL 22 & 23 FEB 2019 Christopher Park, piano Bruno Weil, conductor Sponsored by

Prodigiously talented and massively popular, Ray Chen "is a violinist who redefines what it is to be a classical musician in the 21st Century."

Ray Chen will perform Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 instead of No. 1 previously announced.

SSO GALA: RAY CHEN ESPLANADE CONCERT HALL 15 MAR 2019 Ray Chen, violin Andrew Litton, conductor Singapore Symphony Orchestra With the Singapore National Youth Orchestra

Stefan made his acclaimed European debut at 14, playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. His sensational performance was featured on the front page of London’s Times, and The Strad reported that a “14-year-old violinist took the London music world by storm.” Hear his Mendelssohn yourself this coming April.

FAMILIAR FAVOURITES: MENDELSSOHN VIOLIN CONCERTO ESPLANADE CONCERT HALL 27 APR 2019 Stefan Jackiw, violin Josep Pons, conductor

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ANTONÍN DVOR Á K (18 41–19 0 4) Antonín Dvorák was one of the most prolific composers of the 19th century, with a remarkable gift of melody. He frequently infused his compositions with dances and rhythms from his native Bohemia, part of present-day Czech Republic. An incredibly versatile composer, Dvorák wrote extensively across many different genres of Western Art music.

He is most well known today for his 16 Slavonic Dances, the short piano piece Humoresque, a song titled Songs My Mother Taught Me, 15 String Quartets, and many symphonic works. Tonight, you will be treated to his most popular and beloved compositions in the Overture, Concerto and Symphony genres, all in one concert.

Carnival Overture, Op. 92 10’ Originally, Carnival was titled Life, the middle instalment of a trilogy of overtures titled Nature, Life and Love. Dvorák’s biographer John Clapham suggested that the composer intended these overtures to be “three aspects of the life-force’s manifestations, a force which the composer designated ‘Nature’, and which not only served to create and sustain life, but also, in its negative phase, could destroy it.” The Czech scholar Otakar Sourek further elaborated that Dvorák intended to use these pieces to expound upon a different aspect of “nature and her powers… the solemn silence of a summer night, a gay whirl of life and living, and the passion of great love.”

Instrumentation 2 flutes piccolo 2 oboes cor anglais 2 clarinets 2 bassoons 4 horns 2 trumpets 3 trombones tuba timpani tambourine, triangle, cymbals harp strings World Premiere 28 Apr 1892, Prague First performed by SSO 20 Aug 1982

The overtures were later retitled In Nature’s Realm, Carnival and Othello, and broken up into individual overtures. Musically, however, a theme representing nature appears in each overture, linking them nonetheless.

Dvorák wrote these overtures between March 1891 and January 1892 in Prague.

Around this time, Jeannette Thurber, a wealthy American patron who founded the National Conservatory of Music in New York, wrote to Dvorák, inviting him to move to New York and become its

director, with the promise of an annual salary of USD 15,000 (approx. USD 415,000 today) – 25 times his salary at the Prague Conservatory. He accepted this offer, and in April 1892, the premiere of these overtures was part of both his farewell concert in Prague, and his first performance in New York.

Dvorák described the Carnival Overture as the scene of “a lonely, contemplative wanderer reaching at twilight a city where a festival is in full swing. On every side is heard the clangor of instruments, mingled with shouts of joy and the unrestrained hilarity of the people giving vent to their feelings in songs and dances.”

“Damn! That will be a symphony in B minor!”

– Dvorák upon visiting the Niagara Falls en route from Iowa to New York, September 1893.

Dvorák never wrote a Symphony in B minor, but he wrote what some consider to be the greatest cello concerto ever written in that very key. This Cello Concerto was Dvorák’s last work to be completed in the United States, where he conducted and taught for three years. In the spring of 1894, Dvorák had heard his American colleague Victor Herbert’s Second Cello Concerto, and was inspired to write one.

Dvorák especially admired Herbert’s brilliant use of the cello’s upper registers, which Dvorák had previously regarded as weak and limited, and the way which Herbert effectively balanced the cello and orchestra. Dvorák had previously stopped work on a cello concerto (in A minor) some 30 years before, having only completed the solo part and a skeletal piano accompaniment.

