SSO Gala: Carmina Burana

Carmina Burana

Singapore and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras in Concert

22 & 23 Aug 2024

Esplanade Concert Hall

Singapore Symphony Australian Tour 2025

CARMINA BURANA

SINGAPORE AND MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS IN CONCERT

Thu & Fri, 22 & 23 Aug 2024

Esplanade Concert Hall

Singapore and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras

Singapore and Melbourne Symphony Choruses

Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir

Jaime Martín conductor

Warren Trevelyan-Jones Chorus Director (MSO)

Eudenice Palaruan Choral Director (SSC)

Wong Lai Foon Choirmaster (SSCC/YC)

Siobhan Stagg soprano

Andrew Goodwin tenor

Christopher Tonkin baritone

GRENFELL

DE FALLA STRAVINSKY ORFF

Fanfare for a City (SSO Premiere)

Three Dances from The Three-Cornered Hat

The Firebird Suite (1919) Intermission

Carmina Burana

Concert Duration: approximately 2 hrs 20 mins (including 20 mins intermission)

For the enjoyment of all patrons during the concert:

• Please switch off or silence all electronic devices.

• Please minimise noises during performance. If unavoidable, wait for a loud section in the music.

• No photography, video or audio recording is allowed when artists are performing.

• Non-flash photography is allowed only during bows and applause when no performance is taking place.

Go green. Digital programme books are available on www.sso.org.sg.

Photographs and videos will be taken at these events, in which you may appear. These may be published on the SSO’s publicity channels and materials. By attending the event, you consent to the use of these photographs and videos for the foregoing purposes.

SSO-MSO Joint Message

They say good friends bring joy to your life — but great friends bring music.

Our two countries have long shared a strong bond, with many Australians living in Singapore, and vice versa. To build on both nations’ rich cultural identities, the National Arts Council (Singapore) and Creative Australia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) earlier this year to facilitate greater creative partnerships and professional development opportunities.

In 2018, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) and Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) signed our own MoU to embark on a shared musical journey of musician exchanges, co-commissioned works, and collaborative performances. Then the pandemic struck. However, our orchestras proved their resilience by presenting a digital cross-border performance in 2020, featuring an original medley of Australian and Singaporean songs, that reflected our shared commitment to unity, and the power of music to uplift.

This week, our aspirations come to fruition. We have a fantastic programme lined up, including Fanfare for a City by Australian composer Maria Grenfell, one of our orchestras’ most-loved works in Stravinsky’s Firebird, and the showstopping Carmina Burana with a 200-strong combined chorus. The orchestras are led by MSO Chief Conductor Jaime Martín, and joined by a trio of sterling Australian soloists. During their time here in Singapore, MSO musicians will

be involved in three community engagement activities: a training session with the Singapore National Youth Sinfonia, masterclasses with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, and a Magic Hour public performance, together with SSO musicians, on the lawn of Raffles Hotel Singapore.

Just as this is the MSO’s first trip to Singapore, SSO’s multicity tour in 2025 will also be the orchestra’s first to Australia. In Melbourne, the MSO is set to present the SSO with Singaporean violin sensation Chloe Chua and SSO Principal Cellist Ng Pei-Sian as soloists, at Hamer Hall on 14 February 2025 — a most wonderful Valentine’s Day gift.

Thank you to all the musicians, administrative teams, Boards, sponsors, donors and partners for making this week possible, with special thanks to the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, National Arts Council, Australian High Commission and Australian Government through the International Cultural Diplomacy Arts Fund.

Kenneth Kwok Chief Executive Officer

Singapore Symphony Group

Sophie Galaise Managing Director

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Since its founding in 1979, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has been Singapore’s flagship orchestra, touching lives through classical music and providing the heartbeat of the cultural scene with its 44-week calendar of events.

In addition to its subscription series concerts, the orchestra is well-loved for its outdoor and community appearances, and its significant role educating the young people of Singapore through its school programmes. The SSO has also earned an international reputation for its orchestral virtuosity, having garnered sterling reviews for its overseas tours and many successful recordings. In 2021, the SSO clinched third place in the prestigious Orchestra of the Year Award by Gramophone. In 2022, BBC Music Magazine named the SSO as one of the 23 best orchestras in the world.

In July 2022, the SSO appointed renowned Austrian conductor Hans Graf as its Music Director, the third in the orchestra’s history after Lan Shui (1997-2019) and Choo Hoey (1979-1996). Prior to this, Hans Graf served as Chief Conductor from 2020.

The orchestra performs over 60 concerts a year, and its versatile repertoire spans all-time favourites and orchestral masterpieces to exciting cutting-edge premieres. Bridging the musical traditions of East and West, Singaporean and Asian musicians and composers are regularly showcased in the concert season. The SSO makes its performing home at the 1,800-seat state-of-the-art Esplanade Concert Hall. More intimate works, as well as outreach and community performances take place at the 673-seat Victoria Concert Hall, the Home of the SSO.

Beyond Singapore, the SSO has performed in Europe, Asia and the United States. In May 2016, the SSO was invited to perform at the Dresden Music Festival and the Prague Spring International Music Festival. This successful five-city tour of Germany and Prague also included the SSO’s second performance at the Berlin Philharmonie. In 2014, the SSO’s debut at the 120th BBC Proms in London received praise in major UK newspapers The Guardian and The Telegraph. The SSO has also performed in China on multiple occasions. In the 2024/25 season, the SSO will perform in Kyoto as part of the Asia Orchestra Week, as well as a three-city tour of Australia.

The SSO has released more than 50 recordings, with over 30 on the BIS label. Recent critically acclaimed albums include Herrmann’s Wuthering Heights (Chandos) and Scriabin – Poems of Ecstasy and Fire (BIS). With Singaporean violinist Chloe Chua, the SSO has recorded the Four Seasons, as well as the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, and a Mozart Violin Concerto cycle with Hans Graf to be released by Pentatone Records in the 2024/25 season. The SSO also leads the revival and recording of significant works such as Kozłowski’s Requiem, Ogerman’s Symbiosis (after Bill Evans) and violin concertos by Robert Russell Bennett and Vernon Duke.

The SSO has collaborated with such great artists as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Gustavo Dudamel, Charles Dutoit, Joe Hisaishi, Neeme Järvi, Hannu Lintu, Lorin Maazel, Martha Argerich, Diana Damrau, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Mischa Maisky, Gil Shaham and Krystian Zimerman.

The SSO is part of the Singapore Symphony Group, which also manages the Singapore Symphony Choruses, the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, the Singapore International Piano Festival and the biennial National Piano & Violin Competition.

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

The Group’s vision is to be a leading arts organisation that engages, inspires and reflects Singapore through musical excellence. Our mission 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.

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Committed to shaping and serving the state it inhabits, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is Australia’s preeminent orchestra and a cornerstone of Victoria’s rich, cultural heritage.

Each year, the MSO and MSO Chorus present more than 180 public events across live performances, TV, radio and online broadcasts, and via its online concert hall, MSO.LIVE, engaging an audience of more than five million people in 56 countries. In 2024 the organisation will release its first two albums on the newly established MSO recording label.

With an international reputation for excellence, versatility and innovation, the MSO works with culturally diverse and First Nations artists to build community and deliver music to people across Melbourne, the state of Victoria and around the world.

In 2024, Jaime Martín leads the Orchestra for his third year as MSO Chief Conductor. Maestro Martín leads an Artistic Family that includes Principal Conductor Benjamin Northey, Cybec Assistant Conductor Leonard Weiss, MSO Chorus Director Warren TrevelyanJones, Composer in Residence Katy Abbott, Artist in Residence Erin Helyard, MSO First Nations Creative Chair Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO, Young Cybec Young Composer in Residence Naomi Dodd, and Artist in Association Christian Li.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra respectfully acknowledges the people of the Eastern Kulin Nations, on whose un-ceded lands we honour the continuation of the oldest music practice in the world.

The MSO’s tour to Singapore is supported by the Australian Government, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the ArtsInternational Cultural Diplomacy Arts Fund.

The MSO’s international engagement is supported by the Gandel Foundation through the MSO’s Now and Forever Future Fund.

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Chorus

For more than 50 years the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus has been the unstinting voice of the Orchestra’s choral repertoire. The MSO Chorus sings with the finest conductors including Sir Andrew Davis, Edward Gardner, Mark Wigglesworth, Bernard Labadie, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Manfred Honeck, Xian Zhang and Nodoko Okisawa, and is committed to developing and performing new Australian and international choral repertoire.

Commissions include Brett Dean’s Katz und Spatz, Ross Edwards’ Mountain Chant, and Paul Stanhope’s Exile Lamentations. Recordings by the MSO Chorus have received critical acclaim. It has performed across Brazil and at the Cultura Inglese Festival in Sao Paolo, with The Australian Ballet, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, at the AFL Grand Final and at the Anzac Day commemorative ceremonies.

