TIME FOR TRUMPETS! BRAHMS WITH HANS GRAF AND SAYAKA SHOJI THE VIOLIN AND THE ERHU
Jul-Aug 2024
TIME FOR TRUMPETS!
Sat, 6 Jul 2024
Victoria Concert Hall
BRAHMS WITH HANS GRAF AND SAYAKA SHOJI
Thu & Fri, 1 & 2 Aug 2024
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Victoria Concert Hall 23
THE VIOLIN AND THE ERHU
Fri & Sat, 16 & 17 Aug 2024
Victoria Concert Hall
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Cover photo: Bryan van der Beek
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
Our Story
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.
MANUEL HERNÁNDEZ-SILVA
conductor
Manuel Hernández-Silva earned his degree from Vienna’s superior conservatory, Konservatorium der Stadt Wien, with honours, under Professors Reinhard Schwarz and Georg Mark. In his senior year, he won the Forum Jünger Künstler Conducting Competition, convened by the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, which he conducted in the Austrian capital’s Konzerthaus.
Hernández-Silva has conducted in several great international festivals, and he is a frequent guest of Spanish and foreign orchestras. He has been principal conductor of the Córdoba
Orchestra, Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra, Navarra Symphony Orchestra, and principal guest conductor of the Simón Bolívar Orchestra of Caracas, with which he worked intensively for over five years.
He has worked with the Israel Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, BordeauxAquitaine National Symphony Orchestra, National of Loire Symphony Orchestra, Artic Philharmonic, São Paulo Symphony, Macedonian Philharmonic, Prague Radio, PKF Prague, Janácek Philharmonic, North Czech Philharmonic, Olomouc Philharmonic, Biel Symphony Orchestra, Mulhouse Symphony, Rheinische Philharmonie, Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Chile National Orchestra, National Symphony of Colombia and the major orchestras in Spain.
Upcoming engagements will take him to the Macedonian Philharmonic, NFM Wroc aw Philharmonic Orquesta Ciudad de Granada and Orquesta OFUNAM in Mexico DF.
Hernández-Silva has undertaken an intense teaching activity, teaching internationally on conducting and performing, as well as at numerous conferences.
PACHO FLORES
trumpet/flugelhorn
Multi-award-winning Venezuelan trumpeter Pacho Flores is a First Prize Winner at the Maurice André International Trumpet Competition, Philip Jones International Competition and the Cittá di Porcia International contest in addition to being awarded a Gold Medal by the Global Music Awards for his album ENTROPÍA. His most recent recording for Deutsche Grammophon, ESTIRPE (2022) has been nominated in three categories at the Latin Grammy Awards 2023.
Pacho Flores made his Hollywood Bowl debut last summer with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel performing Arturo Márquez’s Concierto de Otoño. This followed his season-long residency with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic where he and Chief Conductor Domingo Hindoyan were branded ‘The Dream Team’. Further recent highlights include performances as soloist with the San Diego Symphony, NHK Symphony, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Arctic Philharmonic, Turku Philharmonic and Orchestre National de Lille.
In the 2023/24 season, Pacho debuted with the Minnesota Orchestra, New World
Symphony, Tampere Philharmonic and further ahead with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony among others. Pacho will also be Artist-InResidence with Orquesta Sinfónica de la Región de Murcia, Spain.
© BRYAN VAN DER BEEK
HANS GRAF
Music Director
Armed with a spirit of musical curiosity and discovery, creative programming and his commanding presence on stage, Austrian conductor Hans Graf has raised orchestras to new heights while winning audiences young and old alike. With Hans Graf, “a brave new world of music-making under inspired direction” (The Straits Times) began at the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, as Chief Conductor in the 2020/21 season, and Music Director since the 2022/23 season.
Graf was formerly Music Director of the Houston Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine,
Basque National Orchestra and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. He is a frequent guest with major orchestras worldwide including the orchestras of Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Vienna, Leipzig Gewandhaus, DSO Berlin, Dresden, Royal Concertgebouw, Oslo, Hallé, London, Royal Philharmonic, Budapest Festival, St Petersburg, Russian National, Melbourne, Sydney, Seoul, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the Bavarian, Danish and Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestras. Graf has led operas in the Vienna State Opera, Munich, Berlin, Paris, Strasbourg, Rome and Zurich. In 2014 he was awarded the Österreichischer Musiktheaterpreis for Strauss’s Die Feuersnot at the famed Vienna Volksoper, where he returned in 2021 to lead Rosenkavalier
Hans Graf’s extensive discography includes all symphonies of Mozart and Schubert, the complete orchestral works of Dutilleux, and the world-premiere recording of Zemlinsky’s Es war einmal. Graf’s recording of Berg’s Wozzeck with the Houston Symphony won the GRAMMY and ECHO Klassik awards for best opera recording. With the Singapore Symphony, Graf has recorded the music of Paul von Klenau, Józef Koz owski’s Requiem, an upcoming Mozart Violin Concerto cycle with Chloe Chua, and Stravinsky Concertos with violinist He Ziyu and pianist Alexei Volodin.
Hans Graf is Professor Emeritus for Orchestral Conducting at the Universität Mozarteum, Salzburg. For his services to music, he was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur by the French government, and the Grand Decoration of Honour of the Republic of Austria.
