WE REMEMBER PIONEERING SINGAPOREAN VIOLIST LIONEL TAN (1965-2026)

It was with great shock and sadness that we learn of the passing of Singaporean violist LIONEL TAN. He was a founding member of T'ang quartet, Singapore's first professional chamber group, formed in 1992. He leaves behind his partner Marcia, elder brother cellist Leslie, a younger brother Leroy and his parents. He was diagnosed to have oesophageal cancer in early 2025, and fought a good fight until his ultimate passing on 31 May 2026.

Playing for Jiri Heger

Lionel was the first viola student of the late Czech violist Jiri Heger (1946-2023) who was then the Principal violist of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO). Lionel was a member of the Singapore Youth Orchestra, who later pursued his studies in London's Royal College of Music as a SSO scholar. I remember Lionel as a student of from the south wing of Raffles Institution who was regularly seen attending SSO concerts. Little did I know then the role he would play in Singapore's classical music scene as one of its greatest violists.

A more informal session with Jiri Heger

T'ang Quartet poster with a retro design

It was as a violist in the SSO when he teamed up with brother Leslie, and violinists Ng Yu Ying and Ang Chek Meng to form the T'ang Quartet. All four members left the SSO and pursued further studies in Houston's Rice University and won prizes at the Joseph Joachim Chamber Music Competition in Weimar. Thus began T'ang Quartet's international performing career.

I was fortunate to have been asked to write programme notes for the quartet's concerts and early international tours, and also for its first two commercial CD releases - The Art of War (Pavel Haas and Erwin Schulhoff quartets) and Made in America (Dvorak String Quartet and Quintet). I also did the editorial work for and appeared in a cameo in their four-part documentary No Strings Attached.

Many people have the misconception that musicians without a solo career end up performing in chamber music groups. That is a fallacy. The truth is you have to first be a top-notch soloist in order to master chamber music. And Lionel was a top violist, and a string player of the highest order.

In 1988, at the finals of the Diners Club String Player of the Year Competition, three of Singapore's top young musicians vied for the award performing concertos with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. The final three happened to later become founding members of T'ang Quartet. There was Ng Yu Ying performing Bruch's Violin Concerto No.1, Leslie Tan in Saint-Saens' Cello Concerto No.1 and Lionel Tan in Hungarian composer Gyula David's Viola Concerto.  

Exhibiting a beautifully rich and dusky tone, and displaying a virtuosity that defied all viola jokes, Lionel was awarded the first prize. No one would look at the viola and violists the same way again.

Mentoring and inspiring the next
generation of chamber musicians.

Lionel Tan leaves behind a memorable career in performing chamber music, and a rich legacy of teaching as a faculty member of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. His students have gone on to enrich our musical scene in Singapore. Lionel is well-loved and will be sorely missed.

Lionel Tan with Jiri Heger and Noriko Ogawa.

Lionel Tan, founding T'ang Quartet violist, dies at 60 | The Straits Times

A TRIBUTE TO JIRI HEGER, MASTER VIOLIST (1946-2023)

MEMORIES OF JIRI HEGER

Master Violist & 

Singapore’s Original Bohemian

 

We are saddened by the passing on 11 November 2023 of Czech violist JIRI HEGER, who was for 26 years the Principal Violist of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. He served Singapore’s burgeoning classical music scene for over 32 years, including being the main viola teacher at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.

 

Jiri (pronounced Yee-Zhee) joined the SSO in 1980, at a time when experienced musicians from Eastern Europe were employed to develop the orchestra. One is also reminded of the contributions of former concertmaster Pavel Prantl (Czechia), violist George Man (Hungary), bassist Vladimir Pushkarev (Slovakia), percussionist Grzegorz Markiewicz (Poland), and several Romanians who were all pioneers of the SSO. Previously, he played in the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, but the Islamic revolution put an end to that. Drawn to Singapore, Jiri came, settled and never left, later taking on Singapore citizenship.

Jiri with his students,
the young T'ang Quartet, late-1980s

 

One of Jiri’s greatest legacies was being for many years the numero uno teacher of violists in Singapore. Anybody and everybody connected to that “unfashionable” instrument had been his student. He made playing the viola cool, and mentored the likes of violist Lionel Tan and the string players who would later become the T’ang Quartet, Singapore’s first professional chamber group.

 

Imagine his pride when Lionel won the Diners Club String Player of the Year Competition in 1988 playing Gyula David’s Viola Concerto (Leslie Tan and Ng Yu Ying were the other finalists) and when T’ang Quartet made its first two CD revordings. The Art Of War showcased the works of Erwin Schulhoff and Pavel Haas (Czech composers murdered in the Nazi Holocaust) while Made In America featured Dvorak’s String Quartet and String Quintet (Op.96 and 97). Jiri’s imprimatur was indelible in both these landmark recordings, capped off by him  playing the second viola part in the quintet.

