Singapore Symphony Orchestra Oct 2023

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WELCOME! You’ve begun a richly rewarding musical journey and we want you to feel comfortable at the SSO. If there’s something you’ve always wanted to ask, check out our FAQ!

WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?

We don’t enforce any dress code. Many come in business attire or smart casual outfits, and that’s great.

WHEN SHOULD I CLAP?

Many pieces of music have multiple sections called movements. E.g. most concertos have three movements while symphonies usually have four. Traditionally, applause is only expected at the end of the entire work, rather than between each movement.

If you’re unsure, check our programme booklet, or wait for the conductor to put down the baton at the end, and acknowledge the orchestra and audience.

CAN I TAKE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS?

Video and photography of any kind are not permitted when musicians are actively performing. However, non-flash photography is allowed during bows and applause. Take home a musical memory and tag us on @singaporesymphony!

HEROIC TALES OF RICHARD STRAUSS

Thu, 5 Oct 2023

BENNETT VIOLIN CONCERTO AND TCHAIKOVSKY 4

Fri, 20 Oct 2023

DUKE VIOLIN CONCERTO AND TCHAIKOVSKY 6

Fri, 27 Oct 2023

For the enjoyment of all patrons during the concert:

• Please switch off or silence all electronic devices.

• Please minimise noises during performance. If unavoidable, wait for a loud section in the music.

• No photography, video or audio recording is allowed when artists are performing.

• Non-flash photography is allowed only during bows and applause when no performance is taking place.

Go green. Digital programme books are available on www.sso.org.sg.

Photographs and videos will be taken at these events, in which you may appear. These may be published on the SSO’s publicity channels and materials. By attending the event, you consent to the use of these photographs and videos for the foregoing purposes.

Cover photo: Sloth Creatives

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 with its 44-week calendar of events.

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 through its school programmes. The SSO has also earned an international reputation for its orchestral virtuosity, having garnered sterling reviews for its overseas tours and many successful recordings. In 2021, the SSO clinched third place in the prestigious Orchestra of the Year Award by Gramophone. In 2022, BBC Music Magazine named the SSO as one of the 21 best orchestras in the world.

In July 2022, the SSO appointed renowned Austrian conductor Hans Graf as its Music Director, the third in the orchestra’s history after Lan Shui (1997–2019) and Choo Hoey (1979–1996). Prior to this, Hans Graf served as Chief Conductor from 2020.

The orchestra performs over 60 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. The SSO makes its performing home at the 1,800-seat state-of-theart Esplanade Concert Hall. More intimate works, as well as outreach and community performances take place at the 673-seat Victoria Concert Hall, the Home of the SSO.

Beyond Singapore, 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 fivecity tour of Germany and Prague also included the SSO’s second performance at the Berlin Philharmonie. In 2014, the SSO’s debut at the 120th BBC Proms in London received praise in major UK newspapers The Guardian and The Telegraph. The SSO has also performed in China on multiple occasions.

The SSO has released more than 50 recordings, with over 30 on the BIS label. Recent critically acclaimed albums include Scriabin’s Poems of Ecstasy and Fire and Shostakovich’s Jazz & Variety Suites. In 2023, a Four Seasons album on Pentatone and a complete Mozart Violin Concerto cycle with Chloe Chua and Hans Graf will be released. The SSO also leads the revival and recording of significant works such as the Kozłowski Requiem, Ogerman’s Symbiosis (after Bill Evans) and concertos by Paul von Klenau.

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The SSO has collaborated with such great artists as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Gustavo Dudamel, Charles Dutoit, Joe Hisaishi, Neeme Järvi, Okko Kamu, Hannu Lintu, Andrew Litton, Lorin Maazel, Martha Argerich, Ray Chen, Diana Damrau, Stephen Hough, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham and Krystian Zimerman.

The SSO is part of the Singapore Symphony Group, which also manages the Singapore Symphony Choruses, and the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, as well as the VCHpresents chamber music series, the Singapore International Piano Festival and the biennial National Piano & Violin Competition.

Our Story

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 our diverse communities.

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

HANS GRAF Music Director

With the distinguished Austrian conductor Hans Graf, “a brave new world of musicmaking under inspired direction” (The Straits Times) began at the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, as Chief Conductor in the 2020/21 season, and Music Director since the 2022/23 season.

Graf was formerly Music Director of the Houston Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Basque National Orchestra and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. He is a frequent guest with major orchestras worldwide including the orchestras of Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Vienna, Leipzig Gewandhaus, DSO Berlin, Dresden, Royal Concertgebouw, Oslo, Hallé, London, Royal Philharmonic, Budapest Festival, St Petersburg, Russian National, Melbourne, Sydney, Seoul, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the Bavarian, Danish and Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestras. Graf has led operas in the Vienna State Opera, Munich, Berlin, Paris, Strasbourg, Rome and Zurich. In 2014 he was awarded the Österreichischer Musiktheaterpreis for Strauss’s Die Feuersnot at the famed Vienna Volksoper, where he returned in 2021 to lead Rosenkavalier.

Hans Graf’s extensive discography includes all symphonies of Mozart and Schubert, the complete orchestral works of Dutilleux, and

the world-premiere recording of Zemlinsky’s Es war einmal. Graf’s recording of Berg’s Wozzeck with the Houston Symphony won the GRAMMY and ECHO Klassik awards for best opera recording. With the Singapore Symphony, Graf has recorded the music of Paul von Klenau, Józef Kozłowski’s Requiem and a complete Mozart Violin Concerto cycle with Singapore’s Chloe Chua.

Hans Graf (b. 1949) is Professor Emeritus for Orchestral Conducting at the Universität Mozarteum, Salzburg. For his services to music, he was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur by the French government, and the Grand Decoration of Honour of the Republic of Austria.

© BRYAN VAN DER BEEK

NG PEI-SIAN cello / The HEAD Foundation Chair

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 the major Australian symphony orchestras, Singapore Symphony (SSO), Malaysian Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Estonian National Symphony, Oulu Symphony, Sinfonia ViVA, City of Southampton Orchestra, Philippine Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Music Makers 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, he 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. Pei-Sian completed his studies under Ralph Kirshbaum during which he was awarded the RNCM Gold Medal, the highest prize given by the college.

