ORCHESTRAL INSTITUTE
Awaking the Titan
TUESDAY, 21 MARCH 2023, 7.30 PM
ESPLANADE CONCERT HALL
PROGRAMME
YST Orchestral Institute with JASON LAI, principal conductor
KARST DE JONG, collaborative improviser
GUSTAV MAHLER
Symphony No. 1 in D major, "Titan"
Prelude: Awaking the Titan
I. Langsam schleppend
II. Blumine
III. Kräftig bewegt
– Intermission –
IV. Feierlich und gemessen
V. Stürmisch bewegt
VICE DEAN'S MESSAGE
I set out in the still night, Across the dark heath. No one bade me farewell, farewell! My companions were love and sorrow!
from "Die zwei blauen Augen" by Mahler, trans.
Richard Stokes
Welcome to tonight’s special YST presentation at the beautiful Esplanade Concert Hall where the Orchestral Institute presents a unique vision of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, restoring the composer’s original five-part conception – including the lyrically sublime “Blumine (Blooming)” movement – as well as premiering the collaboratively composed/improvised Prelude: Awaking the Titan as an inviting frame for Mahler’s iconic work.
One of the great privileges of overseeing YST’s collaborative music making program is witnessing the spirit of innovation and experimentation that imbues the students, staff, and coaches, and is a grounding pedagogical philosophy
behind the Orchestral Institute. We believe in the transformative power of playing music in the broadest sense of the term: that great works are not static museum pieces of canon, but rather living, evolving, breathing material, rife with the possibility of joyful, playful in-spiration. Tonight, Mahler is our muse.
When Gustav Mahler premiered his First Symphony at the age of twenty-eight, he still considered himself an evolving wayfarer, a journeyman still honing his craft in both conducting and composition. Like our Conservatory students embarking on their own wayfarer journeys, there is much resonance in Mahler’s own sense of exploration, experimentation and improvisation with his compositional output surrounding his first large scale symphonic work.
That the “Titan” mirrors Mahler’s own cautiously evolving creative-self is evident in the fact that the “final” four movement version (from 1896), and the first publication (in 1898) come after his fivemovement Symphony No. 2 “The Resurrection” was already premiered (in 1895) and published (in 1897). It’s almost as if the successful premiere of the Second Symphony bulwarked his waning
confidence in the First.
It’s with this kind of spirit of youthful experimental exuberance that the students of the Orchestral Institute under the guidance of Principal Conductor, Jason Lai, and expert improvisor, Prof Karst de Jong – as well as our team of OI coaches – reinvigorate and reimagine Mahler’s original conception of the Symphony.
In a time of love and sorrow, may this music awake our inner Titans!
Associate Professor Brett Stemple Vice Dean (Ensembles, Research & Professional Awareness)ABOUT YST
Inspirational life-affirming music-making is at the heart of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore. Centred in one of the world’s most dynamic countries, the Conservatory is uniquely placed to offer a distinct and powerful contemporary Asian voice.
Founded in 2003, YST quickly established a reputation as Asia’s most exciting international conservatory by bringing together a worldclass faculty and facility to develop excellence in instrumental performance and composition. Building on this strong foundation, the Conservatory has evolved over the past two decades to become one of the world’s most distinctive music schools, diversifying its offerings and continually seeking to connect authentically with its surrounding community. Specialisations added subsequently include Voice, Audio Arts & Sciences, Conducting, Music & Society and Music, Collaboration & Production. Alongside students from Singapore, the Conservatory community is internationally diverse, with representation from over 20 countries and five continents.
Keenly focused on nurturing identity as a driver for excellence, YST’s Bachelor of Music programme
offers full financial support for all its undergraduate students, enabled by major gifts from the Yong Loo Lin Trust. The Conservatory’s continuum of offerings further includes Master of Music and Master of Music Leadership degrees, NUSfacing Second Majors, Minors and modules, Continuing Education & Training courses for adult learners, and a Young Artist programme. We host a vibrant performance calendar with around 200 concerts annually, featuring students and faculty alongside international artists and ensembles. Our community engagement and professional integration programme has extensive local, regional and global reach. Students are supported to find their own artistic pathways through exchanges, festivals, competitions and projects. More broadly, our international networks and partnerships further enhance the educational experience and ensure our continued evolution.