SAYAKA SHOJI
Sayaka Shoji has become internationally recognised for her unique artistic versatility and detailed approach to her chosen repertoire. Her remarkable insight into musical languages comes from her mix of European and Japanese backgrounds. Born in Tokyo, Shoji moved to Siena, Italy when she was three. She studied at Accademia Musicale Chigiana and Cologne’s Musikhochschule and made her European debut with Lucerne Festival Strings and Rudolf Baumgartner at the Lucerne Festival and then at the Musikverein, Vienna at the age of 14.
Since winning first prize at the Paganini Competition in 1999, Sayaka Shoji has been supported by leading conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Semyon Bychkov, Mariss Jansons and Yuri Temirkanov to name a few. She has also worked with renowned orchestras including Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Los Angeles and New York philharmonics, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, The Mariinsky Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra.
Recent highlights include five concerts for the opening of the 2022/23 season with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra/Shani, an Italian tour with Philharmonia Orchestra/ Matias-Rouvali, and a collaboration with dancer/choreographer Saburo Teshigawara
performing Bach and Bartok’s solo works at the Philharmonie de Paris. She also had a return to NHK Symphony Orchestra/Noseda, Brussells Philharmonic/Ono, and an extensive recital tour in Japan with Gianluca Cascioli.
In 2016, Shoji won the Mainichi Art Award, one of Japan’s most prestigious awards presented to those who have had a significant influence on the arts.
Sayaka Shoji plays a Stradivarius ‘Recamier’ c.1729, kindly loaned to her by Ueno Fine Chemicals Industry Ltd.
© LAURA STEVENS
LONG YU conductor
Hailed by The New York Times as “the most powerful figure in China’s classical music scene,” the conductor and impresario Long Yu has devoted his illustrious career to steering China’s growing connection to classical music while familiarizing international audiences with the country’s most eminent musicians and composers. Long Yu currently holds positions in China’s three most prominent orchestras — Artistic Director of the China Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing, Music Director of the Shanghai and Honorary Music Director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestras — as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. He is currently Vice
President of the China Musicians Association and Chairman of its recently established League of China Orchestras.
In the 2023/24 season, international guest appearances brought Long Yu together with The Philadelphia Orchestra and New York Philharmonic, and at home he performed with renowned artists including pianist Stephen Hough, violinist Leonidas Kavakos, Julian Rachlin, baritone Matthias Goerne, and soprano Olga Peretyatko, among others.
Born in 1964 into a Shanghai musical family, Long Yu received his early musical education from his grandfather, the renowned composer Ding Shande, later continuing his studies at the Shanghai Conservatory and the Hochschule der Kunst in Berlin.
Among his honours in China, Long Yu was named the 2010 Person of the Year in the Arts Field and was also granted the 2013 China Arts Award and an Honorary Academician from the Central Conservatory of Music for his dedication to cultural exchange and music development in China. Internationally, Long Yu is also a recipient of many awards including the title of L’onorificenza di Commendatore dell’Ordine al Merito (Italy), and the Légion d’Honneur (France).
© XU QING
KAREN GOMYO violin
Karen Gomyo possesses a rare ability to captivate and connect intimately with audiences through her deeply emotional and heartfelt performances. With a flawless command of the instrument and an elegance of expression, she is one of today’s leading violinists.
Karen’s most recent performance highlights include debuts with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Orquesta Nacional de España, Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony, and returns to the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.
Karen is committed to contemporary music. In February 2024, she returned to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for the world premiere of Year 2020, a concerto for trumpet, violin and orchestra by Xi Wang. Earlier, Karen gave the world premieres of Samy Moussa’s Violin Concerto Adrano with the Pittsburgh Symphony, and Samuel Adams’ Chamber Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
© GABRIELLE REVERE
As a passionate chamber musician, Karen has had the pleasure of performing with artists such as Olli Mustonen, James Ehnes, Emmanuel Pahud, Julian Steckel, and mezzosoprano Susan Graham. A champion of the music of Astor Piazzolla, in 2021 Karen released A Piazzolla Triology on BIS Records. It follows Karen’s first project with BIS, a collection of duo works by Paganini and his baroque predecessors recorded with guitarist Ismo Eskelinen, released in 2019.
Born in Tokyo, Karen began her musical career in Montreal and New York. She studied under the legendary pedagogue Dorothy DeLay at The Juilliard School before continuing her studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and New England Conservatory.
FOR A CARING & RESILIENTSingap ore
Yiwen Lu is one of the most well-known Erhu players in China. She is the council member of the National Bowed Stringed Instruments Committee under China Musicians Association and the Huqin Committee under the China Nationalities Orchestra Society. Yiwen is currently teaching Erhu in Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Her major awards include the Gold Medal of the 10th Golden Bell Award Erhu Competition in 2015 (the highest award in any Chinese instrument competition) and the 4th Wenhua Prize, the Erhu Youth Group’s highest performance award in 2012.
As one of the leading Erhu artists with great techniques and musicality, she has extensively collaborated with major orchestras, ensembles and soloists in China and internationally. Her solid basic skills, comprehensive performing technique, natural musicality, and striking presence on stage produce a performance of unique charisma. There is always traditional Chinese instrumental skills and emotions that we can hear from the sound under her strings, and also the incredible combination of tradition and modern from her performances of contemporary Erhu pieces including her own compositions and transcriptions.