Pei-Sian has had appearances in important music festivals including the Brighton, Edinburgh, Manchester International Cello Festival, Kronberg Academy, MecklenburgVorpormmern Festival and Adelaide International Cello Festival. He performed Tan Dun’s Crouching Tiger Cello Concerto with The Festival Orchestra under the baton of the Academy Award-winning composer and also performed with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, Cho-Liang Lin and Renaud Capuçon.

Pei-Sian is currently Principal Cellist of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and a faculty member at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Singapore. He performs on a 1764 Giovanni Antonio Marchi cello, Bologna.

MANCHIN ZHANG viola

Born in Hunan, China, Manchin Zhang started learning violin at the age of five and had her early training at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. At the age of 17, she participated as a violist and won in the Portsmouth International String Quartet Competition. Since then, she became a violist and was awarded full scholarship to further her studies under viola master Emanuel Vardi at the Manhattan School of Music.

In 1994, Manchin became the youngest and first Asian member in the history of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and was appointed as Assistant Principal Viola by Music Director Neeme Järvi. In 2005, Manchin joined the Singapore Symphony Orchestra as Principal Viola and has since toured with the orchestra to perform in places like Europe and the United States. Manchin has combined her very active performance career with a passion for teaching and playing chamber music. She has been the Head of Viola Studies at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music since 2005.

© JACK YAM

ANDREW LITTON conductor

Andrew Litton is Music Director of the New York City Ballet, former Principal Guest Conductor of the Singapore Symphony, Conductor Laureate of Britain’s Bournemouth Symphony and Music Director Laureate of Norway’s Bergen Philharmonic. Under Litton’s leadership the Bergen Philharmonic gained international recognition through extensive recording and touring. Norway’s King Harald V knighted Litton with the Norwegian Royal Order of Merit. Other honours include Yale’s Sanford Medal, the Elgar Society Medal, and an honorary Doctorate from the University of Bournemouth.

Litton was Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony from 1988–1994. As Music Director of the Dallas Symphony from 1994–2006, he led the orchestra on three major European tours, and appeared four times at Carnegie Hall. His discography boasts over 135 recordings.

Recent and forthcoming highlights include his debut with the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden and performances with a range of international orchestras, including the Singapore Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and cycles of the piano concertos and symphonies of Rachmaninoff with the Adelaide Symphony.

An avid opera conductor with a keen theatrical sense, Litton has led major opera companies such as the Metropolitan Opera, The Royal Opera Covent Garden, Opera Australia and Deutsche Oper Berlin. In Norway, he was key to founding the Bergen National Opera, where he led numerous acclaimed performances.

An accomplished pianist, Litton performs as a soloist, conducting from the keyboard. He is also an acknowledged expert on and performer of Gershwin’s music and serves as Advisor to the University of Michigan Gershwin Archives.

© DOMINIC PHUA

CHLOË HANSLIP violin

Prodigiously talented, Chloë Hanslip (b. 1987) made her BBC Proms debut at 14 and her US concerto debut at 15 and has performed at major venues in the UK and Europe as well as Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Arts Space in Tokyo and the Seoul Arts Centre.

Hanslip’s wide-ranging repertoire spans concertos by Britten, Prokofiev, Beethoven, Brahms, Korngold, Shostakovich, Barber, Bernstein, Delius, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Walton and Sibelius. With a particular passion for contemporary repertoire, she has championed works by Adams, Glass, Corigliano, Nyman, Huw Watkins, Michael Berkeley, Peter Maxwell Davies and Brett Dean. A committed chamber musician, she is a regular participant at festivals across Europe. Alongside her performing career, Chloë is a Visiting Professor at The Royal Academy of Music, in London and an ambassador for the charity Future Talent.

Recent and forthcoming highlights include concerto engagement with the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, Gävle Symphony and Czech National Symphony Orchestras. She will also perform an extensive UK tour with the Czech National Symphony, and returns twice to the Wigmore Hall alongside Danny Driver including a BBC Radio 3 Live Broadcast Concert.

Hanslip’s extensive discography includes albums on Warner Classics and Hyperion, as well as Rubicon Classics, where she released the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas in three volumes with Danny Driver.

Hanslip studied for ten years with the Russian pedagogue Zakhar Bron and has also worked with Christian Tetzlaff, Robert Masters, Ida Haendel, Salvatore Accardo, and Gerhard Schulz. She plays a Nicolo Amati violin kindly loaned to her through the Beare’s International Violin Society by a generous sponsor.