The Orchestra

FIRST VIOLIN

Natalie Chee Guest Concertmaster

Kong Zhao Hui1 Associate Concertmaster

Anne-Marie Johnson

Acting Assistant Concertmaster

Peter Edwards Assistant Principal

Chan Yoong-Han2 Fixed Chair

Cao Can*

Duan Yu Ling

Foo Say Ming

Jin Li

Cindy Lee

Karen Tan

William Tan

Wei Zhe

Ye Lin*

Zhang Si Jing

Deborah Goodall

Lorraine Hook

Michelle Ruffolo

Anna Skalova

Zoe Black

SECOND VIOLIN

Matthew Tomkins Principal

Nikolai Koval*

Hai-Won Kwok

Shao Tao Tao

Wu Man Yun*

Yin Shu Zhan*

Zhao Tian

Wilford Goh3

Mary Allison

Isin Cakmakcioglu

Bobby Macindoe

Patrick Wong

Roger Young

VIOLA

Manchin Zhang Principal, Tan Jiew Cheng Chair

Chris Moore Principal

Guan Qi Associate Principal

Gu Bing Jie* Fixed Chair

Marietta Ku

Luo Biao

Julia Park

Shui Bing

Janice Tsai

Yang Shi Li

Lauren Brigden

William Clark

Jenny Khafagi

Isabel Morse

Ceridwen Davies

CELLO

Ng Pei-Sian Principal, The HEAD Foundation Chair

David Berlin Principal

Yu Jing Associate Principal

Rachael Tobin Associate Principal

Guo Hao Fixed Chair

Chan Wei Shing

Christopher Mui

Jamshid Saydikarimov

Song Woon Teng

Wang Yan

Wu Dai Dai

Zhao Yu Er

Rebecca Proietto

Angela Sargeant

DOUBLE BASS

Jonathon Coco Principal

Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal

Ben Hanlon Acting Associate Principal

Karen Yeo Fixed Chair

Jacek Mirucki

Guennadi Mouzyka

Wang Xu

Stevie Newton

FLUTE

Jin Ta Principal, Stephen Riady Chair

Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal

Roberto Alvarez

Miao Shanshan

PICCOLO

Andrew Macleod Principal

Roberto Alvarez Assistant Principal

Miao Shanshan

OBOE

Rachel Walker Principal

Johannes Grosso Principal

Elaine Yeo

COR ANGLAIS

Dafydd Camp Guest Principal

CLARINET

David Thomas Principal

Li Xin Associate Principal

Liu Yoko

Tang Xiao Ping

BASS CLARINET

Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal

BASSOON

Jack Schiller Principal

Liu Chang Associate Principal

Christoph Wichert

Zhao Ying Xue

CONTRABASSOON

Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal

HORN

Austin Larson Principal

Nicolas Fleury Principal

Gao Jian Associate Principal

Marc-Antoine Robillard Associate Principal

Saul Lewis Principal Third

Bryan Chong^

Luke Chong3

Hoang Van Hoc

TRUMPET

Jon Paul Dante Principal

Owen Morris Principal

Lau Wen Rong

Nuttakamon Supattranont

Rosie Turner

TROMBONE

Allen Meek Principal

Damian Patti Associate Principal

Samuel Armstrong

Wang Wei Bass Trombone Assistant Principal

Richard Shirley

TUBA

Tomoki Natsume Principal

TIMPANI

Christian Schiøler Principal

PERCUSSION

Jonathan Fox Principal

Mark Suter Associate Principal

Mario Choo

John Arcaro

Michael Tan Pei Jie3

HARP

Gulnara Mashurova Principal

KEYBOARD

Beatrice Lin3 Guest Principal

Nicholas Loh3

Aya Sakou3

With deep appreciation to the Rin Collection for their generous loan of string instruments. Musician on temporary contract

Kong Zhao Hui performs on a J.B. Guadagnini of Milan, c. 1750, donated by the National Arts Council, Singapore, with the support of Far East Organization and Lee Foundation.

Chan Yoong-Han performs on a David Tecchler, Fecit Roma An. D. 1700, courtesy of Mr G K Goh.

Musicians listed alphabetically by family name rotate their seats on a per programme basis.

Guest musician

Musicians of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in blue

JAIME MARTÍN conductor

Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 2022, Jaime Martín is also Chief Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland) and Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España (Spanish National Orchestra) for the 22/23 season and was Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Gävle Symphony Orchestra from 2013 to 2022.

Having spent many years as a highly regarded flautist, Jaime turned to conducting full-time in 2013, and has become very quickly sought after at the highest level. Recent and future engagements include appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Antwerp Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica y Coro de RTVE (ORTVE) and Galicia Symphony orchestras, as well as a nine-city European tour with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Martín is the Artistic Advisor and previous Artistic Director of the Santander Festival. He was also a founding member of the Orquestra de Cadaqués, where he was Chief Conductor from 2012 to 2019.

Jaime Martín’s Chief Conductor Chair is supported by the Besen Family Foundation in memory of Eva and Marc Besen.

WARREN TREVELYAN-JONES

Chorus Director (MSO)

Warren Trevelyan-Jones is regarded as one of the leading choral conductors and choir trainers in Australia. He is Head of Music at St James’, King Street, Sydney, a position he has held since relocating to Australia in 2008. Under his leadership, The Choir of St James’ has gained a high-profile international reputation through its regular choral services, orchestral masses, concert series and a regular program of recording and both interstate and international touring.

Warren has had an extensive singing career as a soloist and ensemble singer in Europe, including nine years in the Choir of Westminster Abbey and regular work with the Gabrieli Consort, Collegium Vocale (Ghent), the Taverner Consort, The Kings Consort, Dunedin Consort, The Sixteen and the Tallis Scholars.

He is also a co-founder of The Consort of Melbourne and, in 2001 with Dr Michael Noone, founded the ‘Gramophone’ awardwinning group Ensemble Plus Ultra. In September 2017 he was appointed Chorus Director of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and has recently been appointed Chorus Master of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. He is also an experienced singing teacher and qualified music therapist.

© LAURA MANARITI

EUDENICE PALARUAN

Choral Director

Eudenice Palaruan studied at the University of the Philippines College of Music, majoring in composition and choral conducting. He took further training in choral conducting at the Berliner Kirchenmusikschule, Germany. He graduated doctor of musical arts at St. Paul University Manila.

He was a singer, resident composer/ arranger, and assistant choirmaster of the Philippine Madrigal Singers. In addition, he performed with the Berlin Spandauer Kantorei, the World Youth Choir, and sang countertenor with the Berlin Monteverdichor.

In addition, he was the principal conductor of the San Miguel Master Chorale. For years, he has been the resident conductor of the International Bamboo Organ Festival, where he performed and recorded significant selections of Latin-American baroque music. With his active involvement in the choralization of Philippine and other Asian indigenous music, he premiered a substantial volume of new Asian choral works. In addition, he was often invited to give lectures on non-Western vocal aesthetics.

Eudenice also arranges for the SSO choruses and the SSC community outreach programmes. In addition, the SSO choruses have premiered new choral works written by local composers and arrangers in Singapore under his direction.

He taught composition and choral conducting in institutions such as the University of the Philippines College of Music, the Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music, and St. Paul University College of Music and the Performing Arts. In addition, he teaches at the Singapore Bible College School of Church Music and directs the SBC Chorale. Eudenice is often invited to adjudicate in international composition competitions and give masterclasses in choral conducting.

© MICHELLE TNG

YING

WONG LAI FOON

Choirmaster

Wong Lai Foon has been a driving force behind the development and growth of the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir (SSCC) since its inception in 2006. Appointed Choirmaster in 2015 and armed with a mission to nurture young voices and inspire choral excellence, she led in the expansion of the SSCC’s training programme to include six preparatory ensembles, as well as the formation of the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir in 2016.

With repertoire ranging from Baroque to opera to contemporary and popular music, she has directed the SSCC and SSYC in a wide array of concerts, often receiving praise for the choirs’ beautiful tone and sensitivity. She has prepared the choirs in collaborations with renowned conductors and performers such as Stephen Layton, The King’s Singers, and Sofi Jeanin and la Maîtrise de Radio France. The SSCC has also had the distinction of being invited to perform at state functions.

Wong has commissioned and premiered treble choir works by local composers and has also arranged for the SSCC and SSYC. Her efforts to educate and inspire singers extend into the community through

workshops, talks, as well as adjudicator, chorus-master and guest-conductor roles. Some ensembles that she has worked with include The Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Singapore Symphony Chorus, Singapore Lyric Opera, Hallelujah Singers, and Methodist Festival Choir. She holds a master’s degree in choral conducting from Westminster Choir College, USA.

© MICHELLE TNG

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY CHORUS

Celebrating Choral Excellence

For over four decades, the Singapore Symphony Chorus (SSC) has been bringing together passionate and talented choristers from all walks of life to celebrate the best of symphonic music-making, and to create music that moves, transcending language and culture.

More than just a choir, the SSC is a warm and vibrant community for lifelong social connections beyond the stage. Seasoned performers at the Victoria Concert Hall and the Esplanade, the chorus’s committed group of singers come together week after week to hone their artistry and volunteer their time to deliver some of the most challenging choral classics to the highest standards.

Led by world-class conductors including Okko Kamu, Lan Shui, Lim Yau, Masaaki Suzuki and Sofi Jeannin, the chorus has amassed an impressive repertoire such as Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, Arvo Pärt’s Te Deum, Britten’s War Requiem, and Bach’s St John Passion, amongst others, since its founding in 1980.

With their dedication towards presenting outstanding performances, the SSC is the pinnacle of choral excellence in Singapore and a testament to the power of music and how it connects people across cultures and generations.

Eudenice Palaruan Choral Director  Shane Thio rehearsal pianist

© MICHELLE TNG YING

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY YOUTH CHOIR

Inspiring Choral Passion

Energetic and full of dynamism, the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir (SSYC)’s choristers embody a zeal for artistic growth that inspires and pushes boundaries.

Comprised of a myriad of vibrant personalities aged between 17 and 28, the cool collective welcomes like-minded singers to share their journey of youthful passion for symphonic choral music-making, alongside the national orchestra! Performing regularly at the Victoria Concert Hall and the Esplanade, the SSYC is a group of dedicated singers who enjoy coming together to explore some of the most challenging and beloved choral works across styles and genres.

Since 2016, SSYC has had the privilege of performing under the baton of renowned conductors such as Lan Shui, Hans Graf, and Stephen Layton. Their repertoire boasts of musical highlights including Scriabin’s Prometheus, Puccini’s La Bohème, Tallis’s Why Fumeth in Fight, Faure’s Requiem and recordings of Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2.

With the unique opportunity to learn from world renowned musicians and be part of a community that inspires passion, all while creating a professional sound, SSYC is a social journey to reimagine classical music and choral excellence.