YIWEN LU
erhu
TRE VOCI
BY THE SINGAPORE SYMPHONY CHORUSES
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RESPIGHI TRITTICO
BOTTICELLIANO
TCHAIKOVSKY SYMPHONY NO. 6 "PATHÉTIQUE"
The Orchestra
HANS GRAF
Music Director
RODOLFO BARRÁEZ
Associate Conductor
CHOO HOEY
Conductor Emeritus
LAN SHUI
Conductor Laureate
EUDENICE PALARUAN
Choral Director
WONG LAI FOON
Choirmaster
ELLISSA SAYAMPANATHAN
Assistant Choral Conductor
FIRST VIOLIN
(Position vacant) Concertmaster, GK Goh Chair
David Coucheron
Co-Principal Guest Concertmaster
Kevin Lin
Co-Principal Guest Concertmaster
Kong Zhao Hui1
Associate Concertmaster
Chan Yoong-Han2
Fixed Chair
Cao Can*
Duan Yu Ling
Foo Say Ming
Jin Li
Kong Xianlong
Cindy Lee
Karen Tan
William Tan
Wei Zhe
Ye Lin*
Zhang Si Jing
SECOND VIOLIN
Nikolai Koval*
Sayuri Kuru
Hai-Won Kwok
Margit Saur
Shao Tao Tao
Tseng Chieh-An
Wu Man Yun*
Xu Jueyi*
Yin Shu Zhan*
Zhao Tian
VIOLA
Manchin Zhang Principal, Tan Jiew Cheng Chair
Guan Qi Associate Principal
Gu Bing Jie* Fixed Chair
Marietta Ku
Luo Biao
Julia Park
Shui Bing
Janice Tsai
Dandan Wang
Yang Shi Li
CELLO
Ng Pei-Sian Principal, The HEAD Foundation Chair
Yu Jing Associate Principal
Guo Hao Fixed Chair
Chan Wei Shing
Christopher Mui
Jamshid Saydikarimov
Song Woon Teng
Wang Yan
Wu Dai Dai
Zhao Yu Er
DOUBLE BASS
Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal
Karen Yeo Fixed Chair
Jacek Mirucki
Guennadi Mouzyka
Wang Xu
FLUTE
Jin Ta Principal, Stephen Riady Chair
Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal
Roberto Alvarez
Miao Shanshan
PICCOLO
Roberto Alvarez Assistant Principal
OBOE
Rachel Walker Principal
Pan Yun Associate Principal
Carolyn Hollier
Elaine Yeo
COR ANGLAIS
Elaine Yeo Associate Principal
CLARINET
Ma Yue Principal
Li Xin Associate Principal
Liu Yoko
Tang Xiao Ping
BASS CLARINET
Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal
BASSOON
Marcelo Padilla^ Principal
Liu Chang Associate Principal
Christoph Wichert
Zhao Ying Xue
CONTRABASSOON
Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal
HORN
Austin Larson Principal
Gao Jian Associate Principal
Jamie Hersch Associate Principal
Marc-Antoine Robillard Associate Principal
Bryan Chong^
Hoang Van Hoc
TRUMPET
Jon Paul Dante Principal
David Smith Associate Principal
Lau Wen Rong
Nuttakamon Supattranont
TROMBONE
Allen Meek Principal
Damian Patti Associate Principal
Samuel Armstrong
BASS TROMBONE
Wang Wei Assistant Principal
TUBA
Tomoki Natsume Principal
TIMPANI
Christian Schiøler Principal
Mario Choo
PERCUSSION
Jonathan Fox Principal
Mark Suter Associate Principal
Mario Choo
Lim Meng Keh
HARP
Gulnara Mashurova Principal
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 Musicians
TIME FOR TRUMPETS! | 6 JUL 2024
FIRST VIOLIN
Wilford Goh
Yvonne Lee
Tian Ye
SECOND VIOLIN
Lee Shi Mei
Martin Peh
Chikako Sasaki
Ikuko Takahashi
VIOLA
Patcharaphan Khumprakob
Erlene Koh
Yeo Jan Wea
DOUBLE BASS
Julian Li
Ma Li Ming
Hibiki Otomo
Tan Si Pei
PERCUSSION
Kevin Tan
Michael Tan Pei Jie
PIANO/CELESTA
Beatrice Lin
BRAHMS WITH HANS GRAF AND SAYAKA SHOJI | 1 & 2 AUG 2024
FIRST VIOLIN
Alexandra Osborne
Guest Concertmaster
CELLO
Ng Pei Jee
Guest Principal
CLARINET
Matthew Larsen Guest Principal
HORN
Lee Hui-Yi
TUBA
Brett Stemple
Guest Principal
THE VIOLIN AND THE ERHU | 16 & 17 AUG 2024
FIRST VIOLIN
Hu Shenghua
Guest Concertmaster
PERCUSSION
Mark De Souza
BASSOON
Yuan Tianwei
Guest Principal
PIANO
Beatrice Lin
TIME FOR TRUMPETS! PACHO FLORES AND MANUEL HERNÁNDEZ-SILVA
Sat, 6 Jul 2024
Esplanade
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Manuel Hernández-Silva conductor
Pacho Flores trumpet/flugelhorn*
CARREÑO
GLINDEMANN
GINASTERA
FLORES
Margariteña – Glosa Sinfónica [SSO Premiere]
Trumpet Concerto* [Asian Premiere]
Intermission
Danzas del Ballet “Estancia”, Op. 8a
Albares – Concerto for Flugelhorn* [Asian Premiere]
INOCENTE CARREÑO (1919–2016)
Margariteña – Glosa Sinfónica (1954) SSO Premiere
Venezuelan composer Inocente Carreño was a professor of theory at the José Angel Lamas Music School for three decades and played horn in the Venezuelan Symphonic Orchestra for just shy of that. As with a lot of South American musicians who flourished after the Second World War, he was also politically active, becoming Counselor Minister of the Venezuelan delegation to UNESCO in the mid-1980s, and remained composing up until his death in 2016.
