MUSIC & MAKAN: HEART / BRAIN

MUSIC & MAKAN: HEART. BRAIN

A Living Room, off River Valley Road

Sunday (15 October 2017) 

Music & Makan is the brainchild of Beverly Hiong, cellist and musical entrepreneur, bringing together the two things which Singaporeans love best: good music and good food. (Good shopping has not been included but I won't count it out at some point the way the event is evolving.)

First held in Christmas 2012, this has become a regular affair at the home of the Hiongs. The formula is simple: get professional musicians to perform and talk about music, engage a Michelin-starred or top-notched chef to prepare tasty dishes, and bring an audience of hungry people who enjoy being entertained. This year, M&M became a ticketed event and one can actually buy tickets via Peatix to attend.

Last Sunday's M&M was attended by over 40 people, including newcomers to the arcane world of classical music. The performers were no strangers to Singapore's classical music scene, and they performed a varied selection of pieces, while gently dismissing the notion that classical music is boring, stuffy or sniffy. Music is a combination of heart and brain, and the pieces were selected to illustrate beauty and symmetry in music, while showcasing form and structure in the process.

Here is the string quartet formed by:
Chikako Sasaki & Christina Zhou, violins
Leslie Tan, cello & Christoven Tan, viola

Beverly provides a friendly intro and
the quartet plays the Notturno
from Borodin's Second String Quartet.

Violist Christoven plays a movement
from György Ligeti's Viola Sonata,
filled with microtones and overtones.
Leslie does an impression of Rodin's Thinker.

To illustrate the fugal form, the
Contrapunctus No.2 from J.S.Bach's
The Art of Fugue was performed.

The concert closed with the first two movements
from Shostakovich's String Quartet No.8.

A peak at the audience, which got to
sing Row, Row Your Boat
to appreciate the canon form.

Chef Kit Wong's awesome spread
of finger foods and canapes.

The event was not sponsored by M&Ms,
but you get the idea.

Musical celebrities like conductor Jason Lai
and Viva Viola man Jeremy Chiew
also made their presence.

We trust everyone who came
had a lovely time.

It is rumoured that the next Music & Makan will be held at an art gallery. To find out where and when, do check-out the dedicated website: www.musicandmakan.com