© KAUPO KIKKAS

The Orchestra

HANS GRAF

Music Director

RODOLFO BARRÁEZ

Associate Conductor

CHOO HOEY

Conductor Emeritus

LAN SHUI

Conductor Laureate

EUDENICE PALARUAN

Choral Director

WONG LAI FOON

Choirmaster

FIRST VIOLIN

(Position vacant) Concertmaster,

GK Goh Chair

Kong Zhao Hui1

Associate Concertmaster

Chan Yoong-Han2

Fixed Chair

Cao Can*

Chen Da Wei

Duan Yu Ling

Foo Say Ming

Jin Li

Kong Xianlong

Cindy Lee

Karen Tan

William Tan

Wei Zhe

Ye Lin*

Zhang Si Jing*

SECOND VIOLIN

Tseng Chieh-An Principal

Michael Loh Associate Principal

Nikolai Koval*

Sayuri Kuru

Hai-Won Kwok

Chikako Sasaki*

Margit Saur

Shao Tao Tao

Wu Man Yun*

Xu Jueyi*

Yeo Teow Meng

Yin Shu Zhan*

Zhao Tian

VIOLA

Manchin Zhang Principal

Guan Qi Associate Principal

Gu Bing Jie* Fixed Chair

Joyce Huang

Marietta Ku

Luo Biao

Julia Park

Shui Bing

Janice Tsai

Dandan Wang

Yang Shi Li

CELLO

Ng Pei-Sian Principal, The HEAD Foundation Chair

Yu Jing Associate Principal

Guo Hao Fixed Chair

Chan Wei Shing

Jamshid Saydikarimov

Song Woon Teng

Wang Yan

Wu Dai Dai

Zhao Yu Er

DOUBLE BASS

Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal

Karen Yeo Fixed Chair

Olga Alexandrova

Jacek Mirucki

Guennadi Mouzyka

Wang Xu

FLUTE

Jin Ta Principal, Stephen Riady Chair

Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal

Roberto Alvarez

Miao Shanshan

PICCOLO

Roberto Alvarez Assistant Principal

OBOE

Rachel Walker Principal

Pan Yun Associate Principal

Carolyn Hollier

Elaine Yeo

COR ANGLAIS

Elaine Yeo Associate Principal

CLARINET

Ma Yue Principal

Li Xin Associate Principal

Liu Yoko

Tang Xiao Ping

BASS CLARINET

Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal

BASSOON

Marcelo Padilla^ Principal

Liu Chang Associate Principal

Christoph Wichert

Zhao Ying Xue

CONTRABASSOON

Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal

HORN

Austin Larson Principal

Gao Jian Associate Principal

Jamie Hersch Associate Principal

Marc-Antoine Robillard Associate Principal

Bryan Chong^

Hoang Van Hoc

TRUMPET

Jon Paul Dante Principal

David Smith Associate Principal

Lau Wen Rong

Nuttakamon Supattranont

TROMBONE

Allen Meek Principal

Damian Patti Associate Principal

Samuel Armstrong

BASS TROMBONE

Wang Wei Assistant Principal

TUBA

Tomoki Natsume Principal

TIMPANI

Christian Schiøler Principal

Mario Choo

PERCUSSION

Jonathan Fox Principal

Mark Suter Associate Principal

Mario Choo

Lim Meng Keh

HARP

Gulnara Mashurova Principal

With deep appreciation to the Rin Collection for their generous loan of string instruments. Musician on temporary contract

Kong Zhao Hui 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.

Chan Yoong-Han performs on a David Tecchler, Fecit Roma An. D. 1700, courtesy of Mr G K Goh. Musicians listed alphabetically by family name rotate their seats on a per programme basis.

Guest Musicians

HEROIC TALES OF RICHARD STRAUSS | 5 OCT 2023

FIRST VIOLIN

Markus Tomasi Guest Concertmaster

Lim Shue Churn

SECOND VIOLIN

Yew Shan

VIOLA

Yeo Jan Wea

CELLO

Chris Mui

James Ng

DOUBLE BASS

Joan Perarnau Garriga Guest Principal

Ma Li Ming

HORN

Cindy Liu

EUPHONIUM

Hidenori Arai

BENNETT VIOLIN CONCERTO AND TCHAIKOVSKY 4 | 20 OCT 2023

FIRST VIOLIN

Markus Gundermann Guest Concertmaster

Lim Shue Churn

Yew Shan

SECOND VIOLIN

Wilford Goh

Martin Peh

VIOLA

Erlene Koh

CELLO

Chris Mui

DOUBLE BASS

Damien Eckersley Guest Principal

Julian Li

PERCUSSION

Michael Tan

DUKE VIOLIN CONCERTO AND TCHAIKOVSKY 6 | 27 OCT 2023

FIRST VIOLIN

Markus Gundermann Guest Concertmaster

Lim Shue Churn

Yew Shan

SECOND VIOLIN

Wilford Goh

Martin Peh

VIOLA

Erlene Koh

CELLO

Chris Mui

DOUBLE BASS

Damien Eckersley Guest Principal

Julian Li

CELESTA

Beatrice Lin

HEROIC TALES OF RICHARD STRAUSS

HEROIC TALES OF RICHARD STRAUSS DESTINY AND FORTUNE

Thu, 5 Oct 2023

Esplanade Concert Hall

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Hans Graf Music Director

Ng Pei-Sian cello*

Manchin Zhang viola*

Serenade in E-flat major, Op. 7

Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Op. 28

Intermission

Don Quixote, Op. 35*

10 mins

15 mins

20 mins

38 mins

Concert Duration: approximately 1 hr 40 mins (including 20 mins intermission)

CHECK-IN TO TONIGHT'S CONCERT

Scan this QR code with the Singapore Symphony Mobile App.

R. STRAUSS

RICHARD STRAUSS (1864–1949)

Serenade in E-flat major, Op. 7 (1881)

A person’s teenage years are a period of exploration, growth, development, and occasionally rebellion. Artists are no exception, and Richard Strauss at the age of 17 was still ‘finding himself’, so to speak. The father of the young Richard was Franz Strauss, who held the post of Principal Horn in the Bavarian court opera orchestra in Munich for 49 years, so it was natural for Richard to be surrounded by music and many strong artistic influences.

Franz Strauss loathed ‘modern music’, detested Wagner as a person and all that Wagner represented as the poster boy of what was then avant-garde music. Numerous anecdotes survive of Strauss Senior clashing with Wagner, whose music utilises the horn extensively both as a solo instrument and for ensemble colour. Nevertheless, his professionalism ensured that he played Wagner’s solos with such heart-tugging beauty even while detesting them, executing them so well that Wagner himself admitted that it was impossible to stay cross with him when he played. So it was that the young Richard’s compositional style was influenced by his father’s preference for music of the classical and early Romantic eras—the later rebellion in which Strauss Junior leaned heavily in a Wagnerian direction was yet to come.

Richard Strauss wrote the Serenade in E-flat major, Op. 7 in 1881 at the age of 17, for a wind ensemble of paired flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons, as well as a contrabassoon and four horns. He had often observed his father at rehearsals, both for the opera orchestra and another amateur

ensemble that played in a tavern, so he would have been familiar with the inner workings of the orchestra, and was himself to join the latter as a violin player for a few years.

In a single sonata-form Andante movement, the music reflects Strauss’s influences—Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, and Mendelssohn—seen through a filter wherein his own gift for lyrical lines may be seen. The creative use of winds and horns for colour was to see fuller development later in his career, and the work may be considered a tribute to the musical education he received from his father, who must have glowed with pride as the work was premiered the next year in 1882 under the baton of Franz Wüllner who conducted the Munich premieres of Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Die Walküre

Instrumentation

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns

World Premiere

27 Nov 1882, Dresden

First performed by SSO

19 Mar 2006

RICHARD STRAUSS

Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Op. 28 (1895)

A genre Richard Strauss loved was the tone poem, in which a single continuous movement evokes the content of a poem, short story, painting, landscape, or character, sometimes with specific sections referring to aspects or events, but in a rather more abstract way, without the minute-byminute narration that one finds in music such as Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. In 1894–1895, Strauss took inspiration from a character in late mediaeval German folklore, giving us the tone poem Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Op. 28, but who was Till Eulenspiegel?

