Orchestral Institute: Awaking the Titan

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"

L: Bohemian countryside R: Mahler at age of composition

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

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 Jong

MUSICIANS

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