LORENZO VIOTTI AND ANDREAS OTTENSAMER SPORTING THE CLARINET 9 & 10 DEC 2021 ESPLANADE CONCERT HALL
DEDICATED TO
LO REN Z O V I O TTI AND ANDR EAS OTTENSAM ER | 9 & 10 DE C 2021
LO R ENZ O V I O T T I AND A N D RE AS O T T E N SAME R Dedicated to Symphony 924 It has been just over a year since our last concert, and we’re excited to be back! Symphony 924, Singapore’s only classical music station, and our partner Singapore Symphony Orchestra are honoured to have your company at this orchestral extravaganza. With this dedicated concert, Symphony 924 is proud to showcase the beauty of classical music with young Swiss conductor, Lorenzo Viotti; and Andreas Ottensamer, Principal Clarinet of the Berlin Philharmonic, both multi-hyphenate musician athletes and best friends too. Lorenzo Viotti studied piano, voice, and percussion in Lyon, and has enjoyed great success in his young career, having been selected as "Newcomer of the Year" at the International Opera Award 2017, and recently being simultaneously appointed as chief conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and the Dutch National Opera. Andreas Ottensamer is considered one of the leading instrumentalists of our time, performing as a clarinet soloist in major concert halls around the world with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, the Seoul Philharmonic, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. He is also artistic director of the Artström Festival in Berlin, a festival which combines arts, sports, and culture.
We hope the inspiration and magic of the music of Dvořák, Brahms and Prokofiev will transport you to another place and time. Sapna Angural Head, English Audience, MediaCorp Pte Ltd
Thursday & Friday, 16 & 17 December 2021 7.30pm, Esplanade Concert Hall
Donate and book your seats: Donations for seat bookings are at $78, $98, $128, $188, $288, $498 via the concert page Exclusive priority seats available via direct bookings at director_development@sso.org.sg 2.5 times tax deduction for Singapore tax residents
SPORTI N G T H E C L A R I N E T 9 & 10 Dec 2021 Esplanade Concert Hall Singapore Symphony Orchestra Lorenzo Viotti conductor Andreas Ottensamer clarinet
D VO ŘÁK
Serenade for Strings in E major, Op. 22
29 mins
BRAHMS
Clarinet Sonata No. 1, Op. 120 (arr. P. Cueto for clarinet and strings) SSO PREMIERE
24 mins
P R O KO F I E V
Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25 “Classical”
14 mins
Concert Duration: 1 hr 20 mins (with no intermission)
Dedicated to
LO REN Z O V I OTTI AND ANDR EAS OTTENSAM ER | 9 & 10 DE C 2021
LORENZO VI OTTI AND ANDREA S O TTENSAM ER
SINGAPORE 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 in the cosmopolitan city-state. 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. 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. 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. 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. This has been a core of the SSO’s programming philosophy from the very beginning under Choo Hoey, who was Music Director from 1979 to 1996.
Under the Music Directorship of Lan Shui from 1997 to 2019, 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 critical acclaim in the major UK newspapers The Guardian and The Telegraph. The SSO has also performed in China on multiple occasions. In 2020, the SSO appointed renowned Austrian conductor Hans Graf as its Chief Conductor. In a time greatly disrupted by COVID-19, the SSO continued to keep music alive and lift spirits up through a multitude of digital concerts and videos, which crossed a million views in six months. The SSO has released more than 50 recordings in its 40-year history, with more than 30 on the BIS label. The most recent critically acclaimed albums include a Rachmaninoff box set (2021), Richard Strauss’ “Rosenkavalier and Other Works” (2020), and three Debussy discs “La Mer”, “Jeux” and “Nocturnes”. The orchestra has also released albums of contemporary works linked to East Asia, including works by Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Bright Sheng, Alexander Tcherepnin, and others. The SSO has also collaborated with such great artists as Lorin Maazel, Charles Dutoit, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Neeme Järvi, Gustavo Dudamel, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Diana Damrau, Martha Argerich, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos and Gil Shaham.
H ANS G RAF Chief Conductor The SSO is part of the Singapore Symphony Group, which also manages the Singapore Symphony Choruses, the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, and the VCHpresents chamber music series, the Singapore International Piano Festival and the biennial National Piano & Violin Competition. The mission of the Group is to create memorable shared experiences with music. Through the SSO and its affiliated performing groups, we spread the love for music, nurture talent and enrich our diverse communities.