Till Eulenspiegel first appears in German popular printed material around 1510, and is a German wandering prankster of low birth with various adventures and misadventures travelling around the Holy Roman Empire of the 1300s, playing practical jokes (often scatological) on all and sundry, revealing vices and social problems (a gentle moralising lesson is never absent), and eventually dying of the plague in 1350. Scholars have not yet settled the issue of whether Eulenspiegel was based on a real person, but the tale continued to be popular in German and Dutch lands in the early modern period, with several English and French translations. As a literary character, he may be compared with Don Quixote, Tom Bunyan, Casanova, Don Juan, and similar larger-than-life figures.

Why did Richard Strauss choose Till Eulenspiegel? It is hard to say. His first tone poem at the age of 24 was based on the literary character Don Juan, so there was precedent, and it is possible

that Eulenspiegel—a wild, uncontrollable but lovable rogue—appealed to Strauss, whose first opera Guntram was a flop in his hometown.

The music begins gently but the prankster pops up soon enough—note the horn theme! The horn call represents Eulenspiegel and appears repeatedly in endless variations of pitch and rhythm. As Strauss discouraged overly literal interpretations of his tone poems, it should suffice to see (hear?) in the music broad representations of the merry prankster, a fiercely independent figure who takes cheeky potshots at social norms, reminding us of hard truths by

holding up a mirror to society, making fun of pompous authorities, all with a large dose of scatological humour. Strauss makes an exception to his rule toward the end, depicting in excruciating detail Eulenspiegel’s trial for blasphemy and execution by hanging, with a clarinet representing the death fall, an abrupt string pizzicato representing the end of the noose and the snapping of Eulenspiegel’s neck. Nevertheless, Strauss brings back the initial humour, as if to remind us that it is all but a humorous tale.

The horn call represents Eulenspiegel and appears repeatedly in endless variations of pitch and rhythm.

Eulenspiegel and bear perform before the king and townspeople by Klimsch

Later in life, he was asked if he had meant to make a profound commentary on humour, but his reply was that he had merely wanted to give the people in the concert hall a good laugh for once. Was he in earnest? It is hard to say, but Strauss was a master of subterfuge. He cultivated his public image of a vain, superficial, lazy artist who spent his time counting money and playing cards yet in truth he was a deep thinker immersed in philosophy. Perhaps like his own personality, the surface levity and irreverence were but a mask, while the deeper intent and meaning was only meant for those with sufficient perception to appreciate.

Instrumentation

3 flutes, piccolo, 3 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, ratchet, snare drum, triangle, strings

World Premiere

5 Nov 1895, Cologne

First performed by SSO

1 Oct 1982

RICHARD STRAUSS

Don Quixote, Op. 35 (1897)

Strauss’s tone poem Don Quixote bears the German subtitle Phantastische Variationen über ein Thema ritterlichen Charakters (“Fantastic Variations on a Theme of Knightly Character”). The knightly character in question is the title character of Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes’s 17th century novel Don Quixote de La Mancha, in which Alonso Quixano, a member of the lowest nobility, reads so many tales of knightly chivalry that he becomes mentally unbalanced and takes it on himself to become a knight-errant (a sort of wandering hero), calling himself Don Quixote.

Don Quixote fights imaginary enemies and does great acts of heroic chivalry (in his mind) over a series of episodes, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality. A sort of anti-hero, the audience often knows not whether to laugh at his folly, admire his determination, or feel sorry at his capability for self-deception. Towards the end of the novel, he regains his sanity and becomes once again Alonso Quixano.

When initially asked to provide a guide to the music, Strauss insisted that no explanatory notes were needed, but later relented and wrote an analysis citing no fewer than 53 themes or motifs. Nevertheless, there is no need for the listener to have a long checklist of things to listen out for, as but a few elements to keep in mind are all one needs. The knight is represented by the solo cello, and the knight’s theme is a noble one. The theme of the knight’s faithful squire, his servant Sancho Panza, is introduced by bass clarinet and tenor tuba, eventually being

taken over by a solo viola. The imaginary maiden Dulcinea, object of Quixote’s love, is represented by a solo oboe. Muted instruments indicate mental confusion.

In its final form, the work consists of an introduction, ten variations (episodes from the knight’s adventures) and an epilogue. For the listener’s imagination, it should suffice to give a brief explanation of the events in each section.

After the introduction of the Don and his squire, in Variation I we have the Don’s unattainable love Dulcinea and a fight with evil giants (actually windmills) ending Quixote’s fall from a horse.

Variation II gives us a fight with the ‘Great Emperor Alifanfaron’s army’ (actually a flock of sheep). The Don rebukes his squire for lack of chivalry in Variation III.

The Don mistakes a religious procession in Variation IV for a band of robbers trying to abduct a statue of the Virgin Mary and fights them, eventually losing. He consoles himself in Variation V by imagining a vision of Dulcinea.

In Variation VI, Sancho tricks his master into believing that a trashy tambourineplaying stable girl is Dulcinea but enchanted by an evil wizard. Variation VII gives us the pair riding through the air on a flying horse (actually hobby horse toys), and Strauss was notable for using the new sound effects of the wind machine.

In Variation VIII the pair ride an oarless boat and capsize but manage to save themselves and they give thanks. Two monks discussing theology in Variation IX are taken by the Don to be evil magicians keeping Dulcinea from him and he scares them away.

A townsman of the Don, Sansón Carasco, disguising himself as ‘The Knight of the White Moon’, challenges the Don to combat and defeats him in Variation X, leading him back to sanity, with the Don dying peacefully and sane in the Epilogue.

It may be useful to see Strauss’s work in conjunction with his 1897–1898 Ein Heldenleben, composed at the same time, in which he portrays himself as the hero. Did Strauss see himself here as a sort of anti-hero? In addition, at the time of composition, his mother Josephine was experiencing period bouts of insanity (induced by fear of Strauss’s horn player father)—perhaps this gave him a unique perspective into mental health problems. We may never know, but it is fascinating to speculate, since the composer references work on multiple levels and he enjoyed having layers of meaning.

