28th Singapore International Piano Festival

4 – 13 JUN 2022

MESSAGE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

L I M YA N

A very warm welcome to the 2022 Singapore International Piano Festival (SIPF).

Last year’s uncertainties have given way to this year’s confidence. With this optimistic outlook, the SIPF has returned to full capacity audiences at all masterclass and recitals, a development that is as welcome as it is exhilarating!

The festival could only accommodate a reduced audience size back in 2021. I am delighted that this year, we are able to share again all four recitals from last year on SSOLOUNGE, the Digital Concert Hall of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. The streaming platform enables you to relive the wonderful performances by the talented pianists Kseniia Vokhmianina, Churen Li, Nicholas Loh and Chang Yun-Hua. This year’s festival spotlights internationally acclaimed pianists Ingrid Fliter, 2006 Gilmore Artist Award winner; Leon McCawley, Artist-In-Residence with Wigmore Hall; and Shaun Choo, the celebrated young Singaporean pianist.

I could not be more excited by the combination of artistry and pianistic pyrotechnics in the line-up. Wishing you a memorable and inspirational SIPF 2022.

Lim Yan Artistic Director

AT A G L A N C E (2 0 2 2)

Digital Events on

Live Events

4 J U N, S AT

9 JUN, THU

Chang Yun-Hua | 5pm Works by Beethoven, Copland, Albéniz and Brahms

Kyoko Hashimoto CANCELLED

Kseniia Vohmianina | 8pm Works by J.S. Bach, Revutsky and Rachmaninoff

7.30pm | Victoria Concert Hall Works by Beethoven, Debussy, Suk and Bartók

10 J U N , F R I

Masterclass with Kyoko Hashimoto 5 JUN, SUN

Nicholas Loh | 5pm Works by Rzewski and Crumb

Churen Li | 8pm Works by J.S. Bach, Li, Schumann, Crumb and Ravel

4pm | Victoria Concert Hall Dance Studio ED Works by Rzewski and Crumb CANCELL

Shaun Choo

7.30pm | Victoria Concert Hall Works by Beethoven, Chopin, J.S. Bach, Busoni, Schubert, Kreisler, Strauss and Choo

11 J U N , S A T

SIPF Festival Pass: $8

Ingrid Fliter

• Access to all four SIPF digital recitals • Unlimited access for 90 days • Bonus material from the SSOLOUNGE library • Watch from anywhere in the world

7.30pm | Victoria Concert Hall Works by Haydn, Beethoven, Scarlatti and Schumann

SSOLOUNGE 12M All-Access Pass: $30

12 J U N , S U N

• Access to all four SIPF digital recitals • 10+ new Singapore Symphony Orchestra releases every year • Bonus material from the SSOLOUNGE library • Watch from anywhere in the world

Masterclass with Ingrid Fliter

4pm | Victoria Concert Hall Dance Studio

Leon McCawley 7.30pm | Victoria Concert Hall Works by Haydn, Mozart and Schubert

13 J U N , M O N

Masterclass with Leon McCawley

7pm | Victoria Concert Hall Dance Studio Find out more

3

PROGR AMME 9 JUN 2022, THU V I C TO R I A CO N C E RT H A L L

CANCELL

ED

KYOKO HASHIMOTO

BEETHOVEN

Bagatelles, Op. 126

DEBUSSY

Selections from Préludes Book 1

Intermission

21'00 27'00

20'00

SUK

Six Piano Pieces, Op. 7

BÁRTÓK

Dance Suite

28'00

19'00

Concert Duration: approximately 2 hrs (with 20 mins intermission) • There will be a post-concert autograph session with Kyoko Hashimoto • Masterclass: 10 Jun, 4pm at the Victoria Concert Hall Dance Studio

4

9 JUN 2022, THU

KYOKO HASHIMOTO www.kyoko-hashimoto.com

Born in Tokyo, Kyoko Hashimoto studied at Toho-Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, the International Menuhin Music Academy, Indiana University, and the Juilliard School.

A regular performer internationally, she has performed in more than 35 countries including many major cities and halls such as Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. She has been invited to many important festivals including the Prague Spring Festival, the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival, Pacific Festival.

Kyoko has performed many duo recitals and chamber music concerts with Ruggiero Ricci, Thomas Zehetmair, Sandor Vegh, Antonio Meneses, Steven Isserlis, to name a few, and has also collaborated as a soloist with the Prague Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra and the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra.

She was awarded numerous prizes such as the 1st grand prize and the public prize at the Concours International de Musique Française. She has also made

more than a dozen highly-acclaimed CDrecordings in the U.K., Holland, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Japan.

Kyoko is currently Professor of Piano and Piano Area Coordinator at Schulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and was on the piano faculty and the chamber music faculty of the Utrecht Conservatory in Holland for 12 years, as well as visiting professor at European Mozart Academy and many others. She has served as an International Jury member for many competitions including the Gina Bachauer International Piano Artists Competition and many others. She has given masterclasses all over the world at top schools and she has been Artist director of IMWAF in Czech Republic, Portugal, Germany since 2004.

Bagatelles, Op. 126 No. 1 in G major: Andante con moto No. 2 in G minor: Allegro No. 3 in E-flat major: Andante No. 4 in B minor: Presto No. 5 in G major: Quasi allegretto No. 6 in E-flat major: Presto – Andante amabile e con moto – Tempo l Beethoven’s Bagatelles, Op. 126 are much more than “trifles", as their title suggests. Beethoven, the mastermind behind massive musical forms, proves to be equally adept at the miniature as lyrical or introspective pieces alternate deftly with more active, dramatic ones.

Composed at the same time that he was working on the monumental Missa Solemnis and the Ninth Symphony, these bagatelles are imbued with a musical sophistication typical of his late style. In fact, in a letter to his publisher, Beethoven wrote that they were “quite the best pieces of their kind that I have written.”

No. 1 in G major unfolds as an unbroken musical line despite changes in time signature and even a little teasing cadenza in the middle.

Full of spirit and drive, No. 2 in G minor is a colourful contrast to the noble simplicity of No. 3 in E-flat major, which sustains over morphing textures.

No. 4 in B minor has an elusive personality, for it alternates between energetic contrapuntal material and dreaminess.

Quietly expressive, No. 5 in G major features flowing triplets gently swayed by syncopations across the bar lines.