L O R E NZ O V IOTTI AND ANDR EAS OTTENSAM ER | 9 & 1 0 D E C 2 0 2 1
© DUTCH NATIONAL OPERA, DANIËLLE VAN COEVORDEN
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonkünstler Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Göteborgs Symfoniker, the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Staatskapelle Dresden, Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, Filarmonica della Scala Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.
LO R E N Z O V I O T T I conductor Lorenzo Viotti, principal conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dutch National Opera from the 2021/22 season, has already made a name for himself worldwide as a concert and opera conductor.
He has won several major conducting competitions, the highlight being the Nestlé Young Conductors Award at Salzburg Festival in 2015. In 2017, he was proclaimed ‘newcomer of the year’ at the International Opera Awards. In addition to his worldwide concert engagements Viotti has conducted Gounod‘s Romeo and Juliet (La Scala, Milan), Manon Lescaut (Oper Frankfurt), Rigoletto (Staatsoper Stuttgart and Semperoper Dresden), Werther (Oper Frankfurt and Opernhaus Zürich), Tosca (Oper Frankfurt and New National Theatre Tokyo), Carmen (Staatsoper Hamburg and Opéra national de Paris), Die Csárdásfürstin at Opernhaus Zürich, Faust (Opéra national de Paris) and Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg (Dutch National Opera). Lorenzo Viotti was born in Lausanne into a Franco-Italian family of musicians. He studied piano, singing and percussion in Lyon and studied conducting under Georg Mark in Vienna, where he also performed as a percussionist in various orchestras. He continued his conductor’s training with Nicolás Pasquet at the Franz Liszt Conservatory in Weimar.
Among the numerous major orchestras Viotti has conducted so far are the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic in Manchester, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France Paris, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, 6
Andreas Ottensamer has captured audiences and critics alike with his distinct musicianship and versatility as conductor, clarinetist and artistic director. One of the leading instrumentalists of our time, Ottensamer performs as a clarinet soloist in major concert halls around the world with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, the Seoul Philharmonic and the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Mariss Jansons, Sir Simon Rattle, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Daniel Harding and Lorenzo Viotti. © JAMIE MCGREGOR SMITH
In 2021, Ottensamer made his UK conducting debut with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and has delivered electrifying performances with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, amongst others. In August 2021 he was awarded the Neeme Järvi Prize of the Gstaad Festival Conducting Academy.
Andreas Ottensamer was born in 1989 in Vienna, receiving his first piano lessons when he was four. At age ten he began studying cello at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, then changed to the clarinet in 2003. In 2009 he interrupted his Harvard undergraduate studies to become a scholar of the Orchestra Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic.
Ottensamer is artistic director of the Bürgenstock Festival in Switzerland. His artistic partnerships include work with Yuja Wang, Seong-Jin Cho, Lisa Batiashvili, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Gautier Capuçon and Sol Gabetta. Andreas Ottensamer is an exclusive artist with Deutsche Grammophon. With his album "Blue Hour", he received his second Opus Klassik award as “Instrumentalist of the year”.
Since March 2011, Ottensamer has held the position of principal clarinet with the Berlin Philharmonic.