Programme notes by Edward C. Yong

Instrumentation

2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets (1 doubling on E-flat clarinet), bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 6 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, euphonium, tuba, timpani, cymbals, triangle, snare drum, tambourine, bass drum, glockenspiel, wind machine, harp, strings

World Premiere

8 Mar 1898, Cologne

First performed by SSO

12 Jan 1990

Don Quixote and Sancho Pansa by Honoré Daumier

BENNETT VIOLIN CONCERTO AND TCHAIKOVSKY 4

MELODY AND MELODRAMA

Fri, 20 Oct 2023

Esplanade Concert Hall

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Andrew Litton conductor

Chloë Hanslip violin*

ROBERT RUSSELL BENNETT TCHAIKOVSKY

Violin Concerto in A major* (Asian Premiere)

Intermission Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36

23 mins

20 mins

44 mins

Concert Duration: approximately 1 hr 45 mins (including 20 mins intermission)

CHECK-IN TO TONIGHT'S CONCERT

Scan this QR code with the Singapore Symphony Mobile App.

ROBERT RUSSELL BENNETT (1894–1981)

Violin Concerto in A major (1941) Asian Premiere

I II III IV

Allegro moderato Andante moderato

Vivace

Allegro marziale

Robert Russell Bennett belongs to that class of composers who elevated the melodies of his colleagues to their fullest form. As one of America’s leading arrangers, he was responsible for scoring and orchestrating the scores of nearly a hundred musicals. From the 1920s to the 1970s, the list of composers and scores Bennett worked with is the very definition of the American Broadway sound - Richard Rodgers, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Frederick Loewe... The Sound of Music, Show Boat, Kiss Me, Kate, Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The King and I, My Fair Lady, Victory At Sea and so on.

teacher. His musical talent was discovered from an early age – he was frequently called upon by his father to fill in any instrumental role in his band. His talent for melodic and harmonic structure served him well as an orchestrator – he was known to write out parts directly in ink, and in score order.

Besides his work on Broadway, Bennett’s prolific output as a “serious” composer is perhaps even more astounding. More than seven symphonies, concertos for violin, viola, harp, piano, harmonica; operas, incidental music for ballet and theatre, a large oeuvre of chamber music and many more for wind band.

The Violin Concerto in A major from 1941 is a four-movement work.

A light-hearted jaunt through a lively Broadway streetscape with occasional skyscraping solos, the opening Allegro moderato is the longest, taking up more than a third of the concerto’s 23-minute duration.

Bennett was born in 1894, the year when Brahms was 61, Mahler completed his Symphony No. 2 and Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune was premiered in Paris. His father George was a violinist at the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra and trumpeter at the Grand Opera House, while his mother May worked as a pianist and

The Andante moderato is a sentimental nocturne with the violin yearning in song, set against a moonlit orchestral backdrop. A moment of drama interrupts this reverie as the soloist perks up for a side of cheekiness, before gradually slipping into the gentle night.

“ I give (Bennett the credit) without undue modesty, for making my music sound better than it was.”

- Richard Rogers

A frantic and capricious Vivace serves as a brief showcase before the raucous finale, a colourful Allegro marziale (“martial”) of a parade. Various themes from the earlier movements, the jolly and the nostalgic, make a brief reappearance before the curtain-closing coda.

Bennett wrote his Violin Concerto for the American violinist Louis Kaufmann (1905–1994). Aside from the fact that he played frequently with legendary contemporaries from Casals to Heifetz, Kaufmann also made a name for himself playing in the soundtracks of Hollywood films, including such classics as Casablanca and Gone with the Wind. As a classical violinist, he premiered the works of Copland, Milhaud and starred in the premiere recordings of the Barber and Bennett violin concertos. The latter, a live radio recording from 1956 conducted by Bernard Herrmann and the London Symphony, is the only existing recording of this concerto.

Tonight’s performance by violinist Chloë Hanslip, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and conductor Andrew Litton is presented in conjunction with our recording sessions. The Bennett Violin Concerto will be recorded for the first time with modern equipment in a studio setting. This will be released in an album paired with the Violin Concerto by Vernon Duke, being performed by the same artists in concert on 27 Oct.

Instrumentation

2 flutes (1 doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes (1 doubling on cor anglais), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, tambourine, snare drum, suspended cymbal, bass drum, cymbals, xylophone, vibraphone, harp, strings

Programme notes by Chia Han-Leon

Robert Russell Bennett

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)

Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 (1877)

Andante sostenuto

Andantino in modo di canzona

Scherzo. Pizzicato ostinato

Finale. Allegro con fuoco

Shortly after the premiere of the Fourth Symphony in February 1878, Tchaikovsky revealed in a letter to his former student, the composer Sergei Tanayev, “There is not a single bar in this Fourth Symphony of mine which I have not truly felt, and which is not an echo of my most intimate spiritual life.”

Tchaikovsky worked on his Fourth Symphony throughout 1877, a turbulent and eventful year for the 37-year-old composer. Two extraordinary relationships with two very different women would result in crucial consequences for his personal and artistic life.

Around May 1877, Tchaikovsky received a declaration of love from Antonina Milyukova, a former Moscow Conservatory student. She was obsessively infatuated with him, but he could not remember meeting her before and did not reciprocate her affection. Nevertheless, he married her in July. He viewed the marriage as a means of achieving social stability, hoping that it would suppress the swirling gossip, and his own tormented feelings, about his sexual orientation. By September, this fiasco of a marriage was over. Tchaikovsky, in his own words, “fled” from his bride and suffered a nervous breakdown.

That same year, Tchaikovsky began corresponding with Nadezhda von Meck, a wealthy widow who became a close friend and patron. The two never met in person,

but exchanged volumes of letters for 14 years, freely sharing their most personal thoughts and feelings. Von Meck was an invaluable source of emotional support for Tchaikovsky and her generous monthly stipend gave him the means to devote himself to composing. He dedicated the Fourth Symphony to her as his “best friend” and referred to the Symphony in their letters as “our Symphony”.

Although the Symphony was presented without a programme or accompanying storyline, Tchaikovsky shared a detailed description of the work with von Meck. In the aftermath of his impulsive, ill-suited marriage, it is perhaps inevitable that he would reflect on his Symphony through the lens of fate and man’s desire for happiness and relief.

