VCHpresents 2021/22 Season Brochure

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SEASON

V I C T O R I A

C O N C E R T

JULY TO SEPTEMBER 2021

H A L L

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair

Mr Goh Yew Lin

Deputy Chair

Ms Yong Ying-I

Directors Mr Ang Chek Meng

Mr Chang Chee Pey Mr Chng Hak-Peng

Mr Chng Kai Fong Mr Warren Fernandez

Prof Arnoud De Meyer Mr Heinrich Grafe

Ms Liew Wei Li Mr Sanjiv Misra Mr Paul Tan Dr Kelly Tang Mr Geoffrey Wong

Mr Yee Chen Fah

2021 / 22 CONCERT SEASON JULY TO SEPTEMBER 2021

Victoria Concert Hall — 04 The Klais Organ — 06 At A Glance— 08 Concerts — 09 Ticketing — 13

The information in this publication is correct at press time but the Singapore Symphony Group reserves the right to change programmes or artistes without prior notice.

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Message from the Director of Artistic Planning

What a joy to be home, to be back on stage in the Victoria Concert Hall for this 21/22 season.

We dearly missed this opportunity in 2020, when performing arts venues in Singapore went dark and all live performances were cancelled in March last year.

We are thrilled to be able to open the doors of the concert hall to audiences once again, and as we reflect on the difficult year past, we also look to the future.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to introduce you to collaborations with promising local talent, including Anne Maria Lim and More than Music, where we shine the spotlight on chamber music.

The annual Singapore International Piano Festival returned in June 2021 with its first local-based edition over a fourday weekend, featuring a solo piano recital each night.

The VCH Organ Series showcases the Klais organ and the rich diversity of sounds it produces.

The Intimate Moments performances also make a return to the Victoria Concert Hall in this new season.

As the power of music elevates the emotions of our human condition, we look to the shared experience of witnessing a concert performance together for the grace and healing which classical music can provide.

Welcome back to our home.

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Hans Sørensen Director of Artistic Planning Singapore Symphony Group

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Victoria Co

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The historic Victoria Concert Hall is Home to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

oncert Hall Facing Empress Place on the banks of the Singapore River, the Victoria Concert Hall (VCH) is Singapore’s oldest concert hall and has been Home of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) since 1980. The VCH is host of the VCHpresents series, the annual Singapore International Piano Festival (SIPF) and the biennial National Piano and Violin Competition (NPVC) as well as regular outreach and community performances by the SSO. Within the hall’s intimate acoustics and beautifully restored interior, each of its 673 seats offers an immediate connection with the artistes on its stage, creating memorable experiences from outstanding classical music performances to young audiences’ first encounters with rhythm and sounds.

Designed by architectural firm Swan & McLaren and built between 1902 and 1905 as a memorial hall in honour of Queen Victoria, the iconic hall was renovated from 1979 to 1980 to serve as a concert venue for the national orchestra. In 1987, the majestic Klais organ, Singapore’s only fully mechanical organ with its 2,012 pipes, was installed in VCH through the fundraising efforts of the then-newly formed Singapore Symphony Orchestra Ladies’ League.

In 2010, VCH underwent a four-year-long restoration by Singapore’s W Architects, with acoustics firm Arup as advisor, before reopening in 2014. During the process, 25 artisans from South India were flown in to restore the intricately carved pillars inside the Concert Hall.

The hall’s renewed façade and improved facilities serve to accentuate the historic aura and heartfelt intimacy of the space.

Our learning and access programmes at VCH have engaged and drawn diverse audiences.

From light entertainment to experimental theatre, concerts for children to recitals for connoisseurs, the Victoria Concert Hall has something for everyone. Numerous performers have inspired audiences through repertoire ranging from brass chorales to full symphony choirs, from jazz trio to world music ensembles, from string quartets to piano and organ soloists.

Activities include free concerts, and tickets start at $4 for schools.

The VCH Rose Studio, an exclusive recording facility, captures the magic on stage, allowing us to share it with audiences outside the concert hall.

Welcome to music, welcome to our home.

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The Klais Organ The Victoria Concert Hall’s Klais organ is Singapore’s only fully mechanical organ, and has strong emotional links with generations of audiences. It was first installed in 1987 through fundraising efforts from the then-newly formed Singapore Symphony Orchestra Ladies’ League.

The Klais organ, built by German organ-builder Orgelbau Klais, replaced the St. Clair organ that had been built in the Victoria Concert Hall (VCH) some 50 years earlier in 1931. The St. Clair organ was named after Major W. G. St. Clair, founder of the old Philharmonic Society and the first editor of the Singapore Free Press, and its façade was retained after the installation of the Klais organ.