No. 6 in E-flat major opens and closes with boisterous statements that sandwich a much more poised main section. This middle section starts out like a barcarolle before spinning off into a wealth of musical ideas, some coy and playful, others almost theatrical.

C L A U D E D E B U S S Y ( 18 6 2 –1918 )

Selections from Préludes Book I IV. Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir: Modéré (“The sounds and scents waft through the evening air”) V. Les collines d'Anacapri: Très modéré (“The hills of Anacapri”) VI. Des pas sur la neige: Triste et lent (“Footsteps in the snow”) IX. La sérénade interrompue: Modérément animé (“Interrupted Serenade”) X. La cathédrale engloutie: Profondément calme (“The Sunken Cathedral”) XI. La danse de Puck: Capricieux et léger (“The dance of Puck”) XII. Minstrels: Modéré “The sound of the sea, the curve of the horizon, the wind in the leaves, the cry of a bird enregister complex impressions within us,” revealed Debussy in an interview whilst working on his Preludes.

“Then suddenly, without any deliberate consent on our part, one of those memories issues forth to express itself in the language of music.”

Indeed, Debussy’s 24 Préludes are prime examples of his ability to evoke atmospheres, reminiscences and visions that defy language. Tonight’s selection is from Book I of the Préludes, composed in 1909–1910 and published by Durand in May 1910. In actuality, they are more

KYOKO HASHIMOTO

L U D W I G VA N B E E T H O V E N ( 17 7 0 –18 2 7 )

6

tone poems than preludes, echoing the Rachmaninoff Preludes of Opus 23 and 32 that were completed earlier in 1903 and 1910, respectively.

Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir (“The sounds and scents waft through the evening air”) is quoted from Baudelaire’s Harmonie du soir (“The harmony of the evening”), one of a hundred poems originally published in 1857 under the title Fleurs du Mal (“Flowers of Evil”). In fact, Fleurs du Mal was pivotal in launching the Symbolist movement which inspired much of Debussy’s output. Baudelaire’s poem suggests memories of a past love, made all the more poignant by the voluptuous harmonies and lilting tones in this prelude.

Like a breath of fresh air, Les collines d’Anacapri (“The hills of Anacapri”) opens with alluring ascending bells before launching into a spirited segment, full of Neapolitan exuberance. A musical depiction of the sunny Italian island in the Bay of Naples is later painted through the impressionistic treatment of fragments of a Neapolitan folk song, replete with warm and lush resonances.

Time seems to stop in Des pas sur la neige (“Footsteps in the snow”). A recurring ostinato motto, widely spaced chords in the left hand and fragments of a distant melody in the right hand vividly recounts a despondent, frozen scene.

English musicologist Edward Lockspeiser asked, “Those solitary footsteps marked out in the bleak snowscape of Des pas sur la neige … where do they lead?”

La sérénade interrompue (“The Interrupted Serenade”) was hailed by Manuel de Falla as “a master work” and capturing exquisitely an “Andalusian grace”. The imitation of plucked guitar strings, suggestive harmonies, hints of traditional Gypsy song and the mesmerizing rhythms of Iberian dance lend the work a strong Spanish flavour.

Humour is at work too, as the music narrates a frustrated lover struggling to deliver his song without interruption.

La cathédrale engloutie (“The Sunken Cathedral”) was inspired by an ancient Breton legend of a cathedral in the sunken city of Ys that emerges above the waves on clear days. As the story goes, one can hear bells tolling and priests chanting then. The use of parallel octaves and fifths alongside tone clusters atmospherically summons a mirage of church bells, organum and monks chanting. The piece comes full circle at the end, as the disappearing sonorities of lingering chords portrays the cathedral silently slipping back into the sea.

La danse de Puck (“The dance of Puck”) brings to life the capricious elfin character of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream through gossamer strains and unexpected accented chords. One of the only few of Debussy’s works inspired

by Shakespeare, its novelty is further ingrained in its unique ending of a weightless, ascending flourish, as if Puck has vanished in an instant.

In Debussy’s day, American minstrel shows began appearing at European fairs. He evokes their humour, the sounds of their banjos and the spirit of their strutting dances in Minstrels. A plagal cadence that uncharacteristically does not sound hymn-like ends the work, like a sardonic finishing remark.

B É L A B Á R T Ó K ( 18 81 –19 4 5 )

Six Piano Pieces, Op. 7

Dance Suite

I. II. III. IV. V. VI.

I. II. III. IV. V. VI.

Song of Love Humoresque Recollections Idyll I & II Dumka Capricionetto

Josef Suk belongs to the second generation of Czech nationalist composers, preceded by Smetana and Dvořák. Known for his extraordinary output in chamber music, Suk also wrote a good number of works for solo piano. The Six Piano Pieces, Op. 7, was composed between 1891 and 1893. It traverses a wide range of moods; from the tenderness and quiet yearning of elongated leaning notes in the wellknown Song of Love, the charming waltzes in Humoreske and Idylls, the pensive nostalgia in the improvisatory Recollection, to the colourful sounds that narrate Slavic life in Dumka and Capricionetto. It is without a doubt that Suk found in the piano, an instrument that he himself played, a means of heartfelt self-expression.

Moderato Allegro molto Allegro vivace Molto tranquillo Comodo Finale. Allegro

In 1923, the Budapest city council organised a grand celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the merging of the towns, Buda and Pest. To cap the occasion, a grand concert was staged in which prominent composers of the region, Dohnányi, Bartók and Kodály were each commissioned a work to be performed by the orchestra of the Budapest Philharmonic Society. Bartók composed the Dance Suite for this event. An arrangement for piano was published two years later, but never publicly performed until 1945, a few months before his death, by his friend György Sándor.

The work consists of five dances and a finale that brings together material previously heard. Played without pause, the movements are bound together by a lyrical ritornello. The tunes heard are Bartók’s own, inspired by Hungarian, Wallachian and Arabian folk melodies.

His musical trademark is heard in the switching of meters, syncopations and displaced rhythms. At times the music rises to a rowdy romp that recalls the “Pursuit” section of Bartók’s earlier ballet pantomime The Miraculous Mandarin and foreshadows the ending of his Concerto for Orchestra.