Wong Lai Foon Choirmaster

Evelyn Handrisanto rehearsal pianist

© MICHELLE TNG YING

FOR A CARING & RESILIENTSingap ore

The Chorus

Choristers of the Singapore Symphony Chorus, Youth Choir and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus

SOPRANO

Karen Aw

Aviva Barazani

Janice Chee

Alexis Chen

Serene Cheong

Gabrielle Connell

Elizabeth Daniel

Michele de Courcy

Keren Evans

Catherine Folley

Goh Chen Xi

Karina Gough

Vivien Heng

Abigail Ho

Tania Jacobs

Gwen Kennelly

Kaitlyn Kim

Selina Kwek

Rachel Lam

Liang Xinyu

Ng Bee Kay

Susie Novella

Karin Otto

Danielle Rosenfeld-Lovell

Jodi Samartgis

Sarah Santhana

Desiree Seng

Jemima Sim

Andrea Yenny Sjah

Fiona Steffensen

Carine Tan

Christabelle Tan

Janelle Tan

Sarah Tang

Sachiko Tomimori

Jasmine Towndrow

Wang Yu-Ann

Raeanne Wong

*Choral Associate Choristers of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus in blue

ALTO

Tes Benton

Cecilia Bjorkegren

Kate Bramley

Jane Brodie

Chan Mei Yoke

Jacqueline Cheng

Chng Xin Bei

Alexandra Chubaty

Juliarna Clark

Lesley Collins

Marie Connett

Dieh Xin Xin

Niki Ebacioni

Mari Eleanor

Claudia Funder

Jennifer Henry

Kristine Hensel

Friederike Herrmann

Helen Hill

Truly Hutapea

Suzannah Kewley

Trinetra Kumarasan

Dorothy Lee-Teh

Wendy Lim

Zachary Lim

Lin Wei

Julie Lotherington

Shoumin Low

Sharon Low

Helen MacLean

Rosemary McKelvie

Penny Monger

Ng Sheh Feng*

Ong Sherlyn

Natasha Pracejus

Alison Ralph

Kerry Roulston

Annie Runnalls

Lisa Savage

Ena Su

Ratna Sutantio

Elsie Tan

Tan Seow Yen

Tan Yuqing

Tan Yulin

Melvin Tan

Rina Ushioda

Wang Jiunwen

Nadine Yap

TENOR

Jean-Michel Bardin

Arjun Bhayani

Steve Burnett

Jesse Cai

Peter Campbell

Chee Hann Lyang

Chong Wei Sheng

James Dipnall

Simon Gaites

Paul Dominique Galvez

Lyndon Horsburgh

Jeroven Marquez

David Maund

Michael Mobach

Seifer Ong

Ronald Ooi

Samuel Pažický

Rac Roldan

Colin Schultz

Robert Simpson

Ian Tan

Titus Teo

Ben Wong

Stephen Wood

BASS

Ang Jian Zhong

Jose Miguel Armijo Fidalgo

Kevin Barrell

Leonard Buescher

Chai Chang Kai

Craig Chambers

Matthew Chiang

Vincent Chiu

Winsen Citra

Roger Dargaville

Arthur Davis

Peter Deane

Paul Ellison

Simon Evans

Kentaro Hirama

John Howard

Jordan Janssen

Andy Jatmiko

Ethan Jerzak

Paul Kitamura

Justin Lee

Liu Felix

Douglas McQueen-Thomson

Douglas Proctor

Jared Robertson

Liam Straughan

Tan Hee

Joshua Tan

Dominic Tang

Teo Siak Hian

Caleb Triscari

Wong Hin Yan

Wong Zhen Wei

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY CHILDREN’S CHOIR

Nurturing Choral Brilliance

Established in 2006, the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir (SSCC) is an exciting and unique opportunity for young singers to work alongside the national orchestra and world-class conductors!

Based at the Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore’s leading children’s choir is dedicated to a holistic training approach that nurtures well-rounded artistic growth, cultivates discipline and confidence, and inspires a lifelong love for music and the arts. More than a choir, the SSCC is a life journey of learning, growth, lasting friendships, and music-making at its best.

SSCC has performed great choral masterpieces under the baton of distinguished conductors such as Lim Yau, Sofi Jeannin and François-Xavier Roth, and even shared the stage with critically acclaimed vocal group, The King’s Singers. Most recently, the choir, together with the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir, premiered a treble arrangement of Faure’s Requiem under the direction of world-renowned choral conductor Stephen Layton.

The SSCC’s commitment to musical excellence has enriched generations of singers and audiences, laying the foundation for choral patronage in the local music scene. Along with their fellow choruses, the SSCC is a key player in inspiring young musicians as well as shaping the future of choral music in Singapore and beyond.

Wong Lai Foon Choirmaster  Low Jinhong rehearsal pianist

© MICHELLE TNG YING

The Children's Choir

Miya Ang

Lisa Chang

Samuel Chen

Elizabeth Chern

Christian Chew

Chin Yi Hao

Halyn Cho

Choo Yu En

Hailey Chua

Deng Handing

Emma Foo

Dylan Francis

Fu Yuqi

Aureilee Gooi

Graciella Gunawan

Nadia Hajadi

Callie Heng

Emily Hia

Cloris Ho

Isabelle Ho

Clarita Hutabarat

Rachael Jong

Joshika Kandasamy

Olivia Kennedy-White

Ropheka Khoo

Marian Koh

Emma Lee-Goh

Melina Leong

Eyzen Lim

Megan Montefrio

Lei Nakayasu

Ng Yi Poh

Joseph Nyan

Riann Ong

Sophie Ong

Ong Sze Ying

Ong Wing Hei

Kaeshav Rajasekaran

Suri Rao

Genevieve Seow

Angeline Sun

Allysa Tan

Ashlynn Tan

Tan Caewyn

Emily Tan

Michael Tan

Natalie Tay

Shania Tay

Anya Teo

Germaine Teo

Wang Xiangning

Caresse Wisantoso

Joelle Wong

Matthew Wong

Jessica Xu

Evelyn Xue

Cammi Yeo

Stanley Yuan

Felix Zhang

Alex Zhang

Zhang Yixuan

SIOBHAN STAGG

soprano

Siobhan Stagg was an ensemble member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 2013-19 where her roles ranged from Pamina Die Zauberflöte to Waldvogel and Woglinde The Ring Cycle. Elsewhere she has sung title role Cendrillon (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Pamina (Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin); Susanna Le nozze di Figaro (Covent Garden, Komische Oper Berlin), Sophie Der Rosenkavalier (Opernhaus Zurich, Staatsoper Berlin); Mélisande (Opera de Dijon), Gilda Rigoletto (Hamburgische Staatsoper); Najade Ariadne auf Naxos (Bayerische Staatsoper), Morgana Alcina (Grand Théâtre de Genève) and Eritea Eliogabolo (Opernhaus Zurich).

In concert, Siobhan revisits her relationship with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks for Schubert’s G major mass conducted by Riccardo Muti; opens the season with Gürzenich Orchester Köln / François-Xavier Roth in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4; embarks on a multi-concert tour with Pygmalion Ensemble in Mendelssohn’s Elijah; makes her debut with Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne in Fauré’s Requiem and returns to Australia for multiple solo recitals across the country and solo collaborations with Melbourne and Queensland Symphony Orchestras.

© TODD ROSENBERG

ANDREW GOODWIN

tenor

Andrew Goodwin has appeared with opera companies in Europe, the UK, Asia and Australia, including the Bolshoi Opera, Gran Theatre Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, La Scala Milan, Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera and Sydney Chamber Opera.

He has performed with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow and Melbourne Chamber Orchestras, all the Australian Symphony orchestras, and has given recitals at Wigmore Hall, and Oxford Lieder, and at many of the major Australian music festivals.

Andrew’s performances this year include returns to Adelaide Festival as Renaud in Stravinksy’s The Nightingale and other fables, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs for Elijah, Melbourne Bach Choir for Bach’s Easter and Ascension Oratorios, and each of the Australian Symphony orchestras in repertoire ranging from Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem and Haydn’s Harmony Mass to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Orff’s Carmina Burana.

His most recent engagements include Mozart Requiem (Sydney Philharmonia and the MSO, TSO and QSO); Evangelist, St. Matthew Passion (Melbourne Bach Choir); Haydn’s Creation (Australian Haydn Ensemble); Messiah (Canberra, Melbourne, Queensland, New Zealand Symphony Orchestras); and Nativity, (Mills) with the

ASO. Recent opera roles include Janik in Diary of one who disappeared (Janáček) with Sydney Chamber Opera, Lysander in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Adelaide Festival and Jacquino (Fidelio) with West Australian Symphony.

Andrew studied voice at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Professor Lev Morozov, graduating with a Bachelor of Music and with Robert Dean in the UK and is the winner of many awards and scholarships including the Tait Memorial Trust Scholarship, the Martin Bequest Travelling Scholarship, the Sir Robert Askin Operatic Travelling Scholarship, and the Australian Opera Auditions Committee Joan Sutherland Richard Bonynge Scholarship.

© EDMOND CHOO

CHRISTOPHER TONKIN

baritone

Christopher Tonkin has appeared throughout the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia and was principal baritone at the State Opera in Hannover, Germany from 2010–2016. His major roles include Marcello (La bohème), Silvio (Pagliacci), Il Conte Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Pollux (Castor et Pollux), Anténor (Dardanus), Robert (Iolanta), Ping (Turandot), Albert (Werther), Valentin (Faust), Tarquinius (Rape of Lucretia), Demetrius (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and Harlekin (Ariadne auf Naxos).

Christopher’s most recent engagements include returns to Melbourne Opera as Donner (Das Rheingold), Bill in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Weill/ Brecht) and Gubetta (Lucrezia Borgia); the MSO for Carmina Burana and Messiah; White Rabbit in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Todd/Gottlieb) and in the Book of Longing (Glass) for the Australian Contemporary Opera Company; Melbourne Bach Choir in a program of Bach and Mozart, and Victoria Chorale in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (Aeneas), Puccini’s Gloria

A regular performer with Australia’s opera companies and symphony orchestras, other notable appearances include Silvio for West Australian Opera; Marcello, the Count (Capriccio) and Novice’s Friend (Billy Budd) for Opera Australia; the Black Minister Le Grand Macabre for Adelaide Festival; and for Victorian Opera, Guglielmo, Belcore (L'elisir d'amore), for which he received a Green Room Award nomination, and Chou En-Lai in Nixon in China. On the concert platform, he performed in Handel's Messiah with Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

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MARIA GRENFELL (b. 1969)

Fanfare for a City (2001) SSO Premiere

The opening piece of an orchestral concert has traditionally been the ubiquitous “overture” whether it be a concert piece of short duration, or a real overture belonging to a stage work. A “fanfare”, however, conjures up visions of red-coated trumpeters standing majestically in a row and playing as loudly as possible. An orchestral fanfare to open a concert is an unusual animal, somewhat akin to the “concerto for orchestra”, and can happily be left open to interpretation by the lucky composer who gets to write one.