ABOUT THE YST ORCHESTRAL INSTITUTE
The YST Orchestral Institute is a creative musicians’ laboratory, designed as an innovative forum for conservatory-level orchestral training. First conceptualized in 2018 by former YST Dean, Prof. Bernard Lanskey, as a way of revitalizing learning and teaching systems within a large ensemble context, the Orchestral Institute has emerged as a dynamic platform in which aspirational orchestral musicians work collaboratively alongside professionals drawn from Conservatory faculty, staff, and alumni, as well as YST partner institutions, from Southeast Asia and beyond. Pioneering interdisciplinary programming, a unique production style, collaborative-composition creation, musician
health & well-being, and an open-dialogue approach to rehearsing are all hallmarks of the Orchestral Institute approach – a philharmonie philosophy which seeks to create a safe ‘play-space’ emphasizing creativity, mutual learning, and skills development appropriate for large ensemble musicmaking, with the ambition of enabling musicians to be even more open, daring, questioning, collaborative and passionate about the music they make together.
Currently under the leadership of YST Conservatory Principal Conductor, Jason Lai; Vice Dean of Ensembles, Brett Stemple; OpusNovus Conductor (and YST Artist Fellow), Dr Lien Boon Hua, and Orchestral Manager, Yap Zi Qi; and working alongside Conservatory students, faculty, staff, and YST Artist Fellows – the Orchestral Institute has created and curated a number of groundbreaking orchestral productions including Telling Beyond Words (2019), and – despite the global pandemic – Springs of Uncertainty (2020), Lichtbogen (2020), Landscapes of Souls (2021), Transfigurations (2021), Dream for Future (as part of SoundBridge Music Festival 2021) and a special collaborative family concert with the Kids’ Philharmonic, Symphonies
Simple and Philharmonic Friends (2021), among others, many of which are available for viewing at the YST Conservatory’s YouTube channel.
JASON LAI
PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR
Jason Lai is the Principal Conductor at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, Principal Guest Conductor at the Orchestra of the Swan, and former Associate Conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong Sinfonietta. He’s been a prominent figure in Singapore’s musical life since his arrival in 2010, but also active internationally giving masterclasses in Europe and China. He has also guest conducted the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Podlasie Opera Philharmonic in Poland, Macao Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, and the Osaka Symphony.
Intent on broadening the appeal of classical music to audiences who would not normally think of going into a concert hall, Jason is also building a unique reputation as a communicator with mass appeal through his television appearances in both the UK and Asia. He has frequently appeared on BBC television as a judge in both the BBC Young
Musician of the Year competition and the classical talent show “Classical Star”. He reached his widest audience when, as a conducting mentor in the series “Maestro”, his celebrity student, the popular comedienne Sue Perkins, won with a nailbiting final in front of the BBC Concert Orchestra and a live studio audience. Other BBC television appearances have include “How a Choir Works” and “The Culture Show”. Jason also starred in “Clash” for the children’s television channel, CBBC.
Since settling in Singapore he has continued with his television work. He was presenter and conductor for “Project Symphony”, an eight part series for Okto where he was filmed setting up a community orchestra. He has recently been involved in filming for a BBC series “Heart of Asia” which explores the contemporary arts and culture scene in Thailand, Indonesia, Korea and the Philippines, and a further series for BBC World called “Tales from Modern China”.
Jason’s roots lie in Hong Kong but he was born in the UK and was a pupil at the prestigious specialist music school in Manchester, Chetham’s, where he studied cello. At Oxford University he studied both cello and composition, and went on to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where he was awarded a Fellowship in Conducting.
Despite having toured as a cellist with the Allegri String Quartet and having been a finalist in the BBC Young Composers Award, Jason gravitated increasingly towards conducting after he won the BBC Young Conductors Workshop in 2002. This led to his appointment as Assistant Conductor to the BBC Philharmonic with whom he made his BBC Proms debut in 2003. Following his work with various British orchestras, he was appointed Artist Associate to the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and became their Associate Conductor in 2009. Jason most recently had debuts with the Adelaide Symphony and Macau Orchestra and made return visits to conduct the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Orchestra of the Swan.
Education is an important part of Jason’s work in Singapore. At the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory he trains the next generation of conductors, many of whom have had many successes both at home and abroad, and with the SSO he spearheaded the education and outreach programme, helping the orchestra reach new audiences notably through his Discovering Music and Children’s concerts.
KARST DE JONG
COLLABORATIVE IMPROVISER
Karst de Jong studied Classical Piano and Music Theory in the Netherlands. As a former teacher of Music Theory at the Conservatory of Amsterdam he is currently affiliated with the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague and The Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC), teaching improvisation, music theory and composition techniques. He is active as a performer, music theorist, improviser, teacher and researcher. He has taught many masterclasses of improvisation at international festivals, and has been invited as a guest teacher and visiting artist at many renowned institutions all over the world. Current research activities focus on the topics of collaborative music creation and harmonic structures in tonal music.