In 2010, with the redevelopment of the VCH and Victoria Theatre, the organ – consisting

Visit www.sso.org.sg/klaisorgan to find out more.

of a total of 2,012 pipes – was methodically removed piece by piece, repaired and stored in climate-controlled warehouses during the refurbishment period. Many donors and supporters of classical music, notably the Lee Foundation, stepped forward to provide financial support for the restoration.

When the VCH reopened in the second half of 2014, the lovely Klais pipe organ once again took centrestage both visually and musically, providing awe-inspiring and delicate strains of music to old and new audiences. The Singapore Symphony Group started the VCH Organ Series in 2014 as a set of specially curated concerts to showcase the beauty and power of the Klais organ to the people of Singapore.

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At A Glance 20 & 21

CHAMBER

JULY

Tue & Wed | 7:30pm | Concert Hall MORE THAN MUSIC, MORE THAN LOVE Loh Jun Hong, violin Dandan Wang, viola Ng Pei-Sian (The HEAD Foundation Chair), cello Abigail Sin, piano Timothy Wan, narrator

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ORGAN

AUGUST

Sun | 2pm & 5pm | Concert Hall PIPE UP! PEDAL TO THE METAL Isaac Lee, organ Chloe Miranda, percussion Kevin Tan, percussion

3&4

CHAMBER

10 & 11 I N T I M AT E M O M E N T S

SEPTEMBER

Fri & Sat | 7:30pm | Concert Hall

BY ROMANTIC HAND Musicians of the SSO

Fri & Sat | 7:30pm | Concert Hall ON THE AIR WITH JIN TA Jin Ta, flute Musicians of the SSO Zhang Heyang, presenter

© SHOKI LIN AND MORE THAN MUSIC

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More Than Music, More Than Love One beautiful April morning, on a narrow side street in Tokyo’s fashionable Harajuku neighbourhood, I walked past the 100% perfect girl.

So begins a story of love, told from the sweet musings of Bach to the stormy passion of Brahms, framing the centrepiece: Jonathan Shin’s musical reflections on Murakami’s brief tale of perfect love so close, yet so far. Founders of the More Than Music chamber series, Loh Jun Hong and Abigail Sin, join SSO violist Dandan Wang and cellist Ng Pei-Sian in this musical momento of loneliness and longing.

J.S. BACH Aria from Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (arranged for String Trio) JONATHAN SHIN After Haruki Murakami’s short story “On Seeing The 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning” (Concert Premiere)* BRAHMS Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60

Tue, 20 Jul 2021 Wed, 21 Jul 2021 7:30pm Concert Hall LOH JUN HONG, VIOLIN DANDAN WANG, VIOLA NG PEI-SIAN, CELLO (THE HEAD FOUNDATION CHAIR)

ABIGAIL SIN, PIANO TIMOTHY WAN, NARRATOR*

© MICHELLE TNG YING

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Pipe Up! Pedal to the Metal Pipe Up! series organist Isaac Lee is drumming up a different beat this time as he’s joined by percussionists of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra in this eyeopening recital of contemporary pieces for solo organ, percussion or both together.

Sun, 1 Aug 2021 2pm, 5pm Concert Hall ISAAC LEE, ORGAN CHLOE MIRANDA, PERCUSSION

GÁRDONYI Mozart Changes WAMMES Miroir AYRES Toccata on “All You Need Is Love” SEJOURNE Losa TREVINO 2+1 COPLAND Fanfare for the Common Man ROGG Incantations for Organ and Percussion

KEVIN TAN, PERCUSSION

Sponsored by

© SINGAPORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

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By Romantic Hand By passion, by artistry, by lyric genius - Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Brahms are the epitome of the Romantic musical soul. Let the musicians of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra take you, by figurative hand and heart, into their musical world via three pieces each in a different chamber combination.

BEETHOVEN Variations on “Là ci darem la mano” from Mozart’s Don Giovanni MENDELSSOHN String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13 BRAHMS Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101

Fri, 3 Sep 2021 Sat, 4 Sep 2021 7:30pm Concert Hall MUSICIANS OF THE SSO

© SINGAPORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

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IN T IM AT E M O M E N T S 乐享 时光

On the Air with Jin Ta CO N V E R S AT I O N S I N M A N DARI N ON L Y

Jin Ta, veteran Principal Flute of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and an impressive composer/ arranger in his own right, is our next artist in the limelight. Come and meet him in this next instalment of our Intimate Moments series, where he will perform as well as talk about his life and music.