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LO REN Z O V I OTTI AND ANDR EAS OTTENSAM ER | 9 & 10 DE C 2021
A N D R E AS O T T E N SAME R clarinet
SEC O N D V IOL IN
T HE ORC HE S T R A HANS GRAF Chief Conductor ANDREW LITTON Principal Guest Conductor CHOO HOEY Conductor Emeritus LAN SHUI Conductor Laureate EUDENICE PALARUAN Choral Director WONG LAI FOON Choirmaster
Michael Loh Associate Principal Nikolai Koval* Hai-Won Kwok Chikako Sasaki* Margit Saur Shao Tao Tao Wu Man Yun* Xu Jueyi* Yeo Teow Meng Yin Shu Zhan* Zhao Tian* VIO L A Manchin Zhang Principal Guan Qi Associate Principal Gu Bing Jie* Fixed Chair Marietta Ku Luo Biao Julia Park Shui Bing Janice Tsai Dandan Wang Yang Shi Li
FIRS T VI OL I N
C EL L O
(Position vacant) Concertmaster, GK Goh Chair Kong Zhao Hui1 Associate Concertmaster Chan Yoong-Han2 Fixed Chair Cao Can* Chen Da Wei Duan Yu Ling Foo Say Ming Jin Li Kong Xianlong Cindy Lee Karen Tan William Tan Wei Zhe Ye Lin* Zhang Si Jing*
Ng Pei-Sian Principal, The HEAD Foundation Chair Yu Jing Associate Principal Guo Hao Fixed Chair Chan Wei Shing Jamshid Saydikarimov* Song Woon Teng Wang Yan Wu Dai Dai Zhao Yu Er D O U B LE BAS S Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal Karen Yeo Fixed Chair Olga Alexandrova Jacek Mirucki Guennadi Mouzyka Wang Xu
FLUTE
TR U M P ET
Jin Ta Principal Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal Roberto Alvarez Miao Shanshan
Jon Paul Dante Principal David Smith Associate Principal Lau Wen Rong TR O M B O N E
PICCOLO Roberto Alvarez Assistant Principal
Allen Meek Principal Damian Patti Associate Principal Samuel Armstrong
OBOE Rachel Walker Principal Pan Yun Associate Principal Carolyn Hollier Elaine Yeo COR ANGL AI S Elaine Yeo Associate Principal CLARINET Ma Yue Principal Li Xin Associate Principal Liu Yoko Tang Xiao Ping BAS S CL AR I NE T Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal BAS S OON
B A SS T R O MBONE Wang Wei Assistant Principal TU B A Tomoki Natsume Principal TIM P A N I Christian Schiøler Principal P ER CU SSIO N Jonathan Fox Principal Mark Suter Associate Principal Mario Choo Lim Meng Keh H A RP Gulnara Mashurova Principal
Liu Chang Associate Principal Christoph Wichert Zhao Ying Xue CONTRAB AS S OON Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal HORN Gao Jian Associate Principal Jamie Hersch Associate Principal Marc-Antoine Robillard Associate Principal Hoang Van Hoc
* With deep appreciation to the Rin Collection for their generous loan of string instruments. 1 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. 2 Chan Yoong-Han performs on a David Tecchler, Fecit Roma An. D. 1700 donated by Mr Goh Yew Lin. Musicians listed alphabetically by family name rotate their seats on a per programme basis.
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LORENZO VIO TT I A N D A N DRE A S OT T E NS A M E R | 9 & 1 0 DE C 2021
FIRST VIOLIN Kong Zhao Hui Acting Concertmaster/ Associate Concertmaster Duan Yu Ling Foo Say Ming Jin Li Karen Tan Wei Zhe SECOND VIOLIN Xu Jueyi Nikolai Koval Margit Saur Yeo Teow Meng Yin Shu Zhan
FLUTE Jin Ta Roberto Alvarez
HORN Gao Jian Hoang Van Hoc
OBOE Rachel Walker Carolyn Hollier
TRUMPET Jon Paul Dante Lau Wen Rong
CLARINET Li Xin Tang Xiao Ping
TIMPANI Christian Schiøler
BASSOON Liu Chang Zhao Ying Xue
VIOLA Manchin Zhang Guan Qi Shui Bing Dandan Wang CELLO Yu Jing Jamshid Saydikarimov Zhao Yu Er DOUBLE BASS Karen Yeo Jacek Mirucki
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LO REN Z O V I OTTI AND ANDR EAS OTTENSAM ER | 9 & 10 DE C 2021
Musicians
S S O SU PPO RT E RS
A Standing Ovation 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.
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L O R E NZ O V IOTTI AND ANDR EAS OTTENSAM ER | 9 & 1 0 D E C 2 0 2 1
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841–1904) Serenade for Strings in E major, Op. 22 (1875) I II III IV V
Moderato Tempo di Valse Scherzo. Vivace Larghetto Finale. Allegro vivace A Larghetto comes next, a peaceful and almost nostalgic oasis of calm between the energy of the previous and next movements, and its downward melody is particularly memorable for its depth and richness. The finale begins with a burst of kinetic energy that we have come to expect from the composer of the Slavonic Dances, but Dvořák weaves in threads of lyricism from the larghetto and the main theme opening movement before the final burst of energy at the end.