As a firm believer in the importance of improvisation skills for any contemporary musician, he was one of the founders of the European METRIC project: a collaboration between
14 major European institutes of Higher Music Education with the aim to promote the integration and development of improvisation into the curricula of classical performance students.
In 2019 Karst de Jong was appointed recurring visiting professor at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore, where he is teaching music theoretical subjects and improvisation, as well as leading creative collaborative projects and the development of improvisation in the curriculum. Karst de Jong released two CD’s with solo piano improvisations: Improdisiac I & II. He currently lives in Barcelona.
PROGRAMME NOTES
GUSTAV MAHLER
Symphony No. 1 in D major, "Titan"
AWAKING THE TITAN
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) composed his First Symphony (also known as “Titan) in the years leading up to 1888. It was inspired by his childhood memories of country life in Bohemia, as well as the novel “Titan” by the German author Jean Paul (Johann Paul Friedrich Richter). The premiere took place in 1889 in Budapest.
The music is a mix of avant-gardism, fin de siècle sentimentality and turbulent emotional landscapes. Mahler found important inspirations in the works of his predecessors: Beethoven, Berlioz and especially Richard Wagner, whose music he
L: Bohemian countryside
R: Mahler at age of composition
admired deeply. Mahler sought to further develop the symphonic form by expanding it beyond the traditional four movements, utilizing evocative programmatic elements, and through dramatically varied orchestral timbres – via virtuosic solo, chamber, and tutti passages – across mammoth symphonic canvases. As for his First Symphony, Mahler struggled to come to terms with it. Originally conceived as a five-movement work, the composer at the premiere called it a “symphonic poem in two parts” (the first three and last two movements separated by a break), and by 1893 incorporated the Jean Paul nod, titling it: “TITAN, a Tone Poem in the Form of a Symphony”. Finally, by 1896, Mahler rested on (and published) the four-movement version that we are most familiar with today, dropping both the “Titan” subtitle – and the Blumine movement – never quite sure whether the “Titan” was a programmatic work, a Symphonic Poem, or just a Symphony.
Mahler’s dilemma has been at the heart of a long-standing enigma in the classical tradition: is music able to convey concrete meaning such as a programmatic narrative or a storyline, or is it simply a language of its own, able to reach beyond words and express itself solely through the internality of its musical elements? In nineteenth-
century Germanic music this led to two distinct philosophical camps vying for a dominant bannercarrying position: the opera-led “program” music in the Wagner camp vs. the symphonic-led “absolute” music in the Brahms camp. Mahler ultimately fused these traditions in his own symphonic output.
What does “Awaking” the Titan mean in Southeast Asia? In the YST context? In 2023? In a broad local sense, it raises the question of the meaning of the Western classical tradition in the Southeast Asian context; but ultimately this is a global, temporal challenge. How do conservatory students around the world connect to the late nineteenth-century Mahlerian world? How do twenty-first century performers and audiences relate to the fusion of programmatic and absolute elements inherent in Mahler’s voice? How do we make this music our own. In short, how do we move forward while honoring the footsteps of the past?
The students of the Conservatory and of YST’s Orchestral institute are rapidly creating a reputation for their innovative orchestral programming and creative performative approaches to iconic works of the past. Through programs such as a reimagined Stravinsky’s Petrouchka in 2019’s
“Telling Beyond Words”, Ravel’s Mother Goose
Suite interlaced with collaboratively composed interludes in 2021’s “Landscapes of Souls”, (both accessible through the Conservatory’s YouTube channel) – and now the collaboratively composed/ improvised prelude “Awaking the Titan” – YST seeks to link the present with the past, connecting cultures across space and time, and empowering young musicians to awaken their own limitless creativity.
The Prelude – and Mahler’s youthful fivemovement conception of his Symphony No. 1 that follows – builds a bridge connecting Southeast Asia with Europe, Singapore with Bohemia, and our 2023 with Mahler’s 1888. In this unique performance, never to be repeated the same way again, we hear the voices of our Conservatory students in a living dialogue with Mahler, honoring his inspiration, while preparing us for the magistral work that it invokes. Let us awaken the Titan!