Fanfare for a City begins with a brief opening brass chorale hinting at things to come, a fanfare with a sense of excitement and jubilation culminating in a return to the opening chorale written in Bach style that would never have been written by Bach. Fanfare for a City was commissioned by the Symphony Australia for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s 2001 fanfare series, celebrating 100 years of Federation in Australia.

Notes by the composer, Maria Grenfell

Instrumentation

2 flutes (1 doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion (triangle, bongos, xylophone, tom-toms), harp, strings

World Premiere 28 Jun 2001, Adelaide

MANUEL DE FALLA (1876–1946)

Three Dances from The Three-Cornered Hat (1919)

The Neighbours’ Dance (Seguidillas)

The Miller’s Dance (Farruca)

Final Dance (Jota)

In 1907 Manuel de Falla had left his native Spain in some frustration. Two years before he had won a prize for his opera La vida breve (‘Life is short’), a work in which he established the principles of working with distinctly Spanish sounds and forms, but when the promised production failed to eventuate, the composer left for Paris. He became acquainted with some of the major composers there, like Debussy, Ravel, Dukas and Stravinsky, and absorbed some of their stylistic idioms to the extent that when he returned to Spain upon the outbreak of World War I, his ‘ballet with songs’ El amor brujo (‘Love, the magician’) was criticised as sounding too French.

Falla had long been taken with the idea of composing a stage work to El Corregidor y la Molinera (‘The Magistrate and the Miller’s wife’), a novel by Pedro de Alarcón. In fact back in 1905 when he was looking for an opera subject, he had put three titles – El Corregidor y la Molinera, El amor brujo and La vida breve – into a hat and drew out the latter. Sergei Diaghilev, impresario of the Ballet Russes, was keen to add Falla to a stable of composers that included Stravinsky and Ravel, and suggested a ballet of El Corregidor. The war (and the Russian revolution, which meant Diaghilev was forbidden to enter Spain) intervened, but by way of a ‘dry run’ Falla produced a pantomime of the story for performance in Madrid. When Diaghilev finally saw the pantomime he suggested several major revisions out of which the ballet (another ‘ballet with songs’) El Sombrero de tres picos (‘The three-cornered hat’) was born. The new work, which was premiered in London in 1919, had sets by Pablo Picasso and choreography by Leonid Massine.

Alarcón’s story tells of a miller and his wife who, despite his being ugly and she beautiful, are devoted to each other. A distant song, however, warns that all women should lock their door. The local magistrate passes in a procession past the mill, and returns shortly thereafter to try and seduce the miller’s wife. She dances a provocative fandango, colluding with her husband to lead the magistrate on and humiliate him. The magistrate realises that he is being set up and leaves angrily.

Part 2, from which the second suite is drawn, begins with the miller, his wife and their neighbours dancing the seguidillas in celebration of St John’s night. The miller then dances a vibrant farruca before being

arrested by the magistrate’s bodyguard (who has a rather Beethovenian way of knocking on the door…). The magistrate returns and chases the miller’s wife; she takes advantage of his falling into the millstream to disappear into the night. The magistrate gets out of those wet things, and leaves them to dry while he takes shelter in the miller’s empty hut. The miller escapes from the bodyguards and returns, puts on the magistrate’s clothes (including his threecornered hat, a symbol of authority) and goes off vowing to seduce the magistrate’s wife; the magistrate puts on the miller’s clothes. The miller’s wife returns, as do the townsfolk (with an effigy of the magistrate they propose to burn). Predictable confusion and remonstrances ensue, but once who’s who is sorted out the magistrate is tossed in a blanket and the townsfolk launch into an energetic and triumphant jota – the final dance complete with castanets.

Notes by Gordon Kerry © 2005

Instrumentation

2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (triangle, cymbals, suspended cymbal, tam-tam, snare drum, bass drum, castanets, xylophone), harp, piano (doubling on celesta), strings

World Premiere 1919, London

IGOR STRAVINSKY

(1882–1971)

The Firebird Suite (1919)

Introduction (attaca)

The Firebird and her Dance (attaca)

Variation of the Firebird

The Princesses’ Round (Khorovod)

Infernal Dance of King Kashchei

Berceuse (attaca)

Finale

The dazzling success of Serge Diaghilev’s seasons of Russian opera and ballet in pre-World War I Paris is now legendary. Diaghilev’s first venture in bringing the splendours of Russian culture to Paris was in 1906 when he mounted an exhibition of paintings. Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov, and Chaliapin were among the luminaries later brought by Diaghilev to the stage of the Paris Opéra. In 1908 Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov, with Chaliapin in the title role, was heard for the first time in Western Europe. In 1909 the newly formed Ballets Russes presented four ballets: this season was so rapturously received by the Parisians that Diaghilev decided to devote future seasons to ballet with new works specially created for the Paris season which he could also tour through the main European cities.

Diaghilev and his choreographer Michel Fokine were particularly keen to include a ballet based on a theme from Russian folklore in the 1910 season. They decided that the ancient fairytale of the Firebird was perfect for dance treatment since it contrasted a human world of traditional romantic love with a fantastic and brilliant world of supernatural powers. The score was commissioned from Diaghilev’s former teacher Anatole Liadov, but when it became clear that he would not finish it in time, the

commission was transferred to the 27-yearold Igor Stravinsky. Diaghilev had heard two early works of this young composer at a concert in St. Petersburg in February 1909 and he had enthusiastically asked Stravinsky to orchestrate two numbers of Fokine’s Les Sylphides, a ballet with music by Chopin, for the 1909 Paris season. The Firebird ballet was to be a long original work: the commission amounted to a tremendous act of faith in Stravinsky’s talents.

Stravinsky realised how important the Paris premiere was to be – and he willingly laid aside the opera he was working on to tackle the ballet score. It was his first work for the theatre, and he and Fokine worked in close collaboration on what was, at the time, a new genre of dramatic one-act ballet, a ballet d’action, in which the music illustrated the smallest gesture on the stage. The premiere, on 25 June 1910 at the Paris Opéra, was enormously successful, and the ovation Stravinsky received that night for his superbly colourful and dramatic score launched his international career.

From the ballet Stravinsky devised three orchestral suites. The second, compiled in 1919, uses a considerably smaller orchestra than did the first.

Introduction – The Firebird and her Dance – Variation of the Firebird. The lower strings sound the eerie chromatic theme associated with the evil ogre Kashchei’s enchanted garden. Ivan Tsarevitch (the ‘Prince Charming’ of the tale), enters and pursues the brilliant Firebird, whose scherzo-like solo (Variation) depicts her plucking golden apples from her magic tree.

The Princesses’ Round (Khorovod). The princesses have been playing with the golden apples and permit Ivan to join them in a traditional dance. The oboe’s theme is a Russian folksong; the following section is also in folk idiom: its theme, heard at first on the violins, is worked into the climax of the dance, which ends with Ivan face-to-face with one of the princesses. Ominous string tremolos remind us that the maidens are under an evil spell.

Infernal Dance of King Kashchei. Kashchei appears and is about to turn Ivan to stone. The Prince waves a feather the Firebird had given him in return for her freedom. The Firebird appears and casts Kashchei and his subjects into a wild dance at the end of which they fall exhausted to the ground.

Berceuse. The Firebird moves among the exhausted dancers and with this lullaby charms them into a profound sleep.

The Finale is one of the earliest examples of Stravinsky’s penchant for changing metres. While the others sleep, the Firebird leads Ivan to a casket containing the egg that holds Kashchei’s immortal soul. He dashes the egg to the ground; the ogre expires, and the princesses and their lovers are released from enchantment. The theme on the horn is developed into a majestic hymn of thanksgiving as Ivan and the princess of his choice are united as Tsar and Tsarevna of the new kingdom.

Notes by Brett Johnson © 1998

Instrumentation

2 flutes (1 doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes (1 doubling on cor anglais), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (triangle, cymbals, bass drum, tambourine, xylophone), harp, piano (doubling on celesta), strings

World Premiere of the ballet 25 Jun 1910, Paris

CARL ORFF (1895–1982)

Carmina Burana (1936)

Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi (Fortune, Empress of the World)

I. Primo vere (In Springtime)

Uf dem anger (On the Meadow)

II. In Taberna (In the Tavern)

III. Cour d'amours (The Court of Love)

Blanziflor et Helena (Blanziflor and Helena)

Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi (Fortune, Empress of the World)

In 1803 a large collection of medieval poetry was discovered in the abbey of Benediktbeuern in Bavaria. Its 320 poems, written on parchment and illustrated with illuminated capital letters, represent an anthology of styles and languages including medieval Latin, Old French and Middle High German. It seems that the collection was compiled for the Bishop of Seckau in 13th century Austria. The Bishop must have been quite worldly as the collection includes songs of springtime and love as well as drinking songs. In the mid-1930s the collection came to the attention of Carl Orff who later remarked:

Fortune smiled on me when she put into my hands a Würzburg secondhand books catalogue, in which I found a title that exercised on me an attraction of magical force: Carmina Burana: Latin and German songs and poems of a 13th-century manuscript from Benediktbeuern, edited by J.A. Schmeller.

Orff spoke more truly than he knew: certainly Carmina Burana (‘Songs of Beuern’) would make his fortune, at least artistically. But its success put much of his subsequent achievement in the shade.

Orff was born in 1895 into a military family with intellectual and artistic interests and studied music from an early age including, significantly, research into non-European music. His early opera Gisei for instance is based on Japanese Nōh drama. In 1917 he enlisted in the German army, but was wounded and invalided out. The 1920s saw the gradual development of the musiceducation theories for which, apart from Carmina Burana, he is best remembered today.

Orff’s own compositions during the 1920s show an increasing interest in the use of percussion often with piano (influenced partly by Stravinsky’s Les Noces), harmony which is essentially diatonic but avoids the goal-directed feel of traditional tonal music, and rhythm characterised by the ‘Stravinsky-like’ use of repeated figurations. These musical techniques reached their first realisation in 1931’s Carmina Catulli, settings of one of the great Roman poets. Carmina Burana followed a few years later, and was first performed in Frankfurt in 1937.

1937 was of course a time when Hitler and the Nazis were doing their utmost to win the hearts and minds of Germany. Carmina

Burana comes perilously close to the kind of music favoured by the regime; the cheerfully hedonistic poetry (‘I am the Abbot of Cockaigne’) similarly reflects the growing anti-clericalism in 1930s Germany.