Tchaikovsky wrote to von Meck that the opening fanfare was the key to the entire symphony and was a symbol for fate, an “invincible force which ever prevents our pursuit of happiness from reaching its goal”. This fanfare serves as a sonic signpost throughout the first movement, marking out important structural moments. This was Tchaikovsky’s subtle tribute to the famous opening motif in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which was also said to represent fate. The first movement explores various melodic ideas, including a wistful waltz-like second theme for the clarinet, and harmonic destinations, drifting through

“fleeting dreams of happiness”. However, the movement ends with the triumph of fate and despair.

The second movement begins with a mournful oboe solo, which is followed by a more hopeful response in the strings, building to an impassioned climax. For Tchaikovsky, this movement captures the sense of loss and regret brought to mind by past memories and the weariness of everyday existence. The string section plays pizzicato, plucking their strings instead of using their bows, for the entire third movement creating a light and somewhat bewilderingly playful soundworld. Tchaikovsky likened this movement to the random thoughts, sounds and images floating through the mind of an inebriated man. It is “neither joyful nor sad” but divorced from reality, “wild, strange and bizarre”.

In the fourth movement, the curtain opens on a scene of rustic celebration. The Russian folk song, The Little Birch Tree, features prominently in this movement, as the music marches forward with exuberant cymbal crashes. Determined to be happy, Tchaikovsky has now resolved to “be glad in others’ gladness”. However, the fanfare from the first movement reasserts itself towards the end of the movement, an ominous reminder that none of us can escape from fate. The symphony concludes with a frenzied, headlong rush of sound, as if trying to drown out fate with a spectacle of festivity.

Programme notes by Abigail Sin

Instrumentation

2 flutes, piccolo, 4 oboes, 4 clarinets, 4 bassoons, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, bass drum, cymbals, strings

World Premiere

22 Feb 1878, Moscow

First performed by SSO

3 Sep 1982

Swinging White Birch by Koichiro Kurita

DUKE VIOLIN CONCERTO AND TCHAIKOVSKY 6

THRILL AND PASSION

Fri, 27 Oct 2023

Esplanade Concert Hall

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Andrew Litton conductor

Chloë Hanslip violin*

VERNON DUKE

Violin Concerto* (Asian Premiere)

TCHAIKOVSKY

Intermission Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 “Pathétique”

30 mins

20 mins

46 mins

Concert Duration: approximately 1 hr 50 mins (including 20 mins intermission)

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VERNON DUKE (1903–1969)

Violin Concerto (1943) Asian Premiere

Tema con variazioni e coda

“Superior melodies, very well designed, harmonically beautiful” – so said Prokofiev of the music of Vernon Duke. This gives you one idea of how this half-hour-long violin concerto from 1943 sounds like. Duke’s music has also been compared to the likes of Shostakovich and Stravinsky, so it may come as no surprise to know that he is in fact Russian-born, entering the Kyiv Conservatory – the present-day Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music –at age 11, and studied composition under Reinhold Glière.

He was born Vladimir Dukelsky in 1903. His family escaped the Russian Revolution, arriving in America in 1921. Here, another famous composer, Jacob Gershowitz – whom you know as George Gershwin –befriended him and was also the source of the advice to Americanize his name.

In America, Vernon Duke gained fame and remains renowned as a legendary songwriter and composer for Broadway and Hollywood. Classics such as “Taking a Chance on Love”, “April in Paris” and “I Can’t Get Started” are often praised alongside celebrated singers who made them famous, such as Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra.

Duke also continued to write music of the “serious” vein, including three symphonies, chamber works, choral works, a piano concerto, cello concerto and ballet – his Zephy and Flora was commissioned by

Diaghilev and performed by the Ballets Russes in 1925.

While it is never the fairest way to describe a work in terms of another composer’s style, invoking the name of Prokofiev in this case gives one a good idea the tonal colours and stylistic gestures to expect. Vernon Duke’s Violin Concerto otherwise stands completely on its own.

The first movement begins with a pensive, mysterious introduction by two flutes, quickly gathering the entire orchestra before the solo violin enters in deceptively good spirits. In true Prokofievian fashion, the inviting melody veers into a mixture of urgent anxiety and pungent lyricism. Halfway through, the pace slows as horns and a solo trumpet jazzily clear the stage for the disquiet cadenza, ending with a pizzicato chord. The orchestra returns with an Allegro giusto section characterised by the soloist’s breathless dance in frenetic dotted and triplet figures. The movement slows to an Adagietto, as a nocturnal whiff of Broadway, sweet and sultry, complete with the tinkling of celesta, unveils the glowing final bars.

The second movement is a 5-minute Valse. The modern flavour of this waltz is immediately evident from the onset as the soloist tip-toes onto a dance floor painted in dark hues by winds, then strings. An uneasy, haunting atmosphere pervades the movement until the middle, when the soloist

launches into a brief, virtuosic passage on her own. The waltz theme returns, as the movement begins to wind down. The opening pizzicati is heard again, as if the soloist is now making her way slowly out the hall – and ends, not quietly, but with a bang of three loud chords, like a final glare and a slam of the door.

You'll feel as if you’ve just stepped into a busy street (complete with car-like horns) as the “theme with variations” finale begins, stating the main theme prominently three times before the solo violin enters with the first Variation – a hectic, skittering score punctuated by isolated murmurs from various instruments.

Variation 2 is a sentimental poco lamentoso with more than a tinge of angst.

Variation 3 is moderately paced section, with the solo violin wandering in dizzying fashion between the moods of “misterioso” and “giocoso”, with emphasis on the latter’s playful dimension.

Variation 4 is a short, 52-bar offering, marked “Sostenuto pesante” — you’ll hear music of a sustained, heavy character, with lower brass and timpani lending their weight.

The equally brief Variation 5 is an Andantino, returning to music of pensive disquiet.

A rattle of snare drums signals the final Variation, the sixth, which leads to the final coda. The jocular energy of the opening returns, as the concerto hastens to its ending, the woodwind and xylophone contributing a final flourish before the concluding chord.

score in 1941. According to Diana Burgin of the University of Massachusetts, Boston, the piece was written at the suggestion of no less than the legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz, but who ultimately declined to premiere the work. Instead, the score was passed to her mother, violinist Ruth Posselt (1911—2007). She demonstrated it at the home of another legend, the conductor Serge Koussevitzky, with the composer present. So impressed was the maestro that he programmed it in the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s 1942/43 season. While not as well-known as contemporary American concertos by Barber or Korngold, Duke’s Violin Concerto is without doubt one of many great violin concertos coming from the USA in the 20th century.