Margariteña is a symphonic poem penned by the composer with utmost love for his homeland, with special attention to the northern Venezuelan coast and specifically Margarita Island, where Carreño was born. The work takes as its main thematic material four popular songs from the region, and combines it with skilful orchestration and development, which shows how well Carreño had absorbed European techniques from his studies and his influences. There are moments of impressionist grandeur in the first section, with whole-tone harmonies and clever touches of harp; the second section with its steady pulse divided irregularly into threes and twos recalls similar march-like moments from, say, Respighi’s Pines of Rome.
By making use of a huge range of orchestral colour, Carreño instantly captivated listeners and critics alike at the 1st Latin American Music Festival in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. Aaron Copland, writing in 1955, said: “It is safe to say that none of those present had ever before had the opportunity of hearing so complete a cross-section of Latin American musical output.” This work catapulted Carreño into regional
prominence, both a triumph for him and the fledgling national music of Venezuela.
Instrumentation
2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, suspended cymbal, bass drum, harp, strings
World Premiere
25 Nov 1954, Venezuela
IB GLINDEMANN (1934–2019)
Trumpet Concerto (1962) Asian Premiere
Allegro con brio
Andante con sentimento
Allegro spagnuolo
Ib Glindemann’s 1962 trumpet concerto was written for symphonic orchestra, although a 2014 re-instrumentation for wind band seems to have taken firm root in the symphonic band repertoire. The concerto itself is very classically conceived, in three movements following the traditional fastslow-fast pattern, though Glindemann’s lasting legacy is his reputation as a Danish jazz musician and leader of his own big band (the “Ib Glindemann Orchestra” was built upon the model of the Stan Kenton Orchestra.) In addition to this, he counted dozens of composing credits for TV and film, and it is the latter aspect that influences this concerto.
The first movement is a jaunty toccata that bears all the spirit of a Haydn allegro, but with the instrumentation and harmony of Hollywood thrown into the mix. Nothing particularly Scandinavian comes through yet, Glindemann leaving that typical textural openness for the opening of the second movement, with solo trumpet supported by a bed of widely spaced string chords. Here his jazz background becomes more obvious, with a scattering of very strongly coloured chromatic chords keeping the listener guessing throughout.
If there was a hint of Latin rhythm in the first movement, it all becomes clearer in the finale that the influence is actually Spanish: the tempo marking says as much (spagnuolo translates to “Spanish”). The
opening fanfare uses a chord progression taken straight from Bizet’s Carmen. This movement is as long as the other two put together, and features virtuosic trumpet runs, fast tonguing and the extreme high register of the instrument, shining out over the orchestral forces.
Instrumentation
solo trumpet, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, cymbals, snare drum, glockenspiel, strings
World Premiere unknown
ALBERTO GINASTERA (1916–1983)
Danzas del Ballet “Estancia”, Op. 8a (1941)
Los Trabajadores agricolas (“The Agricultural Workers”)
Danza del trigo (“Dance of the Wheat”)
Los Peones de hacienda (“The Cattlemen”)
Danza final (“Final Dance” - Malambo)
Ginastera, despite his fierce loyalties to the music of his native Argentina, was always a bit of a modernist, and he used those tendencies to perfection by making a strong case for the Gauchesco tradition: an art movement that held that the horseman of the plains, or gaucho, was the true spiritual symbol of Argentina. In this way, his brash orchestration and dissonant harmonies are a representation of the lower classes with which he sympathised, and the first dance here, dedicated to agricultural workers, shows as much.
The second movement, “Dance of the Wheat”, is a beautiful aria featuring the orchestra in full Romantic passion, before disappearing and leaving a solo violin with the melody. Such heartfelt music is familiar to those who know his earlier piano dances (Danzas Argentinas, 1937), and indeed is constructed the same way as the slow movement from the piano set.
Stomping rhythms, parallel fifths, and unpredictable accents bring a Stravinsky-like air to the “Cattle Men” movement, and the final dance takes its title “Malambo” from a competitive dance form that was popular among the gauchos that Ginastera was so inspired by. A constant stream of quavers in this furious 6/8 keeps the whole orchestra busy, featuring a large percussion section in full pelt. About halfway through, the orchestra latches onto a particularly bright
melody and repeats it obsessively until the dancers come to a crashing end.
Programme notes by Thomas Ang
Instrumentation flute (doubling 2nd piccolo), 1st piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, triangle, cymbals, suspended cymbal, tam-tam, field drum, tenor drum, bass drum, tambourine, xylophone, castanets, piano, strings
World Premiere 1943, Buenos Aires
First performed by SSO 21 Apr 2012
PACHO FLORES (b. 1981)
Albares – Concerto for Flugelhorn (2022) Asian Premiere
Bambuco en Valencia
Milonga en Mislata
Periquera en Navajas
It is my belief that the search for new sounds and horizons in music are fundamental for the growth of our repertoire. The collaboration of soloist, composer and instrument builder has always been a trinity that can realise dreams.