For this reason, we need to take with a grain of salt Orff’s assertion that the work never got a good review in Nazi Germany. Generally, critics praised the work in language redolent of much Nazi propaganda, noting its ‘radiant strength-filled life-joy’. Wherever it has been performed, Carmina Burana retains its ability to evoke what Alex Ross calls ‘primitive, unreflective enthusiasm’. And that’s partly because of the texts. Orff described the reading the collection:

On opening it I immediately found, on the front page, the long-famous picture of ‘Fortune and her wheel’ and under it the lines O fortuna/velut luna/statu variabilis…Picture and words seized hold of me…a new work, a stage work with singing and dancing choruses, simply following the illustrations and texts, at once came into my mind.

The ‘O Fortuna’ chorus bookends the whole work with its mighty choral and orchestral forces and implacable rhythms. The body of the work, which uses 23 of the published poems, is divided into three main sections. The first, ‘Springtime’ and ‘On the Meadow’, uses the conventional genres of pastoral poetry: spring returns, the sun warms the earth, forests awaken, and a young person’s thoughts turn to love. But not before a brief spell ‘In the Tavern’, a male-dominated environment in which Orff creates a number of memorable characters. None more so, if only musically, than the Roasting Swan, a high tenor whose lament

“Picture and words seized hold of me…a new work, a stage work with singing and dancing choruses, simply following the illustrations and texts, at once came into my mind.”

is for the loss of his whiteness as much as for his imminent consumption. Finally ‘The Courts of Love’ take up the erotic threads of ‘Spring’ contrasting delicacy and robust humour before the soaring soprano solo of ‘Dulcissime’ and ecstatic chorus to ‘Blanziflor and Helena’. The ecstasy will, of course, be swept away by Fate, so the music returns to ‘O Fortuna’. As Michael Steinberg has noted, one wouldn’t guess from the music that the last line of the poetry is ‘mecum omnes plangite’ (‘come, weep with me’).

Notes

by Gordon Kerry © 2006

Instrumentation

solo voices, chorus, children’s choir, 3 flutes (2 doubling on piccolos), 3 oboes (1 doubling on cor anglais), 3 clarinets (1 doubling on bass clarinet, 1 doubling on E-flat clarinet), 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (triangle, chimes, cymbals, suspended cymbal, tam-tam, snare drum, bass drum, castanets, crotales, glockenspiel, ratchet, sleigh bells, tambourine, xylophone), 2 pianos, celesta, strings

World Premiere 8 Jun 1937, Frankfurt

1. Chorus O Fortuna, velut Luna statu variabilis, semper crescis aut decrescis; vita detestabilis nunc obdurat et tunc curat ludo mentis aciem, egestatem, potestatem dissolvit ut glaciem.

Sors immanis et inanis, rota tu volubilis, status malus, vana salus semper dissolubilis, obumbrata et velata michi quoque niteris; nunc per ludum dorsum nudum fero tui sceleris.

Sors salutis et virtutis michi nunc contraria, est affectus et defectus semper in angaria. Hac in hora sine mora corde pulsum tangite; quod per sortem sternit fortem, mecum omnes plangite!

2. Chorus

Fortune plango vulnera stillantibus ocellis, quod sua michi munera subtrahit rebellis. Verum est, quod legitur fronte capillata,

FORTUNE,

EMPRESS OF THE WORLD

O Fortune, changeable as the moon, you are always either waxing or waning. Detestable life at one moment thwarts and at another mockingly indulges the mind’s desire, melting away both poverty and power, like ice.

Vain, monstrous Fate, you turning wheel, you can, when you will, destroy bad circumstances and delusive success alike. Veiled and shadowy, you attack me too; now at your whim I bare my back under your assault.

You, Fate, who dispose health and strength, are now against me; my desires and my weakness are in constant slavery. At this hour without delay let all pluck the string; since Fate crushes the strong man everyone weep with me!

I lament Fortune’s blows with weeping eyes, for she aggressively extorts tribute from me; sometimes she offers a rich harvest,

sed plerumque sequitur Occasio calvata.

In Fortune solio sederam elatus, prosperitatis vario flore coronatus; Quicquid enim florui felix et beatus, nunc a summo corrui gloria privatus.

Fortune rota volvitur: descendo minoratus; alter in altum tollitur; nimis exaltatus rex sedet in vertice caveat ruinam! nam sub axe legimus Hecubam reginam.

PRIMO VERE

3. Semichorus

Veris leta facies mundo propinatur, hiemalis acies victa iam fugatur, in vestitu vario Phebus principatur, nemorum dulcisono que cantu celebratur.

Flore fusus gremio Phebus novo more risum dat, hoc vario iam stipata flore. Zephyrus nectareo spirans in odore; certatim pro bravio curramus in amore.

Cytharizat cantico dulcis Philomena, flore rident vario prata iam serena, salit cetus avium silve per amena, chorus promit virginum iam gaudia millena.

but usually she provides a lean supply.

Once I sat high up on Fortune’s throne, garlanded with all the blooms of prosperity; indeed I was in the bloom of blessed happiness, but now I have tumbled from my eminence, robbed of my glory.

Fortune’s wheel turns: I am cut down and fall; another is raised to the heights; the king sits at the peak, too much exalted –let him beware of ruin, for under the axle we read the name of Queen Hecuba.

SPRINGTIME

The smiling face of spring is granted to the world, keen winter is now defeated and chased away. Phoebus reigns in colourful robes, honoured in the sweet-sounding song of the woods.

Lying once more in Flora’s lap, Phoebus laughs; surrounded by many-coloured flowers Zephyrus breathes the fragrance of their nectar; let us hasten to love and compete for its price.

The sweet nightingale strikes up her song, the radiant meadows smile with many-coloured flowers, the birds dart about the pleasant woods, the chorus of dancing maidens now brings delights in thousands.

4. Baritone solo

Omnia sol temperat purus et subtilis, nova mundo reserat facies Aprilis, ad Amorem properat animus herilis, et iocundis imperat deus puerilis.

Rerum tanta novitas in solemni vere et veris auctoritas iubet nos gaudere, vias prebet solitas, et in tuo vere fides est et probitas tuum retinere.

Ama me fideliter! fidem meam nota: de corde totaliter et ex mente tota sum presentialiter absens in remota, quisquis amat taliter, volvitur in rota.

5. Chorus

Ecce gratum et optatum

Ver reducit gaudia; purpuratum floret pratum, Sol serenat omnia. Iamiam cedant tristia! Estas redit, nunc recedit Hyemis sevitia.

Iam liquescit et decrescit grando nix et cetera; bruma fugit, et iam sugit

Ver Estatis ubera; illi mens est misera qui nec vivit, nec lascivit

The bright, keen sun tempers everything; returning April discloses her face to the world; men’s hearts hasten to love, and the boyish god rules over the amiable.

This great renewal and the power of festive spring bid us rejoice; spring brings back the well-known ways, and in spring it is good and loyal to hold fast to your lover.

Love me faithfully, see the faithfulness of my whole heart and my whole mind. I am with you even when I am far away. Whoever loves like that is tortured on the wheel.

Behold, welcome and longed-for spring brings delight back, the meadows glow with rich flowers, the sun makes all things bright. Now sorrow flees! Summer returns, and harsh winter withdraws.

Now hail, snow, and the rest melt away; winter flees, and now spring sucks the breast of summer; sad is the heart of him who neither enjoys life nor frolics

sub Estatis dextera.

Gloriantur et letantur in melle dulcedinis. Qui conantur, ut utantur premio Cupidinis; simus iussu Cypridis gloriantes et letantes pares esse Paridis.

UF DEM ANGER

6. Dance (Orchestra)

7. Chorus

Floret silva nobilis, floribus et foliis.

Ubi est antiquus meus amicus? Hinc equitavit, eia, quis me amabit?

Floret silva undique, nah mime gesellen ist mir wê. Gruonet der walt allenthalben, wâ ist min geselle alse lange? Der ist geriten hinnen, o wî, wer sol mich minnen?

8. Soprano solo and chorus Chramer, gip die varwe mir, die min wengel roete, da mit ich die jungen man an ir dank der minnenliebe noete. Seht mich an, jungen man! lat mich iu gevallen.

Minnet, tugentliche man, minnecliche frouwen! minne tuot iu hoch gemuot unde lat iuch in hohen eren schouwen. Seht mich an…

Wol dir, Werlt, daz du bist also freudenriche! ich will dir sin undertan durch din liebe immer sicherliche. Seht mich an…

under the hand of summer.

Those who seek to take advantage of Cupid’s prize glory and rejoice in the honey of sweetness; let us, at the command of Cyprian Venus, glory and rejoice to be the equals of Paris.

ON THE MEADOW

The noble forest blooms with flowers and leaves. Where is he who was my lover? He has ridden away. Alas, who will love me? Everywhere the forest blooms, I am longing for my lover. The wood is green all over, where is my lover this long time? He has ridden away. Alas, who will love me?

Hawker, give me the rouge to make my cheeks red, so that I can invite the young men to welcome love. Look at me, young men! Let me please you!

Gallant men, love lovely women!

Love puts you in high spirits and does you great credit. Look at me…

Hail, world, so rich in joys! I will always be subject to you through love of you. Look at me…

9a. Reie [Round Dance] (Orchestra)

9b. Chorus

Swaz hie gat umbe, daz sint allez megede, die wellent an man alle disen sumer gan!

9c. Semichorus

Chume, chum, geselle min, ih enbite harte din.

Suzer rosenvarwer munt, chum uñ mache mich gesunt.

Swaz hie gat umbe…

10. Chorus

Were diu werlt alle min von deme mere unze an den Rin, des wolt ih mih darben, daz diu chünegin von Engellant lege an minen armen. Hei!

IN TABERNA

11. Baritone solo Estuans interius ira vehementi in amaritudine loquor mee menti: factus de materia, cinis elementi, similis sum folio, de quo ludunt venti.

Cum sit enim proprium viro sapienti supra petram ponere sedem fundamenti, stultus ego comparor fluvio labenti, sub eodem tramite nunquam permanenti.

Feror ego veluti sine nauta navis, ut per vias aeris vaga fertur avis,

Here, all in a circle, are maidens who are all after a man this summer.

Come, come, my love, I implore you.