Notes by Karst de JongMUSICIANS
FIRST VIOLIN
MA QICONG, concertmaster
ZOU MENG
SHERZOD ABDIEV
MEGAN LOW SHUEN WEI
THANATAT SRIARANYAKUL
FOO YUE NING
LEONID DATSIUK
RENEE TOH
MA MINGYUAN
KUO FANG-CHEN
HOI KHAI-WEING
FENG JIALE
ZHAO TIAN^
SUN ZHENYAO
JULIA EVELYN HILL†
LI JIAQI
* YST Orchestral Institute coach/YST Artist Faculty
^ Guest/alumni
† Intern, Queensland Conservatorium
SECOND VIOLIN
TEO WEI EN REINA, principal
EDGAR JAVIER LUCENA RODRIGUEZ
CHAN WAI MUN JOANNE
SHIM FINE
TAN XIN JIE
CHIKAKO SASAKI^
YANG SHUXIANG*
JIANG HAO
WU TSAI-JOU
CHANG CHANG-YEN
LIN JIAXIN
SHIH WEI-CHUN
NG EE-JUN
BAKHODIR RAKHIMOV
* YST Orchestral Institute coach/YST Artist Faculty
^ Guest/alumni
† Intern, Queensland Conservatorium
VIOLA
HUANG YI, principal
JOELLE HSU MIN
PAO YU-LIN
CHEN CHI-JUI
WANG DANDAN^
CHAN SHEE ANN SHANNON
LIU LE
XIAO LEI
LEE WEI-FAN
LIU WEI-JIA
ZENG ZIYAN
ZHENG JINGJING
* YST Orchestral Institute coach/YST Artist Faculty
^ Guest/alumni
† Intern, Queensland Conservatorium
CELLO
LIU JIAQI, principal
LIU CHIEN-WEI
ZHAO LEYAN
WANG ZIHAO*
GUO MINGAI
SIM YEIN
ZHU ZEYU
WU ZUHUI
CHEN PEI-YI
LIU YOU-YU
DOUBLE BASS
SHOHEI YOSHIHARA, principal
KHEE YU HANG
HIBIKI OTOMO
CHEW CHIEN PHING EUGENE
GUENNADI MOUZYKA*
NG LAI TING
JULIAN LI^
BRANDON WONG^
* YST Orchestral Institute coach/YST Artist Faculty
^ Guest/alumni
† Intern, Queensland Conservatorium
FLUTE
LI JIA-EN, principal
ALEKSANDR TIAN
WENG YI-CHIAN
WEN TZU-LING
PICCOLO
WENG YI-CHIAN
ALEKSANDR TIAN
WEN TZU-LING
OBOE
NESTOR JOSE SOLORZANO MEJIAS, principal
SONIYA RAKHMATULLINA
QUEK JUN RUI
NG WEI XIANG
COR ANGLAIS
QUEK JUN RUI
* YST Orchestral Institute coach/YST Artist Faculty
^ Guest/alumni
† Intern, Queensland Conservatorium
CLARINET
CHEN YAN-RUNG, principal
MA YI-TING
MA CHUNYU
ZHENG SHANXI
BASS CLARINET
ZHENG SHANXI
MA CHUNYU
BASSOON
JAVLON KHAYITOV
XU ZIXUAN
STEPHEN MAK WAI SOON
CONTRABASSOON
STEPHEN MAK WAI SOON
* YST Orchestral Institute coach/YST Artist Faculty
^ Guest/alumni
† Intern, Queensland Conservatorium
FRENCH HORN
LEE YAN LIANG, principal
GAO XIAOXUAN
LINNET SIM YUN JUAN
GAO YU FEI JOEY
CHAI MEI QIN
TSAI YI-FANG
YEN SHIH-HSIN
KALIA DIANE CRAIG
THANACHOCK UDOMPHAT
TRUMPET
NUTTAKAMON SUPATTRANONT, principal
CHOU HSIN-YU
AMIR HASIF BIN ROSLI
CHEN HUNG-SHUN
LOI CHIANG KANG
AW PING HUI
TROMBONE
YEE CHOON YONG WILLIAM, principal
ONG AUN GUAN
TOH CHANG HUI
* YST Orchestral Institute coach/YST Artist Faculty
^ Guest/alumni
† Intern, Queensland Conservatorium
BASS TROMBONE
JENIFFER STEPHANIE SILVA CORESMA
TUBA
LIU JUN-JIA, principal
TIMPANI
THANAPHAT PRATJAROENWANIT, principal
CHEN YI-CHUNG PERCUSSION
JEREMY NG CHUAN KAI, principal
ORATHAI SINGHAART
K.GUN MONGKOLPRAPA
HARP
VANESSA JAZZY WAHYUDY IRWANTO, principal
* YST Orchestral Institute coach/YST Artist Faculty
^ Guest/alumni
† Intern, Queensland Conservatorium
OUR BENEFACTORS
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
For their support in the establishment of a conservatory of music in Singapore
YONG LOO LIN TRUST
Yong Siew Toh Endowment and Scholarship Fund
THE LATE MR RIN KIN MEI AND MRS RIN