The first movement opens tentatively and rapidly builds to a scorching orchestral introduction. The second theme’s tender heart-on-sleeve lyric affection led Sir Donald Tovey to describe it as “one of the most beautiful passages ever written for horn”. The solo cello enters, improvising on the opening theme, which becomes the backbone of the masterful development section. In the recapitulation, the two main themes are reversed, as the opening theme grandly concludes the movement.

PROGRAMME NOTES

The whirlwind opening with exuberant, driving melodies does evoke both a literal carnival, and the exuberance of life. There is a brief interlude in the middle, with the English horn and flute portraying “a pair of straying lovers”, while the clarinet intones the Nature theme. Dvorák soon returns us to the raucous festivities which build to a spectacular conclusion.

Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 40’

In the second movement, Dvorák spins another of his classic slow movements, full of emotional warmth and lyricism. In a free three-part form, a chorale-like theme in the winds opens the movement, and a serene, pastoral mood is evoked. After a sudden outburst, Dvorák introduces a song. Garlanded by fluttering violin arpeggios, the cello sings Leave Me Alone, one of Dvorák’s 4 Lieder, Op. 82, and a favourite of Josefina Kaunitzova, his sisterin-law, whom he had fallen in love with in his youth. This song fragment is passed around the winds, this time accompanied by the solo cello. Eventually, the main theme of the movement is restated by a trio of French horns, as if in prayer. A short cello cadenza, accompanied by fluttering birdsong, returns us to the initial pastoral mood.

The finale features several rhythmic and lyrical themes. The dance-like fast sections sparkle with finger-breaking virtuosity while the slower episodes are filled with some of the work’s most heartfelt singing lines.

Through several Wagnerian harmonic shifts and heightened anticipation, the Concerto arrives at its climax, in which the concertmaster joins the soloist in a radiantly fervent duet. The music then dashes towards what was meant to be its original conclusion. However, when Dvorák learnt that Josefina had passed away, he rewrote the ending, adding recollections of themes from the first two movements.

In particular, Leave Me Alone reappears – this time in the heights of the solo violin.

A slow section, reminiscent of a funeral march with elegiac triplets in the timpani, gives way to an astonishing Andante maestoso, which anticipates the climax

of Dvorák’s opera Rusalka several years later. The Concerto concludes in a blaze of orchestral splendour.

Instrumentation 2 flutes, 1 doubling as piccolo 2 oboes 2 clarinets 2 bassoons 3 horns 2 trumpets 3 trombones tuba timpani triangle strings World Premiere 19 Mar 1896, London First performed by SSO 22 May 1981 (Bohuslav Pavlas, cello)

RECOMMENDED LISTENING Dvorák: Cello Concerto, Silent Woods Brahms: Academic Festival Overture Li-Wei Qin, Singapore Symphony Orchestra & Lan Shui (Decca, 2012)

Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 “From the New World” 40’ “I am now satisfied that the future of music in this country must be founded upon what are called Negro melodies. This must be the real foundation of any serious and original school of composition to be developed in the United States. When I came here last year I was impressed with this idea and it has developed into a settled conviction. These beautiful and varied themes are the product of the soil...

There is nothing in the whole range of composition that cannot be supplied with themes from this source.”

– Dvorák in the New York Herald on 21 May 1893

It was certainly also Jeannette Thurber’s wish that Dvorák would be able to catalyse an American school of composition. She had successfully persuaded him to move to America, and compose several new works while being Director of the National Conservatory of Music.

The Czech music scholar Michael Beckerman wrote that, besides the chance to improve his fortunes, Dvorák looked to alleviate “certain artistic pressures [he faced] in Europe”. By the early 1890s, he had become Europe’s most admired composer after Brahms, and was expected to follow in the footsteps of his erstwhile benefactor to be a proponent of “absolute” music, in other words, not influenced or

Dvorák realised that great things were expected of him in America, writing to friends back home to complain that the newspapers were “simply terrible – they see in me, they say, the saviour of music…

The Americans expect me… to show them the promised land… in short to create a new national music. If the small Czech nation can have such musicians, they say, why could not they too, when their country and people is so immense?”

Dvorák began sketching his symphony just three months after arriving in New York and completed it four months later in May 1893. He was genuinely interested in the music of the Native Americans and often invited Harry Burleigh, a young black singer, to perform spirituals for him. He made education at the Conservatory be free of charge to black students, while making comments to the press like the one to the New York Herald above. This resulted in many believing and propagating the myth that this symphony was an authentic musical evocation of the New World.