Sweet rosy mouth, come and make me whole.

Here, all in a circle…

If all the world were mine from the sea to the Rhine, I would give it up to have the Queen of England lying in my arms. Hey!

IN THE TAVERN

Boiling inside with violent rage, I talk bitterly to myself; made of matter, ash of the elements, I am like a leaf that the winds play with.

For, while it is the mark of the wise man to build his foundation on rock, I, a fool, am like a gliding river, which never keeps to the same course.

I am carried along like a ship without a helmsman, as a bird is carried aimlessly through the ways of the air;

non me tenent vincula, non me tenet clavis, quero mihi similes et adiungor pravis.

Mihi cordis gravitas res videtur gravis; iocus est amabilis dulciorque favis; quicquid Venus imperat, labor est suavis, que nunquam in cordibus habitat ignavis.

Via lata gradior more iuventutis, implicor et vitiis immemor virtutis, voluptatis avidus magis quam salutis, mortuus in anima curam gero cutis.

12. Tenor solo and male chorus Olim lacus colueram, olim pulcher extiteram, dum cignus ego fueram.

Miser, miser! modo niger et ustus fortiter!

Girat, regirat garcifer; me rogus urit fortiter; propinat me nunc dapifer.

Miser, miser…

Nunc in scutella iaceo et volitare nequeo, dentes frendentes video:

Miser, miser…

No fetters hold me, no key holds me; I seek others like myself, and I join up with the wicked.

Heaviness of heart

Seems to me a grievous thing; merriment is delightful and sweeter than honeycombs; whatever Venus commands is sweet labour, and never dwells in spiritless hearts.

I travel the broad path In manner of youth, I am entangled in vice And forgetful of virtue. Greedier for pleasure Than for welfare, Dead in soul, I look after my body.

Once I lived in the lakes, once I was beautiful, when I was a swan.

Woe, woe is me! Now I am black and roasted through!

The cook turns me about on the spit; the fire roasts me through; now the waiter prepares me.

Woe, woe is me…

Now I lie on the salver, and I cannot fly; I see gnashing teeth that would masticate me.

Woe, woe is me…

13. Baritone solo and male chorus

Ego sum abbas Cucaniensis, et consilium meum est cum bibulis, et in secta Decii voluntas mea est et qui mane me

quesierit in taberna, post vesperam nudus egredietur, et sic denudatus veste clamabit:

Wafna, wafna! quid fecisti sors turpissima?

Nostre vite gaudia abstulisti omnia!

14. Male chorus

In taberna quando sumus, non curamus quid sit humus, sed ad ludum properamus, cui semper insudamus.

Quid agatur in taberna, ubi nummus est pincerna, hoc est opus ut queratur, si quid loquar, audiatur.

Quidam ludunt, quidam bibunt, quidam indiscrete vivunt. Sed in ludo qui morantur, ex his quidam denudantur, quidam ibi vestiuntur, quidam saccis induuntur. Ibi nullus timet mortem sed pro Baccho mittunt sortem.

Primo pro nummata vini, ex hac bibunt libertini; semel bibunt pro captivis post hec bibunt ter pro vivis, quater pro Christianis cunctis, quinquies pro fidelibus defunctis, sexies pro sororibus vanis, septies pro militibus silvanis.

Octies pro fratribus perversis, nonies pro monachis dispersis, decies pro navigantibus, undecies pro discortantibus, duodecies pro penitentibus, tredecies pro iter agentibus. Tam pro papa quam pro rege

I am the Abbot of Cockaigne, and my associates are drinkers, and my adherence is to the sect of Decius, and whoever meets me in the tavern over dice in the morning will go out naked by the end of the evening, and stripped of his clothes will cry:

Wafna, wafna! what have you done, evil fate?

You have stolen away all the joys of my life!

When we are in the tavern we take no thought for the grave, but rush to the gaming-tables, over which we always sweat. If you want to know what happens in the tavern, where it is money that brings the wine, then listen to what I say.

Some gamble, some drink, some just let themselves go. Of those who spend their time gambling, some lose their clothes, others gain them, others put on sackcloth. There no one fears death: they throw the dice for Bacchus.

First they throw for the wine bill, from which the libertines drink. Once more they drink to prisoners, then three times to the living, four times for all Christians, five times for the faithful departed, six times for the boastful sisters, seven times for forest soldiers.

Eight times for sinful brothers, nine times for scattered monks, ten times for the seafaring, eleven times for the quarrelling, twelve times for the penitent, thirteen times for travellers. They all drink without restraint

bibunt omnes sine lege.

Bibit hera, bibit herus, Bibit miles, bibit clerus, bibit ille, bibit illa, bibit servus cum ancilla, bibit velox, bibit piger, bibit albus, bibit niger, bibit constans, bibit vagus, bibit rudis, bibit magus.

Bibit pauper et egrotus, bibit exul et ignotus, bibit puer, bibit canus, bibit presul et decanus, bibit soror, bibit frater, bibit anus, bibit mater, bibit iste, bibit ille, bibunt centum, bibunt mille.

Parum sexcente nummate durant, cum immoderate bibunt omnes sine meta, quamvis bibant mente leta; sic nos rodunt omnes gentes, et sic erimus egentes. Qui nos rodunt confundantur et cum iustis non scribantur. Io io!

COUR D’AMOURS

15. Soprano solo and children’s chorus Amor volat undique; captus est libidine. Iuvenes, iuvencule coniunguntur merito.

Siqua sine socio, caret omni gaudio, tenet noctis infima sub intimo cordis in custodia: fit res amarissima.

for the Pope just as for the King.

The mistress drinks, the master drinks, the soldier drinks, the cleric drinks, this man drinks, that woman drinks, the servant drinks with the maid, the active man drinks, the lazy man drinks the white man drinks, the black man drinks, the settled man drinks, the wanderer drinks, the ignorant man drinks, the scholar drinks.

The poor man and the sick man drink, the unknown man and the exile drink, the boy drinks, the old man drinks, the leader and the deacon drink, the sister drinks, the brother drinks, the old woman drinks, the mother drinks, this woman drinks, that man drinks, hundreds drink, thousands drink.

Six hundred coins do not last long enough, where all drink without limit of restraint, though they may drink with happy hearts; thus everyone disparages us, and thus we shall be destitute. Let those who disparage us be confounded, and their names be not inscribed with those of the just. Io io!

THE COURT OF LOVE

Love flies everywhere, seized by desire. Young men and girls are rightly joined together.

A girl without a man lacks all delight; deepest night holds her inmost heart enchained: such a thing is indeed bitter.

16. Baritone solo Dies, nox et omnia michi sunt contraria, virginum colloquia me fay planszer, oy suvenz suspirer, plu me fay temer.

O sodales, ludite, vos qui scitis dicite, michi mesto parcite, grand ey dolur, attamen consulite per voster honur.

Tua pulchra facies me fay planszer milies, pectus habet glacies a remender, statim vivus fierem per un baser.

17. Soprano solo Stetit puella rufa tunica: si quis eam tetigit, tunica crepuit. Eia.

Stetit puella tamquam rosula; facie splenduit, os eius floruit. Eia.

18. Baritone solo and chorus Circa mea pectora multa sunt suspiria de tua pulchritudine, que me ledunt misere. Manda liet, manda liet, min geselle chumet niet!

Tui lucent oculi sicut solis radii, sicut splendor fulguris lucem donat tenebris. Manda liet…

Day, night, and all things are against me, and the sound of girls’ voices makes me weep, and, alas, makes me often sigh, and even makes me fear.

O friends, amuse yourselves; you who know, speak on. spare me in my grief; great is my sorrow. But yet reflect, by your honour.

Your lovely face and my heart make me weep a thousand tears; I should be cured and brought to life again by one kiss.

There stood a girl in a red tunic; if anyone touched the tunic it rustled. Eia.

There stood a girl like a little rose; her face was radiant, and her mouth bloomed. Eia.

My heart is filled with many sighs which give me grievous pain because of your beauty. Manda liet, manda liet, my love does not come.

Your eyes shine like rays of the sun, as the brilliance of lightning gives light to the dark night. Manda liet…

Vellet deus, vellent dii, quod mente proposui: ut eius virginea reserassem vincula. Manda liet…

19. Male semichorus

Si puer cum puellula moraretur in cellula, felix coniunctio. Amore suscrescente, pariter e medio avulso procul tedio, fit ludus ineffabilis membris, lacertis, labiis.

20. Double chorus

Veni, veni, veni venias, ne me mori facias, hyrca, hyrce, nazaza, trillirivos…

Pulchra tibi facies, oculorum acies, capillorum series, o quam clara species!

Rosa rubicundior, lilio candidior, omnibus formosior, semper in te glorior!

21. Soprano solo

In trutina mentis dubia fluctuant contraria lascivus amor et pudicitia. Sed eligo quod video, collum iugo prebeo; ad iugum tamen suave transeo.

May the gods approve my resolve to undo the bonds of her virginity. Manda liet…

If a boy is with a young girl in a little room, that is a happy union. Love wells up as restraint is banished far from them, and inexpressible pleasure comes over their limbs, their arms, their lips.

Come, come, come, do not make me die, hyrca, hyrce, nazaza, trillirivos…

Your beautiful face, the look of your eyes, the braids of your hair, o how glorious you look!

Redder than the rose, whiter than the lily, more beautiful than all the rest, I glory in you unceasingly!

Opposite courses hang in the balance of my wavering mind; wanton love and chastity. But I choose what I see and bend my neck to the yoke –to the sweet yoke I submit.

22. Soprano and Baritone solos

Chorus and Children’s chorus Tempus est iocundum o virgines, modo congaudete vos iuvenes. Oh, oh, oh, totus floreo! Iam amore virginali totus ardeo, novus amor est quo pereo!

Mea me confortat promissio, mea me deportat negatio.

Oh, oh, oh…

Tempore brumali vir patiens, animo vernali lasciviens.

Oh, oh, oh…

Mea mecum ludit virginitas, mea me detrudit simplicitas. Oh, oh, oh…

Veni, domicella, cum gaudio, veni, veni, pulchra iam pereo. Oh, oh, oh…

23. Soprano solo Dulcissime, ah, totam tibi subdo me!

BLANZIFLOR ET HELENA

24. Chorus Ave formosissima gemma pretiosa, ave decus virginum, virgo gloriosa, ave mundi luminar,

The season is pleasant, o maidens; rejoice together, you young men.