I’ve always wanted to create a concerto for flugelhorn and symphony orchestra. Fortunately, my years of camaraderie with Don Vicente Honorato (President of Stomvi, renowned maker of brass instruments) has shone a light for me on the development of trumpets and cornets as a family of instruments. One day I asked myself, why not have a family of flugelhorns? Here, a brainstorm began and gradually flugelhorns of different types were born.
In the first movement, I used a flugelhorn in C to represent the bambuco, a very popular dance in Colombia and the Venezuelan Andes.
In the second movement, I used a low flugelhorn in A to evoke a nostalgic milonga, a marvellous genre of dance from the Rio de la Plata area, typical in Argentina and Uruguay.
The third movement is a periquera of joy and celebration, a kind of joropo music and dance associated with the llaneros (herders or “plainsmen”) of Venezuela and Colombia. The fiesta of lively rhythms and melodies is perfect for the party (the original meaning of
the Spanish word “joropo”).
This Concerto for Flugelhorn, Albares, is dedicated to Mari Carmen Martínez Bonet, a wonderful mother, capable grandmother and a fascinating mother-in-law. Her heart is an oasis of unlimited love for everyone. Thank you for being so generous and so strong –we all revolve around you.
Programme note by the composer, Pacho Flores
Instrumentation
solo flugelhorn, flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, Bombo legüero (drum), triangle, chimes, suspended cymbal, snare drum, bass drum, glockenspiel, güiro, maracas, tambourine, vibraphone, piano, celesta, strings
World Premiere 29 Apr 2022, Tenerife
BRAHMS WITH HANS GRAF AND SAYAKA SHOJI SERENADE
AND VIOLIN CONCERTO
Thu & Fri, 1 & 2 Aug 2024
Victoria Concert Hall
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Hans Graf Music Director
Sayaka Shoji violin*
BRAHMS
Tragic Overture, Op. 81
Serenade No. 2 in A major, Op. 16
Intermission
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77*
Supported by JCCI Singapore Foundation
Concert Duration: approximately 2 hrs (including 20 mins intermission)
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897)
Tragic Overture, Op. 81 (1880)
Most of the time, an overture is but a sort of appetizer and introduction to a larger work such as an opera, ballet, or suite, but when Brahms wrote the Tragic Overture, he intended it to be a standalone work, essentially a symphonic movement not in search of a symphony.
What prompted the composition of the work? In 1880, Brahms had composed two symphonies and his star was on the rise. The University of Breslau, Prussia (now Wroc aw, Poland), notified Brahms that he was to be awarded an honorary doctorate. Originally intending to send a mere handwritten note of thanks to the university, he was informed by his friend the conductor Bernhard Scholz (who had nominated him) that it was customary to thank the awarding university with a musical composition. The result was the very merry Academic Festival Overture, premiered (with himself as the conductor), at the special convocation held for him on 4 January 1881. While the frolicking work was being composed, Brahms was concurrently writing its darker twin, the Tragic Overture, and left no clues to its meaning beyond a declaration that one of the overtures weeps and the other cries.
Brahms gives us drama from the start with two massive slashing chords, followed by timpani ominously accompanying the rather austere theme on the strings. The strings and wind then explore gloomy darkness in D minor, punctuated by the brass who try to take us to F major, but to no avail — the dark energy is triumphant. A contrasting section appears, with the winds lightening the mood, but this only makes the return
of the storminess of the final section even more striking.
Given that Brahms never specified any links to literature or personal tragedy, we need not speculate about any programmatic references, and can allow ourselves the selfindulgence of basking in an exploration of a particular mood.
Instrumentation
2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, strings
World Premiere 26 Dec 1880, Vienna
First performed by SSO 20 Nov 1981
JOHANNES
BRAHMS
Serenade No. 2 in A major, Op. 16 (1859)
Allegro moderato
Scherzo. Vivace
Adagio non troppo
Quasi menuetto
Rondo. Allegro
In 1856, a 23-year-old Brahms was exploring orchestral writing — his mentor Robert Schumann had died recently, and Brahms was still a long way from his first symphony, which he eventually completed in 1876 at the age of 43. Nevertheless, he was making baby steps — writing two serenades, one in D major, Op. 11 (1859), and another in A major, Op. 16.
Brahms opens the work with a smooth, flowing, warmth in the Allegro moderato, taking us on an extended walk through the German countryside. The sound of a ‘topless’ string section without violins gives a darker tone, focusing the attention on the full complement of woodwinds — Brahms was to use this trick for the opening of his German Requiem later on. Other elements of what would be his later style but present here are his harmonic wanderings and intricate rhythms. Otherwise, the easy-going feel of the movement serves to remind us that this is the work of a 26-year-old, far from the sober, serious image of the later Brahms. A jaunty Scherzo marked Vivace follows, nearly taking us into rustic village life as the juxtaposition of duple and triple time, as well as the appearance of the piccolo conjure up images of folk dancing.
An Adagio non troppo starts laconically, but builds to high drama while the winds build up the dissonances and harmonic
structure on top of a repeated bass pattern. The bass pattern is a passacaglia, a Renaissance-style ostinato, but unlike in Renaissance music, where the bass pattern does not move from the original key, here the bass pattern wanders around, resulting in a harmonically dense cake. Achingly beautiful, the movement unfolds variations unrelentingly. Following that comes a Quasi menuetto (“like a minuet”), but Brahms, ever the tweaker, has taken us far from the Classical minuet. Nevertheless, the movement retains a lilting dance-like quality.