Programme notes by Khoo Hui Ling

KYOKO HASHIMOTO

J O S E F S U K ( 18 74 –19 3 5 )

8

PROGR AMME 10 J U N 2 0 2 2 , F R I V I C TO R I A CO N C E RT H A L L

SHAUN CHOO

BEETHOVEN

Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata”

CHOPIN

Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52

Intermission

11'00

20'00

J.S. BACH/BUSONI Chaconne in D minor SCHUBERT arr. LISZT

13'00

Auf dem Wasser zu Singen, S.558, No. 2 4'00 Die Forelle, S.564 “The Trout” 5'00 Aufenthalt from Schwanengesang, S.560/3 4'00

KREISLER Liebesleid arr. RACHMANINOFF

5'00

J. STRAUSS II On the Beautiful Blue Danube arr. SCHULTZ-EVLER SHAUN CHOO

Tango

7'00

Concert Duration: approximately 2 hrs (with 20 mins intermission) • There will be a post-concert autograph session with Shaun Choo

10'00

25'00

10 J U N 2 0 2 2 , F R I

SHAUN CHOO www.musicshaun.com @musicshaun @musicshaun28

Singaporean pianist Shaun Choo attained his Diploma in Music Performance at 14 under Ms. Lena Ching. He pursued his studies abroad at the University Mozarteum Salzburg, Austria, graduating with highest distinction the Degrees “Bachelor of Arts” under Professors KarlHeinz Kämmerling and Andreas Weber, and “Master of Arts” under Professor Jacques Rouvier respectively. Further mentors include Dmitri Alexeev, Bernd Goetzke, Matti Raekallio and Dang Thai Son.

An avid composer, Shaun often performs his own works during recitals. He was commissioned by the Singapore Armed Forces to compose the Signal Formation Song during his two-year military service.

He has conducted several masterclasses and is a recurring professor at the International Summer Academy Mozarteum. He holds the title of Adjunct Professor in Chun University Charlotte, North Carolina and Adjunct Lecturer at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Singapore.

Shaun’s performing career has taken him across Europe and Asia, and he is a prizewinner at more than ten international competitions, including nine first prizes. He emerged victorious at the 3rd International Piano Competition Istanbul Orchestra’ Sion and is a fivetime prize winner in international Chopin competitions held in Hungary, France, China, South Korea and Australia.

Other notable triumphs include the Artur Schnabel Piano Competition Berlin, Grotrian Steinweg Piano Competition Beijing and ZF MusikPreis Friedrichshafen, and prizes at the "Flame" International Competition Paris and Blüthner Golden Tone Award in Vienna.

Shaun is the first external piano candidate in many years to be successfully admitted into the prestigious “Konzertexamen” Postgraduate Program at the Berlin University of the Arts, the highest qualification awarded to performing musicians in Germany, where he is currently under the tutelage of Professor Björn Lehmann.

10

L U D W I G VA N B E E T H O V E N ( 17 7 0 –18 2 7 )

Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata” I. Allegro assai II. Andante con moto III. Allegro ma non troppo - Presto Tonight’s programme is a wide-ranging feast covering old warhorses, moving through some slightly recherché territory, and finishing with a grand romp in the finest traditions of the Romantic virtuoso.

Beethoven was known as one of the best pianists of his era, and his piano writing was credited with pushing the boundaries of what constituted “virtuosity” in the early 19th century. At the end of the Classical era, keyboard technique was a holdover from the widespread use of the fortepiano; Beethoven’s much heavier compositions demanded more strongly-built instruments and a different playing technique using much more of the pianist’s arm weight and strength.

The famous “Appassionata” Sonata was written in the middle of the 1800s and gained its current nickname after the composer died. It was already known in his lifetime as one of his greatest works and contained some of his most tempestuous music (even more so than his earlier “Tempest”). Beethoven’s first movement here can be criticised as being slightly theme-poor, but the obsessiveness suits the mood, and the bare octaves of the opening create a dark and ominous effect to be well exploited by the outbursts to come. The composer explores new harmonic avenues here: the opening theme is immediately repeated one semitone up, a method he uses again in the finale. There is a lot of very low

music, with particular use of the bottom F — the lowest note on Beethoven’s piano at the time.

The second movement is a short set of variations on a chorale. Set in the much warmer key of D-flat major, this movement is almost so classical as to be by Mozart, if not for the sforzando perturbations scattered throughout the music, creating a sense of unease amidst the relative calm. After four variations on the theme, a dramatic diminished chord ushers in the headlong rush of semiquavers that is the last movement. Set in largely the same emotional region as the first movement, the pianist’s stamina is taxed even further by the additional tempo increase in the Presto section, with a wild, frantic ending in Beethoven’s tragic style.

F R É D É R I C C H O P I N ( 181 0 –18 4 9 )

Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 Chopin’s last Ballade of forty years later shows a completely different side of F minor. It has a strong claim to being Chopin’s finest work, and shows Chopin at his lyrical best. The “ballade” as a genre was not completely an original idea; piano music that described stories and scenes had already existed for a long time, but Chopin’s main contribution was freeing that title from concrete images or already-written stories. Instead, the music moves and develops as if telling a story — one that is left up to the listener to imagine.

The opening of this Ballade is mysterious and, while it recalls the beginning of his Ballade No. 2 of a few years prior, this one has a further function: it is a

J . S . B A C H ( 16 8 5 –17 5 0 ) F E R R U C C I O B U S O N I ( 18 6 6 –19 2 4 )

Chaconne in D minor Ferruccio Busoni’s arrangements of Bach were so well known, and the Bach-Busoni name so well-represented on published covers, that his wife was once mistakenly introduced at an English event as “Mrs. Bach-Busoni”! His interpretations of Bach came from several angles: as a virtuoso pianist who carried on the traditions started by Liszt, as a composer looking forward to the future yet without wanting to cut ties to the past, and as a pedagogue having prepared “teaching editions” of large swathes of piano repertoire. But the strangest of all, and the most famous, is the Chaconne — really a piano transcription of an organ reimagining of an original work for violin solo.

Bach’s sombre dance, sometimes said to be a memorial for his first wife, is a meditation upon a falling bass line that repeats endlessly, building to several climaxes along the way (and making a detour through D major as a contrasting episode). Busoni’s grand view of the matter, which he loved performing, gives these climaxes the full scale of the modern piano, including ringing high notes and deep bell sounds in the bass.