The Serenade for Strings in E major was written in 1875, an unusually prolific year for Czech composer Antonín Dvořák, in which he wrote a symphony, a string quintet, a piano trio, and an opera. Life was good for the 34-year-old new father who had just been recognized as a serious composer for the first time by the Austrian government with a generous stipend. Composed in just 12 days, the Serenade was premiered in Prague by the combined orchestras of the Czech and German theatres (Prague was one of the capitals of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). The first four movements are roughly in ABA form, while the finale is in sonata form. Some scholars have thought that Dvořák chose the serenade for the relatively less structured form, allowing him the freedom to indulge his instincts. The first movement Moderato starts like a fanfare announcing the start of the work with lyrical violins and flowing melodies, modulating into G major, and then returning with the primary theme and the original key. The following valse, or waltz, in C-sharp minor, graceful and lilting, is warm and expressive, with a striking theme in the trio section. The third movement is an energetic duple-metre scherzo with a well-developed trio section, with material from both the scherzo and trio combined in the coda, as if Dvořák could not bear to leave the material behind.
Instrumentation strings World Premiere 10 Dec 1876, Prague First performed by SSO 4 May 2008 18
I II III IV
Allegro appassionato Andante un poco adagio Allegretto grazioso Vivace
The German composer Johannes Brahms had vowed to stop composing by 1890, but in 1891 he began a fascination with the sound of the clarinet, thanks to the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld’s performances of the Weber and Mozart concerti. Mühlfeld’s playing inspired Brahms to go back to composing. Originally written in 1894 for clarinet and piano, the work was also arranged by Brahms himself for the solo to be taken by violin or viola. Tonight’s performance is an arrangement for clarinet and string orchestra by P. Cueto. The opening Allegro appassionato movement shows Brahms’s focus, with the opening theme continued by the clarinet, without counterstatement – Brahms’s German efficiency at work, perhaps? Repetition is avoided, while growth is gradual but swift, and the whole dark and atmospheric movement is filled with serious dignity, ending with a glorious sostenuto coda. The Andante un poco adagio in A-flat major is easy and relaxed, but Brahms never loses control, taking us through E major and C major before returning us to the original key.
Brahms in 1894, photographed with a redditor's great grandmother who was visiting her former piano teacher at a music school in Vienna. source: reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/
exuberant and extroverted major-key vivace finale.
The third movement, Allegretto grazioso, a graceful Austrian Ländler, remains mostly in A- flat major, with an F minor excursion full of syncopation. Balancing the seriousness of the first movement, Brahms gives us an
Instrumentation strings World Premiere 11 Jan 1895, Vienna 19
LO REN Z O V I OTTI AND ANDR EAS OTTENSAM ER | 9 & 10 DE C 2021
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897) Clarinet Sonata No. 1, Op. 120 (1894) SSO PREMIERE arr. P. Cueto for clarinet and strings
L O R E NZ O V IOTTI AND ANDR EAS OTTENSAM ER | 9 & 1 0 D E C 2 0 2 1
SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891–1953) Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25 “Classical” (1916–1917) I II III IV
Allegro Larghetto Gavotte. Non troppo allegro Finale. Molto vivace for his third movement a gavotte, originally a French country dance with much foot stomping – possibly a nod to the proletarian movements gaining ground all around him in Russia? To complete the parody, the middle section trio includes a distinctly rustic drone.
1917 was a year of two revolutions in Russia: first the February Revolution which brought down the tsar, then the October Revolution which brought in the communists. Musically, this was a time of great sweeping symphonies. Sergei Prokofiev, ever the rebel, chose this summer to complete his first numbered symphony while on a country getaway from the turmoil in his home in the capital St. Petersburg.
The exuberant rondo molto vivace ending continues this reinvention, as if giving us a dizzying ride in a gilded carriage outfitted with a motor engine – 18th-century forms filled with 20th-century harmonies. The ride is filled with unusual modulations before dashing to a quick close, hardly surprising with Prokofiev in the driver’s seat – he described the movement as ‘indecently irresponsible’. Perhaps so, but a fun ride nonetheless.
Going against the trend, he produced a concise, playful work, lightly scored, on Mozartean and Haydnesque lines, taking classical forms and colouring them with his harmonic language and rhythms. The work opens with an Allegro, dominated by the bright whirling first theme, which leads to a second theme of wide leaps introduced by the violins. These are developed in a stormy section before being reprised.