O, o, o, I bloom all over with love for a maiden; it is a new, new love that I die of.

Complying soothes me, refusing casts me down.

O, o, o, I bloom all over…

In winter time a man is passive, the breath of spring arouses his desires.

O, o, o, I bloom all over…

My virginity teases me, my innocence defeats me.

O, o, o, I bloom all over, etc.

Come with joy, my mistress, come, come, my beautiful one, for I am dying.

O, o, o, I bloom all over…

Sweetest boy, I give myself to you utterly.

BLANZIFLOR AND HELENA

Hail, most beautiful one, precious jewel; hail, pride of maidens, glorious maiden; hail, light of the world;

ave mundi rosa, Blanziflor et Helena, Venus generosa!

FORTUNA, IMPERATRIX MUNDI

25. Chorus

O Fortuna, velut Luna statu variabilis, semper crescis aut decrescis; vita detestabilis nunc obdurat et tunc curat ludo mentis aciem, egestatem, potestatem dissolvit ut glaciem.

Sors immanis et inanis, rota tu volubilis, status malus, vana salus semper dissolubilis, obumbrata et velata michi quoque niteris; nunc per ludum dorsum nudum fero tui sceleris.

Sors salutis et virtutis michi nunc contraria, est affectus et defectus semper in angaria. Hac in hora sine mora corde pulsum tangite; quod per sortem sternit fortem, mecum omnes plangite!

hail, rose of the world, Blanziflor and Helena, noble Venus.

FORTUNE, EMPRESS OF THE WORLD

O Fortune, changeable as the moon, you are always either waxing or waning. Detestable life at one moment thwarts and at another mockingly indulges the mind’s desire, melting away both poverty and power, like ice.

Vain, monstrous Fate, you turning wheel, you can, when you will, destroy bad circumstances and delusive success alike. Veiled and shadowy, you attack me too; now at your whim I bare my back under your assault.

You, Fate, who dispose health and strength, are now against me; my desires and my weakness are in constant slavery. At this hour without delay let all pluck the string; since Fate crushes the strong man everyone weep with me!

English translation of text of Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. (c) 2024 Schott Music, Mainz. Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved.

To Our Donor Patrons

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 in the past year.

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

Estate of Tan Jiew Cheng

Temasek Foundation

The HEAD Foundation

SYMPHONY CIRCLE

Dr & Mrs Antoine & Christina Firmenich

Christopher Fussner

Holywell Foundation

Lee Foundation

Lee Li Ming

Paige Parker & Jim Rogers

Jacqueline Yeh

Yong Hon Kong Foundation

Dr Thomas & Mrs Mary Zuellig

CONCERTO CIRCLE

Prof Chan Heng Chee

Cara & Tamara Chang

Geraldine Choong & Dennis Au

Elaine and Eduardo Saverin Foundation Ltd

Far East Organization

Frans & Marie-Pierre

Geh Min

Miriam & Merle Hinrich

IMC Group Asia (S’pore) Pte Ltd

Karim Family Foundation

Kris Foundation

Mavis Lim Geck Chin

NEO Group

Paul & Lena Ng

Andreas & Doris Sohmen-Pao

Dr Edwin Tan

UOB

Geoffrey & Ai Ai Wong

Wong Hong Ching

GU BING JIE

FIXED CHAIR VIOLA

OVERTURE PATRONS

Odile & Douglas Benjamin

BINJAITREE

BreadTalk Group

Lito & Kim Camacho

Cavazos Tinajero Family

Cham Gee Len

Prof Cham Tao Soon

Alan Chan

Vivian P J Chandran

Chen Xiaoyan

Robert Chew

Chng Hak-Peng

Daniel Choo & Family

Chopard Asia Pte Ltd

Dr & Mrs Choy Khai Meng

Prof Arnoud De Meyer

Embassy of France in Singapore

Energeo Systems Pte Ltd

Karen Fawcett & Alisdair Ferrie

FRED Jewelry

Dorian Goh & Rathi Ho

Goh Swee Chen

Haidilao Hotpot

Hong Leong Foundation

Illumia Medical Pte Ltd

Vanessa & Darren Iloste

JCCI Singapore Foundation

Ross & Florence Jennings

Jin Lu

Vivian Kao & Shou Zi Chew

Jeffrey Khoo

Dr & Mrs Adrian Koh

Mr & Mrs Koh Chye Hock

Kenneth Kwok

Mark Lee & Kelly Keak

Lee Ming San

Leong Wai Leng

LGT Bank (Singapore)

Liew Wei Li

Lim Boon Heng

Marina Bay Sands

Devika & Sanjiv Misra

NEON Global

NSL Ltd

Christina Ong

PCS Pte Ltd

Poh Khim Hong

Prima Limited

Xu Ren

Priscylla Shaw

Martin Siah & Wendy Long

Prof Gralf & Silvia Sieghold

Sirivadhanabhakdi

Eugene Sng

Tan Meng Cheng Ivan

Joy & Han Li Toh

Tow Heng Tan

Tower Capital Asia

V3 Group Limited (OSIM)

Watson Farley & Williams LLP

Woh Hup (Private) Limited

Grace Yeh

Yong Ying-I

Zeng Fuzu

Zeng Liqing

Anonymous (4)

SERENADE PATRONS

Marcelo Viccario Achoa & Silvia Bordoni

Su Pin & Mervin Beng

John & Eliza Bittleston

Bryan Carmichael

Chua Hwa Choon

Hartley & Hong Lynn Clay

Gan Seow Ann

Liwen & Steven Holmes

Rebecca Hong

Katherine Kennedy-White

Maisy Koh

Lorinne Kon

Mr & Mrs Paterson Lau

Leong Wah Kheong

RHAPSODY PATRONS

Ang Jian Zhong

Lawrence & Celeste Basapa

Hans Michael Brandes

Cheong Hee Kiat

Evelyn Chin

Chor Siew Chun

Adrian Chua Tsen Leong

Ee Kim Lock

Gallery Nawei Pte Ltd

The Gangoso Family

Jerry Gwee

Ho Bee Foundation

Hwang Chih Ming

Sylvie Khau

Belinda Koh

In Memory of Timothy Kok Tse En

Krishnan Family

Winston & Valerie Kwek

Lau Soo Lui

Jennifer Lee

Sean Lee

Gin & Douglas Leong

Darren Lim & En Yu Tan

D-Y Lin

Michelle Loh

Joanna Ludkiewicz & Robert Hunziker

Christopher & Clarinda Martin

msm-productions

Ms Oang Nguyen & Dr Dang Vu

Poh Tiong Choon Logistics Limited

SC Global Developments Pte Ltd

Dr June & Peter Sheren

Tan Seow Yen

G. Yu & G. Hentsch

Anonymous (6)

Caroline Lim

Charmaine Lim

Dr Victor Lim

JN Loh

Prof Tamas Makany & Julie Schiller

Francoise Mei

Meng

Stephanie Mualim

Kenneth Oo

Esmé Parish & Martin Edwards

Terese Poh

Ian & Freda Rickword

Farhana Sharmeen

The Sohn Yong Family

Julian Tan

Aileen Tang

Tang See Chim

Anthony Tay

Amanda Walujo

Eric Wong

Wu Peihui

Anonymous (5)

PRELUDE PATRONS

Hyder Ahmad

Aloha Dental Clinic

Ang Seow Long

Anthony & Chloe Tan from ACE Team Foundation

BDA Partners Pte Ltd

Maria Christina van der Burgt

John Cai

Gavin Chan

Pauline Chan

Chang Chee Pey

Chang Julian

Jeanie Cheah

Cynthia Chee

Christopher Chen Li Hsian

YC Chen

Zhihong Chen

Andrew Cheong Zhiren

Dr Chew Chee Tong

Faith Chia

Chin Soon Yenn

Anthony Chng

Pamela Chong

Ruby Chong

Tiffany Choong & Shang Thong Kai

Clarissa Chow

Belinda Chua

Jennie Chua

Pierre Colignon

CP

Jeremy Ee

J-P & Colette Felenbok

John & Pauline Foo

Dr Foo Swee Sen

Foo Yunxuan

Gan Yit Koon

Soumyadip Ghosh

Goh Chiu Gak

Goh Hui Kok Michael

Prof Goh Suat Hong

Yvette Goh

Heinrich Grafe

Ilya Gutlin

Winston Hauw

HC & Jennifer

Henry & Tiffany

Nishioka Hiroyuki

Dr Ho Su Ling

In memory of 黄招娣 (Huang Zhao Di)

Arjun Jolly & Priyanka Nayar

Ad Ketelaars

Khim

Elizabeth Khoo

Ernest Khoo

Dr & Mrs Khoo Teng Kew

Dr Khoo Wei Ming

Khor Cheng Kian

Koh Siew Yen Terri Kye

Colin Lang

Dr & Mrs Winson Lay

SuYin L

Kristen Lee

Lee Mun Ping

Dr Norman Lee

Lee Wei Jie

Colin & Janet Leong

Voon S Leong

Wendy Leong Marnyi

Li Danqi & Liu Yi

Derek Lim

Edith & Sean Lim

Lim Yuin Wen

Rachel Lin

Ling Yang Chang

Sam & Claire Loh

Low Boon Hon

Alwyn Loy

Fabian Lua

Benjamin Ma

April Mak

Andre Maniam Mattopher

Minwei

Dr Tashiya Mirando

John Morley

Ngiam Shih Chun

Mdm Ngo Hwee Bee

Ong Chee Siong

Ong Kay Jin Jason

Xinyi Ong

Victor Ow

Pigar & William

Robert Khan & Co Pte Ltd

Danai Sae-Han

Jason Salim & Tan Hwee Koon

Kadir Satar

Hisaaki Sato

Sayawaki Yuri

Thierry Schrimpf

Shi Lei

Marcel Smit & Hanneke Verbeek

Soh Leng Wan

Ronald & Janet Stride

Superb Cleaning Pte Ltd

Andrew & Jacqueline Tan

Casey Tan Khai Hee

Christine Tan & Jeremy Ting

Gillian & Daniel Tan

Gordon HL Tan

Dr Tan Lay Kok

Michelle Tan

Min Tan

Dr Giles Tan Ming Yee

Dr Pamela Tan

Tan Peng Peng

Tan Siew Ling Celine

Linda Tan Soo

Tan Yee Deng

Tay Kim Ann

David Teng

Teo Eng Chai

Teo Kien Boon

Kyra Teo

Teo Wee Poh

Alessandro Tesei

Alicia Thian & Brian Bonde

Alan & Akashnee Thompson

Yang Tian

The Tomsik Family

Wang Lei & Gao Bo

Wang Meng

Wang Pei Zhong

Kris Wiluan

Dr Wong Hin Yan

Jinny Wong

Wicky Wong

Valerie Wu

Elaine Xu

Yan Xia

Yeow Ooh Teng

Lillian Yin

Yong Seow Kin

Zhang Zheng

Zheng Hongbo

Zhu Yulin

Anonymous (37)

This list reflects donations that were made from 1 Jul 2023 to 30 Jun 2024. 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 a 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.