Along the way, he introduces passages of increasing virtuosity, continually reaching for the glorious and the sublime.

Brahms wrote of Bach’s original: “On one staff, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings.” Brahms himself would write a rather simple piano version of the Chaconne. Busoni’s version may not be as economical, but it certainly is one master’s view of another master’s world.

The tradition of arranging music for keyboard was not wholly a Romantic affair, but its most famous proponent was Liszt, who was a huge influence on the philosophies Busoni took to music.

From the earliest, Liszt’s arrangements of songs for piano sought to go beyond the literal transfer of the melody to the piano, and often included cadenzas, technically difficult passages, and other fireworks pour épater les bourgeois. Rather than a medium for propagating music in the home, they were a vehicle for Liszt’s virtuosity on the concert stage, a role he played to perfection as composer-pianist.

SHUAN CHOO

full introduction that delays the home key from being properly established for a while. This harmonic strategy pays off richly later, as Chopin reuses the melody in several transitional passages between themes. The main theme itself is a barcarolle, with a waltz accompaniment; the second theme keeps the barcarolle lilt but turns the waltz into a chorale instead.

As the narrative continues, other genres can be heard: a nocturne variation on the main theme turns into an etude-like take on the second theme, with virtuosic, scurrying runs in the left hand. The music builds to a peak, and then — silence. In a stroke of pure genius Chopin inserts five quiet chords before the final storm is unleashed.

12

F R A N Z S C H U B E R T ( 17 9 7 –18 2 8 )

Auf dem Wasser zu Singen, S.558, No. 2 (arr. Liszt) Die Forelle, S.564 “The Trout” (arr. Liszt) Aufenthalt from Schwanengesang, S.560/3 (arr. Liszt) Auf dem Wasser zu Singen (“To sing on the water”) is one of Schubert’s best and most recognisable lieder. A falling pattern with repeated notes in the piano is laid out in the introduction, recreating the ripples in the river. As the boatman sings about searching for happiness and escaping the ravages of time, Liszt’s take on the song gets increasingly agitated, leading him to abandon Schubert’s original accompaniment figure in the last verse and introduce a much more dramatic figure instead.

The Trout, or Die Forelle, is possibly Schubert’s most famous tune, almost attaining the status of a folk song in German-speaking regions. Schubert himself reused the melody of the song in his Trout Quintet and composed a set of variations therein; Liszt’s version adds a sparkling introduction and repeats the verses a few times (effectively writing his own mini-variations). The contrasting middle section is given much more narrative weight as the chromatic harmonies come to light, and a fresh cadenza interrupts the music.

The nonchalant ending of Schubert’s original is given a dressing-up, with more sparkling cadenza figures and a short coda to finish.

Aufenthalt (“Resting Place”), despite its solemn title, is an agitated song about the poet’s sorrow never ending even in death. Liszt’s suitably dramatic take keeps a lot of Schubert’s original music, including the breathless triplet accompaniment, but adds big leaps and huge chords in both hands. Later, recognising that much of the excess stemmed from youthful exuberance, he would add alternatives for pianists who lacked his immense handspan and his virtuosity, striking a more comfortable middle ground between Schubert’s lied and his prolific imagination.

F R I T Z K R E I S L E R (18 7 5 – 19 6 2 )

Liebesleid (arr. Rachmaninoff) Rachmaninoff would take over the mantle from Liszt as the foremost pianistcomposer of the next century. Straddling the turn of the century, he was a young boy when Liszt died and would be an adult by the time of Brahms’s passing, but the figure that really affected him was Tchaikovsky, whose 1894 death sent him spiralling into a decline. He dropped out midway through a performance tour, and then had his First Symphony flop at the premiere, leading to a long period of depression. Throughout this period he never stopped arranging music for piano, and at the end of his life had amassed a veritable volume of transcriptions, including of his own music.

Kreisler, as a friend of Rachmaninoff’s, was well-represented in this endeavour by his two “Old Viennese Dance Tunes”, one of which is on tonight’s programme, Liebesleid (“Love's Sorrow”). A slow, moderate waltz in A minor, Rachmaninoff adds sultry chromatic countermelodies

JOHANN STR AUSS II ( 18 2 5 –18 9 9 )

On the Beautiful Blue Danube (arr. Schultz-Evler) This gigantic showpiece is a set of “arabesques” on the famous Blue Danube waltz by Johann Strauss II. Written by Andrei Schulz-Evler sometime in the early 1900s, this transcription follows the original Strauss waltz down to Strauss’s own sequence of sub-waltzes.

It draws from Schulz-Evler’s own career as a virtuoso pianist studying under Carl Tausig (a student of Liszt), at a time when pianists were all expected to produce such arrangements of their own to play in their concerts, and is the only piece of his still played today.

S H A U N C H O O ( b . 19 91)

Tango Shaun’s Tango was written at the beginning of 2011 and is one of his earliest original works published.

Composing primarily for solo piano, the pianist-composer often infuses traditional, classical forms with modern elements derived from jazz, ragtime and contemporary dances. Through these familiar settings, Shaun hopes that his music will attract potential new classical audiences. As a result of this crossover, his pieces, which normally last around five minutes, generally fit well as encores in classical concerts, or even, as in the case of this recital, nestled within the programme itself.

Programme notes by Thomas Ang, and Shaun Choo (Tango)

SHUAN CHOO

and richer harmonies than exist in the original, though he manages to show quite impressive restraint overall. There are some moments of virtuosity, but only a light dusting is needed for a tune as sentimental as this.

14

PROGR AMME 11 J U N 2 0 2 2 , S A T V I C TO R I A CO N C E RT H A L L

INGRID FLITER

HAYDN

Sonata in E minor, Hob. XVI/34

BEETHOVEN

Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, Op. 31, No. 3 “The Hunt” 23'00

Intermission

13'00

20'00

SCARLATTI

Keyboard Sonata in C-sharp minor, K. 247

SCHUMANN

Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13

30'00

Concert Duration: approximately 2 hrs (with 20 mins intermission) • There will be a post-concert autograph session with Ingrid Fliter • Masterclass: 12 Jun, 4pm at the Victoria Concert Hall Dance Studio

8'00

11 J U N 2 0 2 2 , S A T Photo credit: Gary Houlder

INGRID FLITER www.ingridfliter.com @ingridfliter @rayuela23 @inichka23

Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter has won the admiration and hearts of audiences around the world for her passionate yet thoughtful and sensitive music making played with an effortless technique.