However, while it is unclear as to just how much Dvorák was truly influenced and tried to pay homage to the native American culture, he tried to soften this image several years later when, in 1900, he wrote to a conductor who was going to conduct the work, “Leave out the nonsense about my having made use of

PROGRAMME NOTES

It is upon this highfalutin foundation which much of the myth of the New World Symphony is built.

interlinked with extra-musical narratives or imagery. Dvorák loved his stories and folk tales, but did not want to disappoint Brahms’ followers, who included some of the most prominent critics of his day.

American melodies. I have only composed in the spirit of such American national melodies.” Furthermore, he also referred to all his American works as “genuine Bohemian music” and described the subtitle of the symphony, From the New World, as his “impressions and greetings from the New World” to his friends back home.

negro spiritual, but this tune was itself later adopted as one, titled “Goin’ Home”.

There are two other interludes of note.

The first wistfully flows, with shimmering strings and a walking bass line, and the oboe leads the orchestra in a perky dance in the next. Previous themes then tumble in transformed, before the English horn returns to restore calm.

It is nonetheless clear that Dvorák perceived what the American audiences wanted, and he tailored his style to suit them – simplifying the structure, increasing the rhythmic propulsion which drives many of his other symphonies, and including many of the incredibly memorable melodies for which he is known. The New World Symphony includes all of these (and more), was an unqualified hit at its premiere, and has since become his most popular orchestral composition.

The Scherzo interrupts suddenly, and Dvorák introduces his new American friends to the dances of his homeland. The dances’ sudden rhythmic shifts evoke the stamping Czech furiant and alternate with hints of other elegant European dances.

Dvorák opens the symphony with the melancholic assurance of a wizened storyteller, before a horn theme hurtles in, bringing with it the excitement and drive of the first movement. Some suggest that the flute sings a tune reminiscent of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” – it could be, but it could also be any of many folk tunes across the world. These themes are masterfully developed amid some great orchestral storms and delightfully playful moments.

The famous Largo opens with a series of beautiful chords in the brass, transforming the Symphony’s harmonies, to usher in the English horn’s song of solitude, one of classical music’s most recognised tunes.

Some have claimed this to be a genuine

The finale’s sweepingly assertive introduction has inspired many composers of film music. It is in this majestic setting that Dvorák pours out melody after great melody, and themes from the previous movements are recalled, with the overtly Wagnerian transformation of the Largo’s opening chords crowning the movement’s urgent climax. These heroic shows of strength nonetheless give way to the lingering melancholy which bookends this Symphony, as the final chord softly fades away.

Programme notes by Christopher Cheong

Instrumentation 2 flutes, 1 doubling as piccolo 2 oboes cor anglais 2 clarinets 2 bassoons 4 horns 2 trumpets 3 trombones tuba timpani triangle, cymbals strings

First performed by SSO 23 Aug 1979

PROGRAMME NOTES

World Premiere 16 Dec 1893, New York

b oa r d of dir ec tor s & COMMITTE e S board of directors Mr Goh Yew Lin (Chair) Ms Yong Ying-I (Deputy Chair) Mr Ang Chek Meng Mrs Odile Benjamin Mr Chng Hak-Peng Mr Lionel Choi Mr Warren Fernandez Prof Arnoud De Meyer Mr Heinrich Grafe Ms Liew Wei Li Ms Lim Mei Mr Sanjiv Misra Mr Andreas Sohmen-Pao Mr Paul Tan Dr Kelly Tang Mr Yee Chen Fah

SSO Council HUMAN RESOURCES Committee Ms Yong Ying-I (Chair) Prof Arnoud de Meyer Mr Yee Chen Fah Dr Kelly Tang Endowment Fund Committee Mr Goh Yew Lin (Chair) Mr David Goh Mr Sanjiv Misra Audit Committee Mr Yee Chen Fah (Chair) Mr Heinrich Grafe Ms Lim Mei

Nominating and Executive Committee

SNYO Committee

Mr Goh Yew Lin (Chair) Prof Arnoud de Meyer Mr Paul Tan Ms Yong Ying-I

Ms Liew Wei Li (Chair) Mr Ang Chek Meng Ms Vivien Goh Dr Kee Kirk Chin Mrs Valarie Wilson

Musicians’ Committee Mr Chan Wei Shing Mr Jon Paul Dante Mr Jamie Hersch Mr Ng Pei-Sian Mr Mark Suter Mr Christoph Wichert Mr Yeo Teow Meng