SUPPORT THE SSO

How can you help?

While SSO is supported partially by funding from the Singapore government, a significant part can only be unlocked as matching grants when we receive donations from the public. 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.

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

COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS*

Subscription/ Chamber and Organ /Family/ SIPF Gala/Christmas/ Pops

SSO Special Gala Concerts

DONOR RECOGNITION & PUBLIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Concert booklets and website

Patron of the Arts Nomination

Donors’ Wall at VCH

OTHER BENEFITS

Invitation to special events

Donations of $100 and above will entitle you to priority bookings, and discounts^ on SSG Concerts.  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 Esplanade & Premier Box seats, or supporters who give through a fundraising event.

^Discounts are not applicable for purchase of Esplanade & Premier Box seats.

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

SPECIAL RECOGNITION

A Standing Ovation

We recognise major gifts that help sustain the future of the Singapore Symphony Group. The recognition includes naming of a position in the SSO or in our affiliated performance groups such as the Singapore National Youth Orchestra and the Singapore Symphony Choruses.

SSO CONCERTMASTER GK GOH CHAIR

In July 2017, the SSO established the GK Goh Chair for the Concertmaster. Mr Goh Geok Khim and his family have been long-time supporters of the national orchestra. We are grateful for the donations from his family and friends towards this Chair, especially Mr and Mrs Goh Yew Lin for their most generous contribution.

Mr Igor Yuzefovich was the inaugural GK Goh Concertmaster Chair. The position is currently vacant.

NG PEI-SIAN PRINCIPAL CELLO

JIN TA PRINCIPAL FLUTE

ZHANG PRINCIPAL VIOLA

SSO PRINCIPAL CELLO

THE HEAD FOUNDATION CHAIR

In recognition of a generous gift from The HEAD Foundation, we announced the naming of our Principal Cello, “The HEAD Foundation Chair” in November 2019. The Chair is currently held by Principal Cellist Ng Pei-Sian.

SSO PRINCIPAL FLUTE

STEPHEN RIADY CHAIR

In recognition of a generous gift from Dr Stephen Riady, we announced in May 2022 the naming of our Principal Flute, “Stephen Riady Chair”. The position is currently held by our Principal Flutist Jin Ta.

SSO PRINCIPAL VIOLA

TAN JIEW CHENG CHAIR

In recognition of a generous gift from the Estate of Tan Jiew Cheng, we announced in February 2024 the naming of our Principal Viola, “Tan Jiew Cheng Chair”. The position is currently held by our Principal Violist Manchin Zhang.

For more information, please write to director_development@sso.org.sg.

MANCHIN

CORPORATE PATRONAGE

HEARTFELT THANKS TO OUR CORPORATE PATRONS

Temasek Foundation

The HEAD Foundation

Stephen Riady Group of Foundations

Lee Foundation

Holywell Foundation

Aquilus Pte Ltd

TransTechnology Pte Ltd

IN-KIND SPONSORS

Raffles Hotel Singapore

SMRT Corporation

Singapore Airlines

Conrad Centennial Singapore

Symphony 924

Form a special relationship with Singapore’s national orchestra and increase your brand recognition among an influential and growing audience.

CORPORATE GIVING

We provide our Corporate Patrons with impressive entertainment and significant branding opportunities. Through our tailored packages, corporates may benefit from:

• Publicity and hospitality opportunities at an SSO concert or your private event,

• Acknowledgement and mentions in SSO’s key publicity channels,

• National Arts Council (NAC) Patron of the Arts nominations,

• Tax benefits.

Packages start at $10,000 and can be tailored to your company’s branding needs.

PARTNERSHIP

We partner with various corporates through tailored in-kind sponsorship and exchange of services. Current and recent partnerships include Official Hotel, Official Airline, and we offer other exciting titles.

For more details, please write to Chelsea Zhao at chelsea.zhao@sso.org.sg.

GAO JIAN ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL HORN

BOARD OF DIRECTORS & COMMITTEES

CHAIR

Goh Yew Lin

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Yong Ying-I (Deputy Chair)

Geoffrey Wong (Treasurer)

Chang Chee Pey

Chng Kai Fong

Prof Arnoud De Meyer

Warren Fernandez

Kenneth Kwok

Liew Wei Li

Sanjiv Misra

Lynette Pang

Prof Qin Li-Wei

Yasmin Zahid

Yee Chen Fah

Andrew Yeo Khirn Hin

NOMINATING AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Goh Yew Lin (Chair)

Chng Kai Fong

Prof Arnoud De Meyer

Lynette Pang

Geoffrey Wong

Yong Ying-I

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

SSO MUSICIANS’ COMMITTEE

Mario Choo

David Smith

Wang Xu

Christoph Wichert

Yang Zheng Yi

Elaine Yeo

Zhao Tian

SSO COUNCIL

Alan Chan (Chair)

Odile Benjamin

Prof Chan Heng Chee

Dr Geh Min

Heinrich Grafe Khoo Boon Hui

Lim Mei

Paige Parker

Dr Stephen Riady Priscylla Shaw

Prof Gralf Sieghold

Prof Bernard Tan

Dr Tan Chin Nam

Wee Ee Cheong

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY GROUP ADMINISTRATION

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Kenneth Kwok

DEPUTY CEO, PROGRAMMES & PRODUCTION

Kok Tse Wei

DEPUTY CEO, PATRONS & CORPORATE SERVICES

Jenny Ang

ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT

Lillian Yin

CEO OFFICE

Shirin Foo

Musriah Bte Md Salleh

ARTISTIC PLANNING

Hans Sørensen (Head)

Artistic Administration

Jodie Chiang

Terrence Wong

Jocelyn Cheng

Michelle Yeo

OPERATIONS

Ernest Khoo (Head)

Library

Lim Lip Hua

Wong Yi Wen

Adlina Bte Ashar

Cheng Yee Ki

Orchestra Management

Chia Jit Min (Head)

Charis Peck Xin Hui

Kelvin Chua

Production Management

Noraihan Bte Nordin

Nazem Redzuan

Leong Shan Yi

Asyiq Iqmal

Khairi Edzhairee

Khairul Nizam

Benjamin Chiau

COMMUNITY IMPACT

Community Engagement

Kua Li Leng (Head)

Whitney Tan

Samantha Lim

Lynnette Chng

Choral Programmes

Kua Li Leng (Head)

Regina Lee

Chang Hai Wen

Mimi Syaahira

Singapore National Youth Orchestra

Ramu Thiruyanam (Head)

Tang Ya Yun

Tan Sing Yee

Ridha Ridza

ABRSM

Patricia Yee

Lai Li-Yng

Joong Siow Chong

Freddie Loh

May Looi

PATRONS

Development

Chelsea Zhao (Head)

Nikki Chuang

Sarah Wee

Sharmilah Banu

PATRONS

Communications, Digital & Marketing

Cindy Lim (Head)

Communications

Elliot Lim

Elizabeth Low

Digital & Marketing

Chia Han-Leon

Calista Lee

Myrtle Lee

Hong Shu Hui

Jana Loh

Remy Pang

Customer Experience

Randy Teo

Dacia Cheang

Joy Tagore

CORPORATE SERVICES

Finance, IT & Facilities

Rick Ong (Head)

Alan Ong

Goh Hoey Fen

Loh Chin Huat

Md Zailani Bin Md Said

Human Resources & Administration

Valeria Tan (Head)

Janice Yeo

Fionn Tan

Netty Diyanah Bte Osman

SSO Chamber and Organ Series October

3 OCT 2024

7.30pm, Victoria Concert Hall

SSO CHAMBER SERIES A LOVE OF FRENCH MUSIC

4 OCT 2024 7.30pm, Victoria Concert Hall

SSO CHAMBER SERIES ENCHANTING RAVEL

27 OCT 2024 4pm, Victoria Concert Hall

SSO ORGAN SERIES A GOTHIC HALLOWEEN

Male Chorus of the Singapore Symphony Chorus

Eudenice Palaruan

Choral Director & organ

Ellissa Sayampanathan

Assistant Choral Conductor

Shane Thio celesta & piano

Boey Jir Shin organ

Sponsored by

Tickets from $10

Gulnara Mashurova harp Musicians of the SSO

Gulnara Mashurova harp Musicians of the SSO

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY CHORUSES

Delivering choral excellence since 1980

A premier body for classical choral singing, the Si ngapore Symphony Choruses comprise the Singapore Symphony Chorus, Si ngapore Symphony Youth Choir and Singapore Symphony Childre n’s Choir.

Drawing membership from diverse ages, nationalities and walks of life, our Choruses embody a comprehensive singing ecosyst em that nurtures the brilliance of our brightest young talents, insp ires youthful passion for the art and celebrates the best of choral excel lence!

Scan the QR code and visit our website for more det ails on audition and training opportunities.

@singaporesymphony

@sgsymphonychorus

@sgsymphonyyouthchoir

@sgsymphonychildrenschoir

The vision of the Singapore Symphony Group is to be a leading arts organisation that engages, inspires and reflects Singapore through musical excellence. Our mission 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

SEASO N P A R T N E R S

SEASO N P A T R ON S MAJ

Mr & Mrs Goh Yew Lin

Estate of Tan Jiew Cheng

Official

Official Air line

Official Outdoor Media Par tner

Official Community Par tner

Official Hotel

Stephen Riady Group of Foundations