Winner of the 2006 Gilmore Artist Award, one of only a handful of pianists and the only woman to have received this honour, Ingrid Fliter divides her time between North America and Europe.

Recent and future highlights include orchestral engagements in Europe with Norrkoping, Residentie, RSNO, SCO, Orchestre National de Lille, Brussels, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

In North America, orchestral highlights include appearances with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Boston, St. Louis, San Diego, and Colorado symphonies.

And in recital, she appears at Wigmore Hall, the International Piano Series at the South Bank Centre, Turner Sims, the Cheltenham Festival, and in Stockholm, Oslo and Milan.

Recent releases with Linn Records include the Chopin Concerti, Preludes and Nocturnes; Ingrid Fliter has also recorded the Mendelssohn and Schumann Concerti. Her two all-Chopin discs on EMI Classics are a testament to her reputation as one of the preeminent interpreters of Chopin today. Her recording of the complete Chopin Waltzes received five-star reviews and was named the Daily Telegraph’s CD of the Week. It was chosen as Editor’s Choice in both Gramophone and Classic FM Magazine and was described in Gramophone, “Ingrid Fliter sets a new benchmark for the complete waltzes. From beginning to end, this is among the finest Chopin recordings of recent years.” (Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone).

16

J O S E P H H AY D N ( 17 3 2 –18 0 9 )

Sonata in E minor, Hob. XVI/34 I. Presto II. Adagio III. Vivace molto Haydn composed over sixty piano sonatas throughout his long and illustrious career.

Several of these sonatas were written for specific students while others were written for the general public, with the enjoyment of the players and listeners being Haydn’s chief priorities. The Sonatas were designed to delight, fascinate and entertain, embracing the aesthetic trends and popular stylistic idioms of the time.

The Piano Sonata in E minor was published in London around 1783, but was probably composed in the late 1770s. Its extreme use of dynamics and registers reflect the expressive sonic possibilities of the fortepiano, a precursor to the modern piano which would overtake the harpsichord and clavichord as the keyboard instrument of choice amongst amateurs and professional musicians.

The opening of the first movement is typical of the Sturm und Drang (storm and stress) style, with its unusual Presto tempo marking, agitated rhythms, disjointed melody and the dark tone colour of E minor. Haydn derived virtually all the motivic material from the first few bars, including the contrasting lyrical second subject in G major which is heard in thirds and sixths like a pair of flutes weaving around each other. There are opportunities for shimmering displays in the upper registers as well as dramatic utterances in the lower regions of the keyboard.

The Adagio second movement features florid operatic extemporisations in the right hand while the left hand plays a simple, supporting role. A cadenza-like section leads us directly into the Finale with a lilting carefree melody, marked Innocentemente, dancing gaily above a bustling Alberti bass accompaniment. This is contrasted with boisterous episodes in the key of E major, with both minor key and major key themes vying to outdo the other with virtuosic ornamentation and cheeky asides.

L U D W I G VA N B E E T H O V E N ( 17 7 0 –18 2 7 )

Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, Op. 31, No. 3 “The Hunt” I. II. III. IV.

Allegro Scherzo. Allegretto vivace Menuetto. Moderato e grazioso Preso con fuoco

The year 1802 was a pivotal time in Beethoven’s life, as he began to come to terms with the inevitability and permanence of his deafness. Beethoven wrote of the anguish he felt about losing his hearing in what is now known as the Heiligenstadt Testament, a letter addressed to his brothers dated 10 October 1802. He confessed that in his despair he had even considered suicide.

However, he resolved to live on for the sake of his art, stating, “Ah it seemed to me impossible to leave the world until I had brought forth all that I felt was within me.”

That same year, Beethoven wrote a letter to his friend, the violinist Wenzel Krumpholz, announcing, “I am not satisfied with my works up to the present time. From today I mean to take a new

The Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, Op. 31 No. 3 is a warm-hearted and vivacious work, full of humorous harmonic side steps. The first movement opens with a questioning gesture, which does not reveal E-flat major as the tonic until eight bars later. Even then, the all-important perfect cadence is flippantly shrugged off. The second movement is a Scherzo, full of what pianist Andras Schiff jokingly referred to as “composed memory slips”, where the music seems to meander off into silence, before comically snapping back to attention.

Instead of a traditional slow movement, the third movement is an elegant Menuet and Trio that offers a moment of contentment and lyricism, while playfully exploring contrasts of registers and dynamics. The final movement probably inspired the Sonata’s nickname, “The Hunt”. Marked Presto con fuoco, it scampers along at a rollicking pace, with occasional detours to strange harmonic destinations, and brings the Sonata to a thrilling close.

D O M E N I C O S C A R L A T T I ( 16 8 5 –17 5 7 )

Keyboard Sonata in C-sharp minor, K. 247 Scarlatti composed over five hundred keyboard sonatas, most of which were written for Princess Maria Barbara who eventually became the Queen of Spain.

The sonatas were intended as enjoyable teaching pieces for the princess, designed not for “profound Learning, but rather an ingenious Jesting with Art”. Unlike the multi-movement sonatas of the Haydn and Beethoven, Scarlatti’s Sonatas were single-movement miniatures. The Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio described them as pearls that sparkle and bounce about like “drops of liquid beauty”.

The Sonata in C-sharp minor, K. 247 is one of Scarlatti’s most masterful compositions. Its limpid melodic lines belie an adventurous harmonic palette, with exquisite sighing dissonances and an ever-shifting tonal centre. At one point we find ourselves cadencing on an F major chord, as far away from the tonic key of C-sharp minor as we could possibly be.

The innovative keyboard writing on display here, along with Scarlatti’s persuasive sense of lyricism, is sure to enchant both players and listeners.

R O B E R T S C H U M A N N ( 181 0 –18 5 6 )

Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13 Schumann first conceptualised his Symphonic Etudes in 1834, when he was engaged to Ernestine von Fricken, a piano student of Friedrich Wieck.