A Rondo marked Allegro ends the work, and Brahms introduces a piccolo, perhaps to brighten things up after four low-pitched and dark-toned movements. Here, even more than in the previous movement, the character of the dance pervades the music, reassuring us of a happy ending.
The work was dedicated to and first sent to Clara Schumann, who was reportedly delighted by it. It may be a pity that Brahms only wrote two Serenades, for they are very enjoyable music indeed, but we must be glad for the two that we have, as these show clearly the development of a talent that was to come to full flower later on.
Programme notes
by
Edward C. Yong
Instrumentation
2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, strings
World Premiere 10 Feb 1860, Hamburg
First performed by SSO 24 May 2006
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 (1878)
Allegro non troppo
Adagio
Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace
In the summer of 1878, a year after completing his Second Symphony, Johannes Brahms returned to the lakeside town of Pörtschach in southern Austria to compose his only Violin Concerto.
A pianist himself, Brahms wrote to his good friend and violin virtuoso, Joseph Joachim, for advice and assistance in technical matters. Joachim studied the solo part in great detail and provided many suggestions on what he felt should be changed. However, Brahms did not take many of Joachim’s suggestions into account – except for fingerings and bowings – when finalising his concerto.
While composing, Brahms had to change his original plan for the concerto, writing to Joachim, “the middle movements have fallen out; naturally they were the best! I have replaced them with a poor adagio.” The planned scherzo found its place in Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto several years later.
Joachim received the finalised solo part in mid-December 1878, and performed the Concerto’s premiere just two weeks later, on New Year’s Day 1879, at a Gewandhaus concert in Leipzig with Brahms conducting. It was received moderately well, but the Viennese premiere two weeks later received a warmer reception – with Brahms recalling that the orchestral players “wanted rather to hear [Joachim] than play their own
notes. At their desks they were always looking sideways – quite fatal, though understandable.” After these performances, Joachim managed to successfully persuade Brahms to make some further changes to the score before it was published, resulting in the version we know today.
The Violin Concerto is a work best viewed on a grand, symphonic scale. The first movement takes its time to introduce its two main themes played by the orchestra, before the soloist enters with dramatic flourish. A quick-fire riposte between the solo violin and orchestra gives way to the violinist taking the opening theme from its initial cello-led depths to soaring heights in the stratosphere. Brahms takes care to contrast the dramatic and fiery moments with the illusion of the violinist bringing time to a standstill on a beautiful high note, and sighing reflections on the yearning second theme. Near the end of the movement, Brahms allows the soloist to improvise a cadenza – Joachim’s is the most well-known and frequently performed, but there is a wealth of options available.
Violinist Pablo de Sarasate once complained that the Adagio of the second movement required the violinist to “listen, violin in hand to how the oboe plays the only melody in the whole piece”. While hardly the ‘only melody’ in the concerto, it is one of Brahms’s finest melodies – a long-breathed tranquil one. The soloist soon enters and
rhapsodises on this melody, even finding time to ruminate in an uneasy central section, before the great oboe melody returns to bring the movement to a restful conclusion.
The finale features a springy Hungarianstyled dance in an unusually overt display of musical flair. The gypsy spirit pays homage to Joachim’s heritage and the corresponding movement of Bruch’s Violin Concerto – which Joachim had previously introduced to Brahms. Witty interjections and jolly tunes permeate the movement, and trumpets and timpani bring the movement to a strong climax with the final dance. The music abruptly unwinds before coming back together, ending with a flourish.
Programme note by Christopher Cheong
Instrumentation
solo violin, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings
World Premiere 1 Jan 1879, Leipzig
First performed by SSO 29 Jan 1982 (Daniel Heifetz, violin)
THE VIOLIN AND THE ERHU LONG YU, KAREN GOMYO AND YIWEN LU
Fri & Sat, 16 & 17 Aug 2024
Victoria Concert Hall
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Long Yu conductor
Karen Gomyo violin1
Yiwen Lu erhu2
BARBER
BARBER BORODIN
QIGANG CHEN
Adagio for Strings
Violin Concerto, Op. 141
Intermission
Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor (arr. Rimsky-Korsakov)
Le joie de la souffrance for erhu and orchestra2 [Singapore Premiere]
Supported by JCCI Singapore Foundation
Duration: approximately 1 hr 45 mins (including 20 mins intermission)
SAMUEL BARBER (1910–1981)
Adagio for Strings (1936)
Sometimes a movement from a larger work finds itself a wildly successful life beyond the original context, and Barber’s Adagio for Strings is one of those. Originally the slow movement of his String Quartet, Opus 11 (written 1935–1936), the American composer produced an arrangement of it for string orchestra later that year. In 1936, Samuel Barber was based in Vienna, studying conducting and singing, and his partner, the Italian-American composer Gian-Carlo Menotti, says Barber came across the following passage in Virgil’s Georgics:
fluctus uti medio coepit cum albescere ponto longius ex altoque sinum trahit, utque volutus ad terras immane sonat per saxa neque ipso monte minor procumbit, at ima exaestuat unda verticibus nigramque alte subiectat harenam.
A breast-shaped curve of wave begins to whiten And rise above the surface, then rolling on Gathers and gathers until it reaches land Huge as a mountain and crashes among the rocks With a prodigious roar, and what was deep Comes churning up from the bottom in mighty swirls.