Tonight’s performance by violinist Chloë Hanslip, with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and conductor Andrew Litton is presented in conjunction with our recording sessions. The Duke Violin Concerto will be recorded and released alongside the Violin Concerto by Robert Russell Bennett.

The concerto was completed first in piano

Instrumentation

2 flutes (1 doubling on piccolo),

2 oboes (1 doubling on cor anglais),

2 clarinets (1 doubling on bass clarinet), 2 bassoons (1 doubling on contrabassoon), 4 horns, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, suspended cymbal, tam-tam, tambourine, triangle, wood blocks, xylophone, celesta, strings

World Premiere

18 Mar 1943, Boston

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)

Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 “Pathétique” (1893)

I II III IV

Adagio – Allegro non troppo Allegro con grazia Allegro molto vivace Finale. Adagio lamentoso

In 1889, Tchaikovsky wrote, “I want terribly to write a somewhat grandiose symphony, which would crown my artistic career… For some time I have carried in my head an outline plan for such a symphony… I hope that I shall not die without carrying out this intention.”

With this in mind, he set to work. He was further guided by two thoughts, that it would be a large-scale symphony with “a secret programme”, and the notion that it will end not with a traditionally fast allegro, but with a slow movement.

“The ultimate essence of the symphony,” Tchaikovsky said, “is life”, encompassing all its joys and misery. He further described his thoughts for this ultimate symphony: “First movement—all passion, confidence, thirst for life. Must be short (finale death—result of collapse). Second movement—love; the third—disappointment; the fourth ends dying away (also short)”

Tchaikovsky’s initial attempts to fulfil this plan resulted in a Symphony in E-flat, which he expressed much dissatisfaction with and abandoned in 1892. This was not it, he declared, it was not the ultimate symphony that he believed will crown his career. In early 1893, his inspiration was again rekindled by the prospect of intriguing the audience with a “secret programme”. He seemed almost delighted by the idea,

writing, “such a programme that will remain an enigma to everyone—let them guess.” This, the definitive Sixth Symphony, was completed in the summer.

The form of this symphony will have much that is new, and amongst other things, the finale will not be a noisy allegro, but on the contrary, a long drawn-out adagio. You can’t imagine how blissful I feel in the conviction that my time is not yet passed, and that to work is still possible. (11 Feb, 1893)

Tchaikovsky conducted the premiere of the symphony himself on 28 October 1893. The composer Rimsky-Korsakov asked him what this work depicted. Tchaikovsky replied that there was indeed a programme, but he declined to reveal it. Nevertheless, this, alongside the mystified reactions of the audience at its first performance, prompted Tchaikovsky to rethink its name.

His brother Modest suggested “Pateticheskaya”, meaning passionate or emotional in Russian, and this made it to the published score. In French, the title is translated as Pathétique – and this is the name that has held strong in the west. The word means “filled with pathos”, especially of strong intense feelings and should not be confused with the English word “pathetic”. A closer translation would simply be “Passionate”.

The Pathétique Symphony encapsulates the length and breadth of Tchaikovsky’s musical emotions, from optimistic passion to lyrical elegance, but also anguish and despair. As he desired, its exact meaning remains a subject of musicological debate today. All qualities that would’ve been admired by the Romantic tradition stemming from Beethoven’s era.

Adagio – Allegro non troppo The first movement begins solemnly with the bassoon, leading the orchestra out of the darkness. A nervous Allegro non troppo heightens the pace, eventually revealing a theme of great lyrical tenderness. A tumultuous scene of drama takes over, and after a reprise of the lyrical theme, the movement ends quietly.

Allegro con grazia Strings usher in the serene and graceful second movement, featuring one of Tchaikovsky’s most luscious melodies. With its gentle ebb and flow, the music feels like a waltz but is in fact in 5/4 rather than triple time, earning it the moniker of “limping waltz”.

Allegro molto vivace The electrifying third movement begins with skittering strings that builds to an exuberant march, culminating in a massive orchestral whirlwind of thunder and triumph. This climactic false conclusion often draws applause from the audience, another point of contention that surrounds this symphony. Can one resist clapping after such a grandiose end? If you clap, does it not jar with what’s about to come?

Adagio lamentoso If you clapped after the third movement, the realisation that that was not the end — and now comes true finality — comes almost as a shock, a kind of emotional betrayal. If you did not clap,

if perhaps you knew what was coming, that too hardly prepares you for the emotional crumbling of the finale.

Something is happening inside me, which I don’t understand: some sort of weariness from life, a sense of disappointment. At times I’m madly homesick, but even in those depths I can look forward to a new relish for life; instead it’s something hopeless, final, and even, as finales often are, banal. (Tchaikovsky, 1890)

Unrelenting despair and resignation pervade this final movement. Its gloom and cries of angst even makes the preceding celebrations seem a little sinister. Now the symphony truly ends as its life gradually dissolves, its spirit drained layer by layer down to the bottom of the strings, fading away into darkness, pppp.

To the dismay of the public, Tchaikovsky died just nine days after the symphony’s first performance. Ignoring the threat of a cholera outbreak, the composer had apparently consumed unboiled water and ignored the resulting stomach aches. It is not surprising that many have interpreted his Sixth Symphony as fate knocking at his door or even a suicide letter. But Tchaikovsky was in fact in good spirits at the time. He even wrote to his publisher, “Never in my life have I been so content, so proud, so happy in the knowledge that I have written a good piece.” Even so, we know he wrestled with his inner demons. Perhaps in embracing the “secret programme” in his “ultimate symphony”, he had found the gold that does not glitter, and the strength that does not wither.