Rin Collection String Instruments
SHAW FOUNDATION
Ones to Watch Concert Series
SINGAPORE TOTALISATOR BOARD
LEE FOUNDATION
Ong Teng Cheong Professor of Music
FACULTY, STUDENTS, ALUMNI OF YST CONSERVATORY
Steven Baxter Memorial Scholarship Fund
THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SINGAPORE
S R Nathan Music Schoalrship Endowment Fund
PROF KWA CHONG GUAN AND MS KWA KIM HUA
Mabel and Soon Siew Kwa Scholarship
MDM YONG LIEW CHIN
Yong Liew Chin Music Scholarship
MR GOH GEOK KHIM
Madeline Goh Professorship in Piano
CHENTER FOUNDATION
Chenter Foundation Cathy and Tony Chen
Community Outreach Fund
KRIS FOUNDATION
Kris Foundation Viola Masterclass Fund
MDM ONG SU PIN AND MR MERVIN BENG
OKK Wind Prize
MR GEOFFREY YU
Guy Hentsch Prize for Piano Performance
MS VIVIEN GOH
Goh Soon Tioe Leadership Award
DEAN'S CIRCLE
LIFETIME AMBASSADORS
Ms Gao Jun
Mr Geoffrey Yu
Mr Goh Geok Khim
Mr Goh Yew Lin
Mr Hamish McMillan Dyer
Mdm Ong Su Pin & Mr Mervin Beng
Ms Phalgun Raju & Mr Nicholas A. Nash
Mr Rin Kei Mei & Mrs Rin*
Mr Tan Kah Tee
Ms Vivien Goh
Mr & Mrs Willy Tan Kian Ping
Mr Whang Tar Liang
Dr & Mrs Yong Pung How
BinjaiTree
CapitaLand
Chenter Foundation
The Community Foundation of Singapore
Far East Organisation*
Hong Leong Foundation*
Keppel Corporation Limited
Kris Foundation
Lee Foundation*
National Arts Council
Shaw Foundation
The Community Foundation of Singapore
Far East Organisation*
Hong Leong Foundation*
Keppel Corporation Limited
Kris Foundation
Lee Foundation*
National Arts Council
Shaw Founwdation
Singapore Airlines Ltd
Singapore Pools
Singapore Technologies Electronics Ltd
Singapore Technologies Engineering
Singapore Technologies Pte Ltd
Singapore Technologies Telemedia
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd
Singapore Totalisator Board
Yong Loo Lin Holdings
Anonymous donor
* Founding Partners of the Singapore International Violin Competition
ANNUAL MEMBERS
Bowen Enterprises Pte Ltd
Prof Bernard Lanskey
Assoc Prof Brett Stemple
Prof Christopher Cheng
Dr Dang Vu and Ms Oanh Nguyen
Dr Guy Hentsch
Dr James C M Khoo
Ms Kyin Nwe Moong
Prof Lee Eng Hin
Dr Paolo Adragna
Dr Robert Teoh
Mr Shaun Hoang
Ms Xuan Nguyen and Mr Uche Diala
Anonymous donors
INSTRUMENT DONORS
Mr Goh Yew Lin
Paul McNulty fortepiano
Mr Tan Kah Tee
Bösendorfer Imperial Model 290
Bösendorfer Johann Strauss
MUSIC COLLECTIONS
Family of the late Mr Leong Yoon Pin
Leong Yoon Pin Manuscripts
The late Mr S R Nathan
Digital Music Resources from the Madras Music Academy
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
AUDIO AND VIDEO
YST AUDIO ARTS AND SCIENCES
PRODUCER
MICHAEL HUANG
ORCHESTRAL INSTITUTE AND ENSEMBLES
VICE DEAN OF ENSEMBLES
BRETT STEMPLE
ORCHESTRA MANAGER
YAP ZIQI
ASSISTANTS
NESTOR JOSE SOLORZANO MEJIAS
QUEK JUN RUI
QUEK JUN HAO JULIEN
HOI KHAI WEING
EDGAR JAVIER LUCENA RODRIGUEZ
SHO YONG SHUEN
FOO YUE NING
PROGRAMMING AND PRODUCTIONS
TANG I SHYAN
POO LAI FONG
BENNY LIM
ALISON WONG
MIKE TAN
WAH PENG
INTERN
JULIA HILL
COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT
ONG SHU CHEN