Prof Cham Tao Soon (Honorary Chair) Mr Alan Chan (Chair) Mr Choo Chiau Beng Dr Geh Min Mr Goh Geok Khim Mr Khoo Boon Hui Prof Tommy Koh Mr JY Pillay Dr Stephen Riady Ms Priscylla Shaw Dr Gralf Sieghold Mr Andreas Sohmen-Pao Dr Tan Chin Nam Ms Tan Choo Leng Mr Tan Soo Nan Mr Wee Ee Cheong SSO LADIES’ LEAGUE Mrs Odile Benjamin (Chair) Mrs Kwan Lui (Deputy Chair) Mrs Celeste Basapa Mrs Maisy Beh Mrs Kim Camacho Mrs Rosy Ho Ms Judy Hunt Prof Annie Koh Dr Julie Lo Mrs Clarinda TjiaDharmadi-Martin Ms Paige Parker Ms Kris Tan Ms Manju Vangal Mrs Grace Yeh

MANAGEMENT CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Mr Chng Hak-Peng

CEO OFFICE

PROGRAMMES (VCH)

CORPORATE SERVICES

Ms Shirin Foo Mr Lim Yeow Siang Mr Edward Loh Mr Chris Yong

Ms Erin Tan

Mr Rick Ong (Head) Mr Alan Ong (Finance) Ms Goh Hoey Fen (Finance) Mr Jeffrey Tang (IT) Mr Md Zailani bin Md Said

ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT Mr Ernest Khoo (Head) Orchestra Mr Chia Jit Min Ms Tan Wei Tian Concert Operations Ms Kimberly Kwa (Production Manager) Ms Chin Rosherna Mr Md Sufiyan Mr Ramayah Elango Mr Md Fariz bin Samsuri Library Mr Lim Lip Hua Ms Priscilla Neo Ms Wong Yi Wen PROGRAMMES (SSO) Ms Kua Li Leng (Head) Ms Teo Chew Yen Ms Jodie Chiang Community Outreach Ms Kathleen Tan Ms Vanessa Lee Choral Programmes Ms Regina Lee Ms Whitney Tan

DEVELOPMENT & PARTNERSHIPS Ms Peggy Kek (Head) Corporate Communications Ms Leong Wenshan Mr Chris Yong Development Mr Anthony Chng Ms Chelsea Zhao Ms Nikki Chuang MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS & CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Ms Cindy Lim (Head) Mr Chia Han-Leon Ms Myrtle Lee Ms Jana Loh Ms Hong Shu Hui Ms Melissa Tan Ms Dacia Cheang Ms Nur Shafiqah bte Othman

HUMAN RESOURCES & ADMINISTRATION Mr Desmen Low Ms Melissa Lee Ms Evelyn Siew SINGAPORE NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA Ms Pang Siu Yuin (Head) Ms Yuen May Leng Mr Tan Yong Qing Ms Tang Ya Yun ABRSM Ms Hay Su-San (Head) Ms Patricia Yee Ms Lai Li-Yng Mr Joong Siow Chong

40 NEVER SOUNDED SO GOOD! The SSO is turning 40 and we hope that you're still enjoying our music.

If you’ve loved our concerts, please do consider making a donation for our birthday.

Your gift to our national orchestra will give less well-off students and other underserved communities the chance to come to our concerts for free, or on discounted tickets.

Did you know?

Our free concerts and events delight over 45,000 people every year Ticket revenue accounts for less than 10% of our total budget To keep our concerts accessible, we keep ticket prices as low as $10 The government and the Tote Board together provide more than half of our funding needs, but a large part of it is in the form of matching funds, where the money will only get to us if we raise funds from the public.

And that’s you.

So won’t you join us to make a gift of music please?

Ways You Can Donate: Visit www.sso.org.sg/donate Scan the QR code in PayLah! or PayNow (provide your email under 'Reference No.') Contact Ms Nikki Chuang at 6602 4238 or nikki@sso.org.sg

From all of us at the SSO, thank you for your generous support! *Singapore tax-payers may qualify for 250% tax deduction for donations above $50 made by 31 December 2018.

Supported by

Official Hotel

Patron Sponsor

Official Radio Station

Official Outdoor Media Partners

Official Airline

Sponsors

LEE FOUNDATION

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is a charity and not-for-profit organisation. You can support us by donating at www.sso.org.sg/donate.

sso.org.sg