MY MUSE
the music movie of our lives
Rani Singam
Sat 6 Apr 2019 Victoria Concert Hall
PROGRAMME Chan’s Song Herbie Hancock
Remember (Love Theme from “Cinema Paradiso”) Ennio Morricone, Andrea Mancini
Longing Chok Kerong, Rani Singam
Get Here Brenda Russell
I Carry Your Heart With Me E. E. Cummings
Happily Ever After Chok Kerong, Rani Singam
My Muse Chok Kerong, Rani Singam
How Deep Is Your Love The Bee Gees
Frailty Chok Kerong, Rani Singam
Waters Of March Antonio Carlos Jobim
Contentment Chok Kerong, Rani Singam
I Knew You Were Waiting For Me Simon Climie, Dennis Morgan
As Stevie Wonder
MUSICIANS Rani Singam, vocals, narrative Chok Kerong, piano, arrangements Ang Shao-Wen, conductor Chan Yoong-Han, violin Christina Zhou, violin Edward Tan, viola Wang Zihao, cello Ben Poh, bass Andrew Lim, guitar Shawn Kelley, drums
PRODUCTION Varian Tan, sound engineer Ashley Lim, hair The Make-up Room, make-up
“TO MY MUSES; my family, friends, fellow musicians and fans without whom there would be no movie, no music.” RANI SINGAM One afternoon, many years ago, I sat in my living room, and listened to Kurt Elling’s album “Dedicated to You”. Mesmerised. A passing thought, if only I could one day perform with similar orchestration, with a string quartet. Subsequently, I asked Chok Kerong, one of my longest musical collaborators about creating something along similar lines. Having sung with the SSO, I was smitten especially with the sound of strings. We recorded our composition My Muse with strings and released it as a single in 2017. My Muse was originally a piano-vocal duet in my album Contentment (2011). The song has morphed into tonight’s concert, My Muse - the music movie. The music tonight is a wide spectrum of songs from various genres. They have been beautifully threaded by Kerong and masterfully spun by the ensemble. I’ve called the show a “music movie” as I was inspired by “Remember”, The Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso. I have also written a narrative to tell the story of our collective lives on matters of the heart, life’s trials and tribulations and the indomitable human spirit. I hope you will find the concert, its’ somewhat unconventional approach, entertaining and enjoyable! www.ranisingam.com www.youtube.com/user/RANISINGAM www.facebook.com/RaniSingamPage www.instagram.com/ranisingam
CHOK KERONG The music for tonight’s concert is a mix of well-known songs and original compositions that Rani and I co-wrote. In reworking these songs for this project, we sought to exploit the expressive potential of the ensemble without compromising the essence of each song. In the process I believe we’ve discovered some new angles to approach these songs from. I’d like to express my gratitude to Rani for her continued trust in me over the years.
www.chokkerong.com www.youtube.com/user/kerongchok www.facebook.com/chokkerong www.instagram.com/chokkerong
ANG SHAO-WEN The art of song is the art of storytelling. Music and lyrics come together to evoke a state of mind, an emotion, or a long-lost memory. We might imagine ourselves as protagonists of a song, actors in a story literally false, yet lyrically true. I am thrilled and honoured to be fellow storytellers with Rani, Kerong and the ensemble.
www.instagram.com/shaowenang
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FREE!