Programme notes by Chia Han-Leon

Instrumentation

3 flutes (1 doubling on piccolo),

3 oboes,

3 clarinets (1 doubling on bass clarinet),

3 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets,

3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, tam-tam, strings

World Premiere

28 Oct 1893, St. Petersburg

First performed by SSO

6 Nov 1981

Trees in an Autumn Landscape by Theo van Hoytema

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Stephen Riady Group of Foundations

Yong Hon Kong Foundation

Embassy of France in Singapore

Audemars Piguet

City Developments Limited

Foundation Of Rotary Clubs (Singapore) Ltd

JKhoo Consultancy Pte Ltd

Lee Foundation

The New Eden Charitable Trust

VALIRAM

Far East Organization

United Overseas Bank Ltd

Bloomberg Singapore Pte Ltd

Holywell Foundation

Kris Foundation

IN-KIND SPONSORS

Raffles Hotel Singapore

SMRT Corporation

Singapore Airlines

Conrad Centennial Singapore

Symphony 924

Packages start at $10,000 and can be tailored to your company’s branding needs.

PARTNERSHIP

We partner with various corporates through tailored in-kind sponsorship and exchange of services. Current and recent partnerships include Official Hotel, Official Airline, and we offer other exciting titles.

For more details, please write to Chelsea Zhao at chelsea.zhao@sso.org.sg.

GAO JIAN ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL HORN

Official Merchandise

BOARD OF DIRECTORS & COMMITTEES

CHAIR

Goh Yew Lin

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Yong Ying-I (Deputy Chair)

Chang Chee Pey

Chng Kai Fong

Prof Arnoud De Meyer

Warren Fernandez

Kenneth Kwok

Liew Wei Li

Sanjiv Misra

Lynette Pang

Prof Qin Li-Wei

Geoffrey Wong

Yasmin Zahid

Yee Chen Fah

Andrew Yeo Khirn Hin

NOMINATING AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Goh Yew Lin (Chair)

Prof Arnoud De Meyer (Treasurer)

Geoffrey Wong

Yong Ying-I

HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE

Yong Ying-I (Chair)

Chng Kai Fong

Prof Arnoud De Meyer

Heinrich Grafe

Doris Sohmen-Pao

INVESTMENT COMMITTEE

Geoffrey Wong (Chair)

Sanjiv Misra

David Goh

Alex Lee

AUDIT COMMITTEE

Yee Chen Fah (Chair)

Warren Fernandez

Lim Mei Jovi Seet

SNYO COMMITTEE

Liew Wei Li (Chair)

Prof Qin Li-Wei

Benjamin Goh

Vivien Goh

Dr Kee Kirk Chin

Clara Lim-Tan

SSO MUSICIANS’ COMMITTEE

Mario Choo

David Smith

Wang Xu

Christoph Wichert

Yang Zheng Yi

Elaine Yeo

Zhao Tian

SSO COUNCIL

Alan Chan (Chair)

Odile Benjamin

Prof Chan Heng Chee

Choo Chiau Beng

Dr Geh Min

Heinrich Grafe

Khoo Boon Hui

Lim Mei

JY Pillay

Dr Stephen Riady

Priscylla Shaw

Prof Gralf Sieghold

Andreas Sohmen-Pao

Prof Bernard Tan

Dr Tan Chin Nam

Tan Choo Leng

Tan Soo Nan

Wee Ee Cheong

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY GROUP ADMINISTRATION

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Kenneth Kwok

CEO OFFICE

Shirin Foo

Musriah Bte Md Salleh

ARTISTIC PLANNING

Hans Sørensen (Head)

Artistic Administration

Jodie Chiang

Jocelyn Cheng

Michelle Yeo

Lynnette Chng

OPERATIONS

Ernest Khoo (Head)

Library

Lim Lip Hua

Avik Chari

Wong Yi Wen

Orchestra Management

Chia Jit Min (Head)

Peck Xin Hui

Kelvin Chua

Production Management

Noraihan Bte Nordin

Nazem Redzuan

Leong Shan Yi

Asyiq Iqmal

Ramayah Elango

Khairi Edzhairee

Khairul Nizam

COMMUNITY IMPACT

Kok Tse Wei (Head)

Community Engagement

Kua Li Leng (Head)

Erin Tan

Whitney Tan

Samantha Lim

Terrence Wong

Choral Programmes

Kua Li Leng (Head)

Regina Lee

Chang Hai Wen

Singapore National Youth Orchestra

Tang Ya Yun

Tan Sing Yee

Ridha Ridza

ABRSM

Patricia Yee

Lai Li-Yng

Joong Siow Chong

Freddie Loh

May Looi

William Teo

PATRONS

Development

Chelsea Zhao (Head)

Nikki Chuang

Sarah Wee

Sharmilah Banu

Eunice Salanga

Digital and Marketing Communications

Cindy Lim (Head)

Chia Han-Leon

Calista Lee

Myrtle Lee

Hong Shu Hui

Jana Loh

Sherilyn Lim

Elizabeth Low

Corporate Communications

Anderlin Yeo

Elliot Lim

Customer Experience

Randy Teo

Dacia Cheang

Joy Tagore

CORPORATE SERVICES

Finance, IT & Facilities

Rick Ong (Head)

Alan Ong

Goh Hoey Fen

Loh Chin Huat

Md Zailani Bin Md Said

Human Resources & Administration

Valeria Tan (Head)

Janice Yeo

Fionn Tan

Netty Diyanah Bte Osman

Organisation Development

Lillian Yin

A chamber music series by the Singapore Symphony

UPCOMING CONCERTS CHAMBER

LEONIDAS K AVAKOS IN RECITAL

Sun 15 Oct, 4pm

Leonidas Kavakos violin

Enrico Pace piano

A HAUNTED HALLOWEEN HYMN

Sat 28 Oct, 7.30pm

Sun 29 Oct, 4pm

Singapore Symphony Chorus

Eudenice Palaruan Choral Director

Loraine Muthiah organ

BAROQUE FESTIVAL BACH’S BRANDENBURG OS PART I & II

Thu 2 Nov, 7.30pm , 7.30pm

Singapore Symphony Orchestra harpsichord/conductor

CHAMBER

MOONLIGHT, PATHÉTIQUE AND APPASSIONATA

Sun 10 Dec, 4pm

Rudolf Buchbinder piano

Tickets from $5, 15% off 2-concert bundle available for selected concerts.

To find out more, please visit www.sso.org.sg

Sponsored by Lee Foundation

The mission of the Singapore Symphony Group is to create memorable shared experiences with music. Through the SSO and its affiliated per forming groups, we spread the love for music, nur ture talent and enrich our diverse communities. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is a charity and not-for-profit organisation. You can suppor t us by donating at www.sso.org.sg/donate.

Stephen Riady Group of Foundations