Ernestine’s adoptive father, the Baron von Fricken, had sent Schumann one of his own amateur compositions, a set of theme and variations for flute. Aiming to flatter his future father-in-law, Schumann composed his own set of piano variations on the Baron’s theme. He continually revised the work over the years and renamed it several times, publishing it in 1837 as the “Symphonic Etudes” and in 1852 as “Etudes in the Form of Variations”. Unfortunately for Ernestine, however, Schumann’s affection for her

INGRID FLITER

road.” The Opus 31 Piano Sonatas were some of the first works to be completed after Beethoven had made this statement, and after he had written the Heiligenstadt Testament. They reflect this “new road” that he had begun to explore as well as his renewed conviction of his purpose in life.

18

barely lasted a year. He ended their engagement upon learning that she was actually of illegitimate birth and would not receive an inheritance, and he turned his attention to the young Clara Wieck instead.

One of the earlier titles considered for this work was “Etudes of an Orchestral Character from Florestan and Eusebius”, which gives us some insight into Schumann’s artistic vision. Passionate and outwardly expressive sections, personified by Florestan, are contrasted with introspective, pensive music which represents Eusebius. The Baron’s theme itself is austere and solemn, providing a brooding, dramatic canvas for Schumann’s flights of creativity. The Etudes feature inventive counterpoint and high-octane virtuosity, with imaginative textures that make use of the full expanse of the keyboard. The piece culminates in a triumphant march, with sonorous pedal points and blazing chords that make the piano truly sound like a full symphony orchestra.

Programme notes by Abigail Sin

19

PROGR AMME 12 J U N 2 0 2 2 , S U N V I C TO R I A CO N C E RT H A L L

LEON MCC AWLEY

HAYDN

Variations in F minor HXVII/6

MOZART

Sonata No. 15 in F major, K. 533/K. 494

Intermission SCHUBERT

15'00

20'00

Sonata No. 21 in B-flat major, D. 960

Concert Duration: approximately 2 hrs (with 20 mins intermission) • There will be a post-concert autograph session with Leon McCawley • Masterclass: 13 Jun, 7pm at the Victoria Concert Hall Dance Studio

40'00

23'00

12 J U N 2 0 2 2 , S U N

LEON MCCAWLEY

Photo credit: Anna Paik

20

www.leonmccawley.com @leonmccawley @LeonMcCawleyPianist @leon.mccawley.pianist

Praised for his unfailingly communicative playing, British pianist Leon McCawley has been delighting audiences worldwide since winning first prize in the 1993 International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and second prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition the same year. His many concert performances and extensive discography have established him as a pianist of great integrity and variety, bringing freshness and vitality to Classical, Romantic and 20th-century repertoire.

Notable recitals in past seasons include: London Piano Series at Wigmore Hall, International Piano Series at London’s Southbank Centre, New York’s Lincoln Center, Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. As a concerto soloist, Leon performs with many leading British orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, and Royal Philharmonic.

He made his sixth appearance at the BBC Proms in August 2019 performing John Ireland’s Piano Concerto with

BBC Concert Orchestra/Bramwell Tovey which was televised on BBC4. Further afield, McCawley has made concerto appearances with, amongst others, Dallas and St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestras, Malaysian and Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestras, Philadelphia Orchestra and Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias and has worked with conductors such as Hans Graf, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Domingo Hindoyan, Andrew Litton, Kurt Masur, Rossen Milanov and Sakari Oramo.

Leon studied at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester with Heather SladeLipkin before continuing his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia with Eleanor Sokoloff. He also received invaluable guidance from Nina Milkina in London.

Leon McCawley is Professor of Piano at London’s Royal College of Music.

He is married to the painter Anna Hyunsook Paik.

J O S E P H H AY D N ( 17 3 2 –18 0 9 )

Variations in F minor, HXVII/6 Originally labelled by Haydn himself as a “Sonata” in the manuscript and “un piccolo divertimento” (one wonders if Haydn the joker is at play again here, as this work is neither little nor light) in a later handwritten copy, it eventually came to be known as the Variations pour le pianoforte when published in 1799.

In calling it a sonata, perhaps Haydn thought it a self-sufficient sonata to stand on its own, or intended for it to be a movement in a larger work.

The work comprises variations on two themes: the first, a stately and melancholic march in F minor; and the second in F major, bright, playful and highly embellished. These themes are each explored in two variations, and thereafter the opening F minor march returns in its original form, leading into an extended coda that seems to veer off on a tangent into the future.

The uncharacteristically chromatic coda builds upon the energy driven forward by the dotted rhythm, explodes in a cascade of arpeggios before order is restored and the music fades away into the distance.

American musicologist and Haydn scholar A. Peter Brown describes the variations as a work that looks forward to the encroaching Romantic age, presenting “a microcosmic but complete view of Haydn’s late keyboard style”.

WOLFGANG A M ADEUS M O Z A R T ( 17 5 6 –17 91)

Sonata No. 15 in F major, K. 533/494 I. Allegro II. Andante III. Rondo After hearing a set of string quartets dedicated to him by Mozart, Haydn told Mozart’s father Leopold Mozart, “Before God and as an honest man I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name: He has taste, and, furthermore, the most profound knowledge in the art of composition.”

Mozart had admired Haydn, and had followed in his musical style where the music was always charming and affable, with a harmonious balance of simplicity and complexity.

The Sonata No. 15 in F major is one work that displays such qualities, but unlike the other sonatas, was put together from two separate existing works. Mozart composed the K. 494 Rondo in 1786, and the two pieces from K. 533 in 1788.

In combining them, Mozart reworked the Rondo, adding a 27-bar-long cadenza of sorts.

Introducing the Allegro’s first theme is a single voice: straightforward and unpretentious, opportunities abound for contrapuntal writing which Mozart

LEON MCCAWLEY

The pieces bookending today’s programme were the last pieces that both Haydn and Schubert wrote for the piano; whether or not they gained more popularity due to their “last words” status, it is undeniable that they carry an emotional depth that touch the core of the listener.

22

seize, using the left-hand to lead into the second key. There, Mozart presents his second theme, triplets sparkling and brilliant. No new themes are introduced in the development section, rather, he takes the listener on a harmonic adventure while expanding on the two themes.

Although gentler, the following Andante is no less adventurous harmonically, with diminished chords and chromatic dissonances. The Rondo is elegant and light, the added cadenza giving the movement additional drama, polyphony and virtuosity as a throwback to the first movement.