(Vergil, Georgics, III.237-241)
In 1937, the wave was beginning to whiten, so to speak — Adolf Hitler had just come to power in Germany, and the annexation of Austria was only a year away, so the shadow of death and destruction was looming. Perhaps this was a factor that made the work so powerful, and perhaps also why the conductor Arturo Toscanini, who had recently moved to the United States from Italy, decided to perform it in 1938 with his newly formed NBC Symphony Orchestra. Ever since then, the work has been consistently voted among the saddest classical works ever, appearing in countless films and being played at funerals of the great and the humble, and was later arranged as an Agnus Dei for voices in 1967 by Barber himself. Barber died in 1981, but surely would have been pleased to hear the 2005 trance version of the Adagio by DJ Tiësto, which was voted in 2013 by Mixmag readers as the second greatest dance record of all time, testifying to the piece’s enduring appeal.
Instrumentation strings
World Premiere 5 Nov 1938
First performed by SSO 3 Sep 1982
SAMUEL BARBER
Violin Concerto, Op. 14 (1939)
Allegro
Andante
Presto in moto perpetuo
Having made his money from a soap manufacturing company, the JewishAmerican industrialist Samuel Simeon Fels began to give back to society in his chosen home of Philadelphia. The household soap tycoon engaged in active philanthropy and became a patron of the arts, and in 1939 commissioned Samuel Barber to write a violin concerto for Fels’s ward Iso Briselli. Briselli was a young violinist who had graduated in the same year as Barber from the Curtis Institute of Music.
Barber began the writing in Switzerland, but the outbreak of World War II forced him to move home to Pennsylvania. The first two movements were received enthusiastically in October 1939 but Briselli’s violin coach Albert Meiff felt the violin parts unsuitable and insisted on a rewrite.
Unusually, the scoring includes a piano and omits trombones, but is otherwise conservative. The work opens with Barber’s trademark melancholy lyricism, with a wistful melody on the violin — no orchestra introduction here. The piano punctuates the work with accents and supports the ensemble prominently, almost functioning like a modern basso continuo. The long spun-out main theme contrasts with the perky and simple secondary minor-key theme in the Phrygian mode, and the interplay between the two gives us the drama of the sonata-form movement. A short cadenza is included, despite Barber’s
dislike of cadenzas. Barber’s first work, composed at the age of seven, was entitled Sadness, and in a way this work continues in that vein, being marked by reflection and poignancy.
Strings and an oboe solo open the second movement, setting a scene of calm introspection tinged with moodiness. Did Barber perhaps write this on a ship leaving a Europe about to be ravaged by war? The violin enters shortly before the unsettled second theme, amplifying a sense of regret and tension, and eventually takes up the lovely first theme. Another brief cadenza appears — was the brevity of the cadenza part of Meiff’s objections?
Barber, working feverishly through grief at losing his father, finished the work in late November, delivering the last movement. The finale, one-third the length of the first movement, overflows with virtuosity and flashiness, and opens with an endless stream of triplets on the violin, intensely driven on by relentless pounding interjections from the orchestra. The violin only gets a break when the orchestra presents the main rondo theme, and again when the orchestra gets a short passage with snare drums and timpani. The “perpetual motion” picks up momentum and a powerful dissonance marks the final ending.
Briselli felt the finale, while powerful, was
far too short and needed to balance the other two longer movements, while Barber stood by it and refused to change a work in which he was satisfied. Briselli eventually gave up his rights to the concerto and both men remained friendly till Barber’s death in 1981. The work was eventually premiered in 1941. Briselli said that with a different finale, the work would become one of the great American violin concertos. Nevertheless, it has become one of the most frequently performed of all 20th-century violin concertos.
Instrumentation
solo violin, 2 flutes (1 doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani (doubling snare drum), piano, strings
World Premiere
Feb 1941
First performed by SSO 20 Oct 1989 (Elmar Oliveira, violin)
ALEXANDER BORODIN (1833–1887)
Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor (1890) (arr. Rimsky-Korsakov)
Despite having worked on it for over a decade, when Russian composer Alexander Borodin died in 1887, his opera Prince Igor remained unfinished. Nikolai RimskyKorsakov took up the mantle and prepared a performing edition in 1890. The Polovtsian Dances are a set of dances that occur in the opera, but who are the Polovtsians? The term, meaning “Fair (light-coloured) people” was used by the Mediaeval Rus’ (East Slavs, ancestors of today’s Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians) to refer to the Kipchak and Cumans, who were nomadic Central Asian peoples speaking a Turkic language, and who formed the Cuman-Kipchak Confederation. The Kipchak and Cumans disappear from the historical record after the 13th century, when the Mongols swept across the region, and were subsumed into the native populations of the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe, and West and Central Asia.
Prince Igor is set in 1185, and tells the complicated story of Igor Svyatoslavich, Prince of Novgorod-Seversky, and his military campaign against the invading Polovtsians.
At one point, Prince Igor is taken captive by Khan Konchak, and to prove that he is not a prisoner but an honoured guest of the Khan, Konchak summons slaves to entertain Igor with the Polovtsian Dances (No. 17, from Act 2), a series of contrasting songs and dances by assorted maidens, boys, and wild men in turn, in which the Polovtsians fervently celebrate Konchak’s glory. It is famous for its “Gliding Dance of the Maidens” theme, which can be performed with a chorus.