TELEMANN Fantasia No. 1 in A major, for Solo Flute DUBOIS Petite Suite for Flute and Bassoon BOEHM Grand Polonaise Op. 16 for Flute and Piano BEETHOVEN Trio, Op. 87 for Flute, Clarinet and Bassoon JIN TA Rice - Tone Poem for Flute and Piano Supported by

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 Sat, 11 Sep 2021 7:30pm Concert Hall JIN TA, FLUTE MUSICIANS OF THE SSO ZHANG HEYANG, PRESENTER

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Book Your Tickets SISTIC Online at www.sso.org.sg

Call +65 6348 5555

Visit any SISTIC authorised agent near you

Admission Guidelines

All events in the VCHpresents season are for patrons aged 7 and above.

SSO Friends Season Pass, SSO Donors Discount 10% OFF all VCHpresents series concerts.

Concessions

Students, senior citizens (55 years and above), NSFs and persons with disabilities (PWD) enjoy concession discounts. Venue ushers may request to view a valid concession pass. Concession tickets are strictly non-transferable.

Affordable Tickets for Schools

Students can enjoy world-class performances at the Victoria Concert Hall at subsidised ticket prices as low as $10.

Schools are able to use the Tote Board Arts Grant to subsidise up to 50% (excluding GST) of the final ticket price. Prices before booking fee.

For school or corporate bookings, please contact our Customer Experience team at +65 6602 4245 or ticketing@sso.org.sg.

* Information valid at time of print

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VCHpresents on social media New season launches, rehearsal footage, a peek behind-the-scenes with guest artists and more – our social media channels are the best way to keep up-to-date with the latest news from VCHpresents.

@vchpresents

@vchhomeofthesso

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Ticket Prices

DATE

CAT 1

CAT 2

CAT 3

CONCESSION PRICES

MORE THAN MUSIC, MORE THAN LOVE

20 & 21 Jul 2021

$45

$30

$20

30% off (Cat 3)

BY ROMANTIC HAND

3 & 4 Sep 2021

$45

$30

$20

30% off (Cat 3)

1 Aug 2021

$5

20% off (Cat 1)

10 & 11 Sep 2021

$18

30% off (Cat 1)

C HAM B E R

O RGAN PIPE UP! PEDAL TO THE METAL

I NTI MATE M O M E NTS ON THE AIR WITH JIN TA

S U P P O R T TH E SSO

Music is Essential Music is Life

Please help Singapore Symphony Orchestra and our affiliated performing groups play on; bringing hope and joy to Singapore through many more memorable shared musical experiences!

service. I believe in the power of music.”

How can you help?

The SSO is an arts charity and depends on your donations. If you are in a position to do so, please consider making a donation to support your orchestra – Build the future by giving in the present.

unforeseeable. Please keep safe and healthy and play on to spread the love for music.”

As a valued patron of the SSO, you will receive many benefits.

Prelude

$1,000 - $2,499

Rhapsody

$2,500 - $4,999

Serenade

Overture

Concerto

Symphony

$5,000 - $9,999 $10,000 - $24,999 $25,000 - $49,999 $50,000 & above

COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS* Subscription /VCHpresents/ Family / SIPF /SISTIC Live

6 tickets

10 tickets

12 tickets

16 tickets

20 tickets

40 tickets

Gala /Christmas/Pops

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2 tickets

4 tickets

6 tickets

20 tickets

SSO Special Gala Concerts

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2 tickets

4 tickets

DONOR RECOGNITION & PUBLIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Concert booklets and website

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Patron of the Arts Nomination

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Donors’ Wall at VCH

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Invitation to social events

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Invitation to exclusive events

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OTHER BENEFITS

For tax residents of Singapore, all donations may be entitled to a tax deduction of 2.5 times the value of your donation. *Complimentary ticket benefits do not apply to supporters who give through a fundraising event.

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.

To find out more, please visit www.sso.org.sg/support-us, or write to Nikki Chuang at nikki@sso.org.sg.

F RIE N D S SE A S O N PA S S

Be a Friend!

Save up to 25% on ticket prices for subscription concerts

CON TA CT US

Exclusive Meet-the-Artist opportunities

Call our friendly Customer Experience team (65) 6602 4245 (Monday to Friday, 9am – 6.30pm) Email ticketing@sso.org.sg

No more queues. Enjoy the convenience of online ticket redemption, wherever you are.

10% savings on all other events, including Christmas & Gala Concerts, Concerts for Children, VCHpresents and Singapore International Piano Festival 2022.

Save on SISTIC booking fees. Pay only a $4 booking fee for every season pass.

By popular demand, we bring you the twin season pass for 2, allowing you to easily redeem two tickets per event in one transaction.