F R A N Z S C H U B E R T ( 17 9 7 –18 2 8 )

Sonata No. 21 in B-flat major, D. 960 I. Molto moderato II. Andante sostenuto III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace con delicatezza – Trio IV. Allegro ma non troppo While Haydn and Mozart used the major keys to express sunshine and the minor keys to express storms, one of Schubert’s exceptional qualities was his use of the major tonality to express heartbreak, pain, and sadness.

Written along with two other sonatas (D.958 and D.959) shortly before his death in 1828, this final sonata of the trilogy differentiates itself from the others by the breadth of emotion it covers and the meandering through different keys in unexpected ways, as if disclosing the innermost thoughts and feelings of Schubert.

The opening is marked Molto moderato: unhurriedly, leisurely, and not rushed, so the listener can savour the unfolding of melodic contours as they happen – a collection of little lyrical experiences rather than the structural architecture of the movement. The Andante which follows is majestic and seems to stop time itself, and is described by Alfred Einstein as “the climax and apotheosis of Schubert’s instrumental lyricism and his simplicity of form.”

The Scherzo, like a breath of fresh air after the austerity of the movements before, is witty and twinkling; marked

by Schubert to be played lightly (con delicatezza). The more sombre trio in the middle makes use of syncopations and some strongly accented notes, but the overall dynamic is never louder than mezzoforte, Starting off on a proclamatory unison G and as though leading the listener into the ‘wrong’ key of C minor, Schubert quickly sorts things out and ends the first phrase of the Finale back in the home key of B-flat major. This theme is repeated several times, taking the listener though another tumultuous journey of major/minor key changes and textures.

The final coda carries a joyful rush of emotions to an exuberant ending, almost as if Schubert is saying to fate, “Here I am, take me!”.

Programme notes by Natalie Ng

A S TA N D I N G O VAT I O N T O O U R D O N O R PAT R O N S

We would like to express our deepest appreciation to the following individuals and organisations who support our mission to create memorable shared experiences with music. Without your support, it would be impossible for the SSO to continue to strive for artistic excellence and touch the hearts of audiences.

PATRON SPONSOR

Tote Board Group (Tote Board, Singapore Pools & Singapore Turf Club) MAESTRO CIRCLE

Mr & Mrs Goh Yew Lin Stephen Riady Group of Foundations Temasek Foundation The HEAD Foundation CONCERTMASTER CIRCLE

Ho Ching Yong Hon Kong Foundation SYMPHONY CIRCLE

In Memory of SH Chng Prof Arnoud De Meyer Dr & Mrs Antoine & Christina Firmenich Rod Hyland John Swire & Sons (S.E. Asia) Pte Ltd Lee Foundation The New Eden Charitable Trust CONCERTO CIRCLE

Cara & Tamara Chang Embassy of France in Singapore Holywell Foundation Devika & Sanjiv Misra Andreas & Doris Sohmen-Pao Geoffrey & Ai Ai Wong Yong Ying-I Dr Thomas Zuellig & Mary Zuellig Anonymous (1)

24

OVERTURE PATRONS Dennis Au & Geraldine Choong BINJAITREE Cavazos Tinajero Family Prof Cham Tao Soon Alan Chan Prof Chan Heng Chee Dr & Mrs Choy Khai Meng Far East Organization Dr Geh Min Hong Leong Foundation Vanessa & Darren Iloste JCCI Singapore Foundation Lee Li-Ming Leong Wai Leng Lian Huat Group Michael Lien Mavis Lim Geck Chin

Prof & Mrs Lim Seh Chun Marina Bay Sands NSL Ltd Dr Eddy Ooi Pavilion Capital Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore Prima Limited David Ramli Alexey Rumyantsev Prof Gralf & Silvia Sieghold Priscylla Shaw Tan Meng Cheng Ivan Tantallon Capital Advisors Pte Ltd V3 Group Limited (OSIM) Wong Hong Ching David Zemans & Catherine Poyen Anonymous (4)

SERENADE PATRONS Bryan Carmichael Creative Eateries Pte Ltd DBS Mr & Mrs Dorian Goh Goh Sze Wei Leong Wah Kheong Suzanne Lim Chin Ping Dr Adrian Mondry

msm-productions On Cheong Jewellery PSA Corporation Limited Robin & Katie Rawlings Rhys Thompson & Zara Dang United Overseas Bank Ltd Anonymous (3)

RHAPSODY PATRONS Jocelyn Aw Odile & Douglas Benjamin Lito & Kim Camacho Cham Gee Len Evelyn Chin Tiffany Choong & Shang Thong Kai Mr & Mrs Choo Chiau Beng KC Chuang Adrian Chua Tsen Leong Mr & Mrs Winston Hauw Kris Foundation Sajith Kumar Winston & Valerie Kwek Viktor & Sonja Leendertz Er Stephen Leong Charmaine Lim Prof Tamas Makany & Ms Julie Schiller Joshua Margolis & Chong Eun Baik

Meng Esmé Parish & Martin Edwards Ian & Freda Rickword Charles Robertson Dr June & Peter Sheren Ron & Janet Stride Tibor Szabady Christopher SC Tan Gillian & Daniel Tan Tan Seow Yen Aileen Tang Anthony Tay Oliver Trianto The Sohn Yong Family Jinny Wong Wicky Wong Anonymous (9)

PRELUDE PATRONS Miki A. Marcelo Viccario Achoa Ang Seow Long Aloha Dental Pte Ltd Kaiyan Asplund & Family Dr Taige Cao Chan Ah Khim Vivian P J Chandran Douglas Leong Jeanie Cheah Dr Christopher Chen Cheng Eng Aun Cheng Wei Dr Peter Chew Dr Faith Chia Bobby Chin Pamela Chong Lenny Christina Jennie Chua Chor Siew Chun Sally Chy Pierre Colignon YQ Dong Jeremy Ee Fergus Evans Elizabeth Fong Paul Foo Grace Fu Gao Wei Gan Yit Koon Goh Chiu Gak Cynthia Goh Michael Goh Guo Li Jerry Gwee Goh Keng Hoong Goh Shin Ping Chiraporn Vivien Goh