Programme notes by Edward C. Yong
A Larghetto follows, rather more relaxed and orderly. The violins begin a graceful melody that unfolds with manifold trills and gestures taken straight out of 18th-century Vienna, while the accompaniment and modulations run the gamut of the 19th century. Not content to make a mere pastiche, Prokofiev places the violin melody in a register that no 18th-century composer would have used. The second theme gives the winds, brass, and timpani something to do before the small coda and ending. Instead of the traditional courtly minuet, Prokofiev gives us
Instrumentation 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings World Premiere 21 Apr 1918, Petrograd (now known as St. Petersburg) First performed by SSO 23 May 1980 20
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BOA RD OF D IRE C T ORS & C OMMI T T E E S CHAIR Goh Yew Lin SSO COUNCIL
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Yong Ying-I (Deputy Chair) Chang Chee Pey Chng Hak-Peng Chng Kai Fong Prof Arnoud De Meyer Warren Fernandez Liew Wei Li Sanjiv Misra Prof Qin Li-Wei Paul Tan Geoffrey Wong Yee Chen Fah Andrew Yeo Khirn Hin Yasmin Zahid
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Yee Chen Fah (Chair) Warren Fernandez Lim Mei Jovi Seet
Goh Yew Lin (Chair) Prof Arnoud De Meyer (Treasurer) Paul Tan Geoffrey Wong Yong Ying-I
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S S O M U S I C I A N S’ C O M M I T T E E Mario Choo Guo Hao David Smith Wang Xu Christoph Wichert Elaine Yeo Zhao Tian
Prof Cham Tao Soon (Honorary Chair) Alan Chan (Chair) Odile Benjamin Prof Chan Heng Chee Choo Chiau Beng Dr Geh Min Goh Geok Khim Khoo Boon Hui Prof Tommy Koh Lim Mei JY Pillay Dr Stephen Riady Priscylla Shaw Prof Gralf Sieghold Andreas Sohmen-Pao Prof Bernard Tan Dr Tan Chin Nam Tan Choo Leng Tan Soo Nan Wee Ee Cheong
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Development Chelsea Zhao (Ag Head) Anderlin Yeo Nikki Chuang Charmaine Fong Kasmira Ibrahim Fang Xiao Min
O P E R AT I O N S Ernest Khoo (Head) Library Lim Lip Hua Avik Chari Wong Yi Wen Orchestra Management Chia Jit Min (Head) Karis Ong Production Management Chin Rosherna Fenella Ng Nurul Ainnie bte Md Sidek Mazlan bin Ali Ramayah Elango D I G I TA L S S O C O O R D I N AT I O N Cindy Lim (Lead) Chia Jit Min (Asst Lead) Chia Han-Leon Hans Sørensen
Choral Programmes Kua Li Leng (Head) Regina Lee Whitney Tan Singapore National Youth Orchestra Pang Siu Yuin (Head) Lai Jun Wei Tang Ya Yun Tan Sing Yee
Marketing Communications Cindy Lim (Head) Chia Han-Leon Sean Tan Hong Shu Hui Jana Loh Myrtle Lee Sherilyn Lim Serena Zhang
ABRSM Patricia Yee Lai Li-Yng Joong Siow Chong Freddie Loh May Looi William Teo
Customer Experience Randy Teo Dacia Cheang Nur Shafiqah bte Othman
CEO OFFICE
Finance, IT & Facilities Rick Ong (Head) Alan Ong Goh Hoey Fen Loh Chin Huat Md Zailani bin Md Said
Shirin Foo Musriah bte Md Salleh C O V I D -1 9 R E S P O N S E C O O R D I N AT I O N Lillian Yin (Lead) Rick Ong (Asst Lead)
C O R P O R AT E S E R V I C E S Lillian Yin (Head)
Human Resources Melissa Lee Evelyn Siew Legal Edward Loh
SUP P OR T E D BY
PATRO N SP ONSOR
M ATCHE D BY
M A J O R D ON ORS
Mr & Mrs Goh Yew Lin
SE A SO N PAR T NERS Official Radio Station
Official Community Partner
Official Outdoor Media Partner
Official Airline
SE A SO N PAT RONS
The mission of the Singapore Symphony Group is to create memorable shared experiences with music. Through the SSO and its affiliated performing groups, we spread the love for music, nurture talent and enrich our diverse communities. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is a charity and not-for-profit organisation. You can support us by donating at www.sso.org.sg/donate.