3-Concert Friends Season Pass

6-Concert Gold Friends Season Pass

Cat 1

$264 $224.40

$528 $396

Cat 2

$204 $173.40

$408 $306

Cat 3

$144 $122.40

$288 $216

Cat 4

$114 $96.90

$228 $171

Prices excludes a $4 SISTIC booking fee for each pass.

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Committees NOMINATING AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Mr Goh Yew Lin (Chair) Prof Arnoud De Meyer (Treasurer) Mr Paul Tan Ms Yong Ying-I Mr Geoffrey Wong HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE Ms Yong Ying-I (Chair) Prof Arnoud De Meyer Mr Yee Chen Fah Dr Kelly Tang INVESTMENT COMMITTEE Mr Geoffrey Wong (Chair) Mr David Goh Mr Sanjiv Misra Mr Alex Lee AUDIT COMMITTEE Mr Yee Chen Fah (Chair) Mr Heinrich Grafe Ms Lim Mei SNYO COMMITTEE Ms Liew Wei Li (Chair) Mr Ang Chek Meng Mr Benjamin Goh Ms Vivien Goh Dr Kee Kirk Chin Mrs Clara Lim-Tan

SSO COUNCIL Prof Cham Tao Soon (Honorary Chair) Mr Alan Chan (Chair) Mrs Odile Benjamin Prof Chan Heng Chee Mr Choo Chiau Beng Dr Geh Min Mr Goh Geok Khim Mr Khoo Boon Hui Prof Tommy Koh Ms Lim Mei Mr JY Pillay Dr Stephen Riady Ms Priscylla Shaw Prof Gralf Sieghold Mr Andreas Sohmen-Pao Prof Bernard Tan Dr Tan Chin Nam Ms Tan Choo Leng Mr Tan Soo Nan Mr Wee Ee Cheong SSO MUSICIANS’ COMMITTEE Mr Mario Choo Mr Guo Hao Mr David Smith Mr Wang Xu Mr Christoph Wichert Ms Elaine Yeo Mr Zhao Tian

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Management CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Mr Chng Hak-Peng ARTISTIC PLANNING Mr Hans Sørensen (Head)

CEO OFFICE Ms Shirin Foo

CORPORATE SERVICES Ms Lillian Yin (Head)

PROGRAMMES (SSO)

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

FINANCE, IT & FACILITIES

Ms Kua Li Leng Ms Teo Chew Yen Ms Jodie Chiang

Mr Randy Teo Ms Dacia Cheang Ms Nur Shafiqah bte Othman

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

DEVELOPMENT Ms Chelsea Zhao Ms Nikki Chuang Ms Anderlin Yeo Ms Charmaine Fong Ms Fang Xiao Min

Mr Rick Ong Mr Alan Ong Ms Goh Hoey Fen Mr Loh Chin Huat Mr Md Zailani bin Md Said

Ms Vanessa Lee Ms Samantha Lim CHORAL PROGRAMMES

Ms Regina Lee Ms Whitney Tan PROGRAMMES (VCH)

Ms Erin Tan Ms Lynnette Chng ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT Mr Ernest Khoo (Head) ORCHESTRA

Mr Chia Jit Min Ms Karis Ong CONCERT OPERATIONS

Ms Siti Raudha Tehan Ms Chin Rosherna Ms Fenella Ng Ms Nurul Ainnie bte Md Sidek Mr Ramayah Elango Mr Mazlan bin Ali LIBRARY

Mr Lim Lip Hua Ms Wong Yi Wen Mr Avik Chari

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS Ms Cindy Lim (Head) Mr Chia Han-Leon Ms Myrtle Lee Ms Jana Loh Ms Hong Shu Hui Ms Sherilyn Lim DIGITAL SSO Ms Cindy Lim (Lead) Mr Chia Jit Min (Asst Lead) Mr Jason Siriwardene (Digital Producer) Mr Chia Han-Leon Mr Hans Sørensen

HUMAN RESOURCES & ADMINISTRATION

Mr Desmen Low Ms Melissa Lee Ms Evelyn Siew LEGAL

Mr Edward Loh SINGAPORE NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA Ms Pang Siu Yuin (Head) Mr Lai Jun Wei Ms Yani Saaban Ms Tang Ya Yun Ms Tan Sing Yee ABRSM Ms Patricia Yee Ms Lai Li-Yng Mr Joong Siow Chong COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATION Ms Lillian Yin (Lead) Mr Rick Ong (Asst Lead)

SUPPORTED BY

PATRON SPONSOR

MATCHED BY

MAJOR DONORS

Mr & Mrs Goh Yew Lin

SEASON PARTNERS Official Radio Station

Official Community Partner

Official Outdoor Media Partner

SEASON PATRONS

Official Airline

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.

VCHpresents

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