Richard Hartung Dr Guy J P Hentsch Ichiro Hirao Ho Jin Yong Kelvin Ho Mr & Mrs Simon Ip The Kauffman-Yeoh Family Ernest Khoo Khor Cheng Kian Belinda Koh Yuh Ling Koh Han Wei Helen Koh In Memory of Timothy Kok Tse En Colin Lang Lee Jek Suen Kristen Lee Minsouk Lee Lee Mun Ping Dr Norman Lee Dr Lee Suan Yew Douglas Leong Wendy Leong Marnyi Li Danqi Dr Bettina Lieske Edith & Sean Lim Lim Shue Churn Candice Ling Firenze Loh Low Boon Hon Low Hong Kuan Alwyn Loy Benjamin Ma Andre Maniam Megan, Raeanne & Gwyneth Francoise Mei Dr Agnes Ng Ngiam Shih Chun

Monique Ong Audrey Phua Preetha Pillai Raymond Quah Gilbert R Dr Julia Raiskin Robert Khan & Co Pte Ltd Audrey Ruyters Danai Sae-Han Omar Slim Marcel Smit & Hanneke Verbeek Alex Soh & Jimmy Koh Soh Leng Wan Casey Tan Khai Hee Tan Cheng Guan Dr Tan Chin Nam Gordon HL Tan Joanne Tan Tan Lian Yok Tan Pei Jie Tan Yee Deng Tang See Chim Tee Linda David Teng Valerie Thean Jessie Thng Toby & Margit Manju & Arudra Vangal Amanda Walujo Nicole Wang Remes Valerie Wu Peichan Ivan Yeo Lillian Yin Yong Seow Kin The Yong Family Yasmin Zahid Zhang Zheng Anonymous (38)

26

CORPORATE PATRONS

Temasek Foundation The HEAD Foundation Stephen Riady Group of Foundations Yong Hon Kong Foundation John Swire & Sons (S.E. Asia) Pte Ltd Lee Foundation The New Eden Charitable Trust CORPORATE SPONSORS

SMRT Corporation Singapore Airlines Symphony 924

This list reflects donations that were made from 1 Apr 2021 to 31 Mar 2022.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to donors whose names were inadvertently left out at print time.

The Singapore Symphony Group is a charity and not-for-profit organisation.

Singapore tax-payers may qualify for 250% tax deduction for donations made.

You can support us by donating at www.sso.org.sg/donate or www.giving.sg/sso.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS & COMMITTEES CHAIR Goh Yew Lin BOARD OF DIRECTORS Yong Ying-I (Deputy Chair) Chang Chee Pey Chng Hak-Peng Chng Kai Fong Prof Arnoud De Meyer Warren Fernandez Liew Wei Li Sanjiv Misra Prof Qin Li-Wei Paul Tan Geoffrey Wong Yee Chen Fah Andrew Yeo Khirn Hin Yasmin Zahid NOMINATING AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Goh Yew Lin (Chair) Prof Arnoud De Meyer (Treasurer) Paul Tan Geoffrey Wong Yong Ying-I

SSO MUSICIANS’ COMMITTEE Mario Choo Guo Hao David Smith Wang Xu Christoph Wichert Elaine Yeo Zhao Tian

SSO COUNCIL 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

Prof Cham Tao Soon (Honorary Chair) Alan Chan (Chair) Odile Benjamin Prof Chan Heng Chee Choo Chiau Beng Dr Geh Min Heinrich Grafe Khoo Boon Hui Prof Tommy Koh 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

28

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY GROUP MANAGEMENT CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Chng Hak-Peng ARTISTIC PLANNING Hans Sørensen (Head)

COMMUNITY IMPACT Kok Tse Wei (Head)

Artistic Administration Teo Chew Yen Jodie Chiang Lynnette Chng

Community Engagement Kua Li Leng (Head) Erin Tan Ong Jun Shu Samantha Lim Terrence Wong

OPERATIONS Ernest Khoo (Head) Library Lim Lip Hua Avik Chari Wong Yi Wen Orchestra Management Chia Jit Min (Head) Karis Ong Peck Xin Hui Production Management Fenella Ng Nurul Ainnie bte Md Sidek Mazlan bin Ali Ramayah Elango

Choral Programmes Kua Li Leng (Head) Regina Lee Whitney Tan Mimi Syaahira bte Ruslaine Singapore National Youth Orchestra Pang Siu Yuin (Head) Lai Jun Wei Tang Ya Yun Tan Sing Yee ABRSM Patricia Yee Lai Li-Yng Joong Siow Chong Freddie Loh May Looi William Teo

PATRONS Development Chelsea Zhao (Ag Head) Anderlin Yeo Nikki Chuang Charmaine Fong Elliot Lim Marketing Communications Cindy Lim (Head) Chia Han-Leon (Content Lead) Calista Lee (Digital Projects) Sean Tan Hong Shu Hui Jana Loh Myrtle Lee Sherilyn Lim Customer Experience Randy Teo Dacia Cheang Joy Tagore CORPORATE SERVICES Lillian Yin (Head)

CEO OFFICE Shirin Foo Musriah bte Md Salleh

Finance, IT & Facilities Rick Ong (Head) Alan Ong Goh Hoey Fen Loh Chin Huat Md Zailani bin Md Said

COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATION Lillian Yin (Lead) Rick Ong (Asst Lead)

Human Resources Valeria Tan (Head) Janice Yeo Evelyn Siew Legal Edward Loh

Tote Board’s goal is to help build a

flourishing society. We want to inspire positive change and contribute towards building an inclusive, resilient and vibrant community, while fostering a caring and compassionate nation.

As a broad-based grantmaking organisation, Tote Board works closely with stakeholders and partners to support broad and diverse worthy projects in the sectors of Arts & Culture, Community Development, Education, Health, Social Service and Sports. Through these projects, Tote Board helps to uplift the community by giving hope to vulnerable groups and improving the lives of all in Singapore.

ToteBoardSG ToteBoardSG

www.toteboard.gov.sg

Turkish Delights & Simple Gifts

re:Sound with Keila Wakao Leader: Yang Shuxiang

Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio

Appalachian Spring Suite (chamber version)

Violin Concerto No.5 in A Major ("Turkish")

Keila Wakao

Winner, Menuhin Competition 2021 (Junior section)

Presented by

With the Support of

We’re on Shopify!

Visit us singaporesymphony.myshopify.com

Presented by

Organised by Singapore Symphony Group

Supported by

Patron Sponsor

The mission of the Singapore Symphony 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.

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

WWW.PIANOFESTIVAL.COM.SG

SGPIANOFEST