Tonight’s performance is purely instrumental, but you can listen to the Singapore Symphony’s recording with our choruses on our Russian Spectacular album on the BIS label.
Instrumentation
2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes (1 doubling cor anglais), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, cymbals, snare drum, bass drum, glockenspiel, tambourine, harp, strings
World Premiere Nov 1890, St. Petersburg
First performed by SSO 29 Jan 1982
QIGANG CHEN (b. 1951)
Le joie de la souffrance for erhu and orchestra (2017) Singapore Premiere Despair
Chinese-French composer Qigang Chen was born in 1951 to an intellectual family in Shanghai and as a result spent three years locked up to be re-educated during the Cultural Revolution, but eventually was among the 26 accepted to the Beijing Central Conservatory in 1977 for composition (out of some 2,000 applicants). Moving to France, he became Olivier Messiaen’s last student, living with him from 1984–1988.
In 2017, he composed Le joie de la souffrance (“The Joy of Suffering”), a sort of concerto for violin and orchestra. While it is a concerto in the vein of the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, it is without the traditional three-movement, fast-slow-fast, format. Instead, it breathes and unfolds over ten sections, each revealing a different mood, like the slow opening of a Chinese fan, without a pause between them. Chen himself described it as “waves of emotion”, and while he gave each section a brief descriptive title, it may be useful to see the earlier sections as building up to and leading into the climactic last few.
The achingly beautiful work was inspired by and dedicated to his son Yuli, who died at the age of 29 in a car crash in Zürich. Yuli’s death devastated Chen and his wife. “My son was born under the one-child policy, so all our ideals and pursuits were built around him,” he told the South China Morning Post at the time. “The sudden loss meant we are left without an anchor and have to rethink the meaning of life.” After Yuli’s death, Chen lost interest in composition and stopped writing. He left his home in Paris to settle in a rural Chinese province. “I joined my friend at his Gonggeng School at Suichang for poor children in the mountainous region,” he told the Post. “There I rediscovered hardship in life is actually a gift.”
Chen eventually returned to Paris and finished the works he had set aside. And he began composing The Joy of Suffering. Seeking a simple structure, Chen turned to an ancient melody:
叠 (Yangguan Sandie, Thrice Parting for Yangguan). Yangguan (Yang Gate) was an oasis town at the western end of the Great
Wall, near Dunhuang, and was the last stop before entering the ‘barbarian’ lands of Central Asia. The melody of Yangguan Sandie first appears in print in the qin books of the Ming dynasty, around 1500 A.D., but is associated with lyrics by the famous Tang dynasty poet Wang Wei (699–761) and may well date from then.
渭城曲《送元二使安西》
渭城朝雨浥轻尘，
客舍青青柳色新。
劝君更尽一杯酒，
西出阳关无故人。
Weicheng Tune: Seeing Yuan Er off to Anxi by Wang Wei
The morning rain at Weicheng dampens the light dust, At the inn the lush green colour of the willows is renewed. This moves the gentlemen again to offer up a cup of wine. Going west through Yangguan there will be no old acquaintances.
The bittersweet melody at the heart of the work and the associated poem may help the listener, for Wang Wei’s listlessness and reluctance accompanying a final parting are certainly to be heard in Chen’s work. Chen himself sees no contradiction in the work’s title, as joy and suffering are both two sides of the same experience, and for him the experience of pain was a necessary precondition to achieving happiness and understanding. Chen’s words to Strings magazine express it best:
Grief is [an] inexpressible inner state, an emotion reserved for oneself, impossible to communicate through words. Music, my old friend, was able to provide me with emotional relief… If my son had not died, I would not have the clarity that I now do about life, my work, and the blinkered, endless, petty squabbling over trivial theories found in the world of modern music.
Programme notes by Edward C. Yong
Instrumentation
solo erhu, 2 flutes (1 doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (1 doubling cor anglais), 2 clarinets (1 doubling bass clarinet, 2 bassoons (1 doubling contrabassoon), 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, percussion, harp, strings
World Premiere
29 Oct 2017, Beijing (violin version)
SSO Chamber and Organ Series July October
Tickets from $10
21 JUL 2024
4pm, Victoria Concert Hall
SSO ORGAN SERIES: MUSICAL SOUVENIRS
WITH RE: MIX AND JIA HWEI
Koh Jia Hwei organ re: mix ensemble
Foo Say Ming violin & conductor
3 OCT 2024
7.30pm, Victoria Concert Hall
SSO CHAMBER SERIES: A LOVE OF FRENCH MUSIC
Gulnara Mashurova harp Musicians of the SSO
4 OCT 2024
7.30pm, Victoria Concert Hall
SSO CHAMBER SERIES: ENCHANTING RAVEL
Gulnara Mashurova harp Musicians of the SSO
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
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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
Foundation Of Rotary Clubs (Singapore) Ltd
The New Eden Charitable Trust
TransTechnology Pte Ltd
VALIRAM
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.
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
Eunice Salanga
PATRONS
Digital & Marketing Communications
Cindy Lim (Head)
Communications
Elliot Lim
Elizabeth Low
Digital & Marketing
Chia Han-Leon
Calista Lee
Myrtle Lee
Hong Shu Hui
Jana Loh
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
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
SEAS
SEAS
Mr & Mrs Goh Yew Lin
Estate of Tan Jiew Cheng
Official Outdoor Media Par tner
Official Community Par tner
Official Hotel
Stephen Riady Group of Foundations