 

Jiri made several CD recordings of his own including a rare recital for the quinton, an antique brybrid instrument from the viol family. He was the only quinton player in Singapore, and his recording of sonatas by Cesar Franck and Edvard Grieg truly stands the test of time. He also made a disc of Czech lollipops with French pianist Etienne Chenevier which was also a true delight.

Jiri greeting British pianist Stephen Hough
after a SSO concert in 2019. 
Photo: Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Even after he retired from professional playing and teaching, Jiri was a regular presence at local concerts, toting his huge camera and lending support to his colleagues. He was always full of praise for musicians and performances, never uttering a harsh word or expressing any kind of bitterness. He was a true lover and friend of classical music, and the likes of Singapore’s original Bohemian will never the be seen again.

 

The following are some photographs and tributes from people who have known Jiri well:

Jiri with star pupil Lionel Tan

 

LIONEL TAN,

Founding violist of T’ang Quartet writes:

I was his first student in Singapore.

An everlasting relationship - a true father who always gave. Not just musically but even more. The music cassettes that he regularly sent to me when I was studying in London was always such a joy.

 

Beyond lessons, the times I spent with him when I was in SSO after my studies were always lessons in life, observing him, absorbing his thoughts…

 

His legacy will live on.

 

Jiri with the Low sisters,
Shao Ying (L) and Shao Suan (R)
in April 2023

 

LOW SHAO YING & SHAO SUAN,

Duo pianists write:

 

Three weeks ago on 11th November, late at night, we received the sad and shocking news of the passing of Jiri Heger, a longtime dear friend and former colleague. We were in disbelief as the last time we met him for lunch was some months ago in April. He still looked very healthy then. And only three months ago, he wished us a Happy Birthday via a few of his friends, which now as we come to think about it, seemed strange as every other year, he would personally call us or text us on our birthdays.

 

We have known Jiri since 1995 when we first performed with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. He was already a very lovely, kind, encouraging and funny guy. We got to know him better when we joined Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music as piano accompanists, and Shao Ying was the appointed pianist for his viola studio. His dedication, passion, love and encouragement for his students and Shao Ying gained him their respect, devotion, admiration and love in return. 

He was also very generous with his time during lessons as he wanted to make sure his students understood every lesson before it ended. His lessons were very inspiring, enjoyable and interesting, and he loved to share his vast musical knowledge and personal experiences. Whenever a student made a mistake and seemed affected by it, Jiri would famously say, “We are all humans. Humans make mistakes. Even machines will breakdown.” We have been using this very wise saying on our students ever since.

 

After Jiri’s retirement from SSO and the conservatory, we still met once or twice a year to catch up, especially around his birthday. We would also text (or email when he was away) at times to see how each other was doing. Whenever we had any concerts, he would do his best to attend to show his unwavering support. Besides music, Jiri was also an avid photographer. Wherever he went, he never failed to capture special moments with his trusted camera, be it during his holiday trips or during our meet-ups. We still have with us the many physical and digital photographs that Jiri so kindly gave us, which will now sadly, be our only momentoes of him.

 

To have met and known Jiri was an honour and privilege for us. We will always remember his kindness, his love, his generosity, his encouragement, his strong yet warm voice and his infectious hearty laughter. “May you rest in peace, dear Jiri. Thank you for your love and friendship and for being part of our lives. You will forever be very fondly remembered by every lucky soul that have met and known you. Farewell and till we meet again.”

 

With love, Shao Ying and Shao Suan

 

 

Although Donald Law did not play the viola,
Jiri took him under his wing and introduced
him to Czech pianist Ivan Klansky,
who tutored Donald pro bono.

Donald Law, Pianist writes:

 

Goodbye to my dear old friend. As much as everyone says that you’re in a better place (which I’m sure you are), reuniting with your beloved mother, the fact remains that I’ll fondly miss the times we shared for the past 13 years.

 

All those hours worth of conversations we had at the Bishan Park Canopy cafe, talking about anything and everything under the sky, mainly revolving around music. Though we don’t play the same instruments, but I’m so glad that we share the same vision, taste, passion and beliefs about music. No words can describe the sense of loss I’m going through now, thank you for everything and especially for always believing in me from the beginning, when almost no one did at that point, not even myself! 

You saw me grow as a student till now as a father, watching me went through my ups and downs, but never once have your support and confidence in me waned. Thank you for turning up at every single performance, regardless big or small, exam recitals or public recitals, you were always there at the audience, giving one of the loudest applause. Your support and encouragement never failed to inspire me.

 

You were like a grandfather to me, you will always hold a special place in my heart. See you at the other side next time, my dear old friend!

After Donald's concert at
Esplanade Recital Studio, January 2023.

Update: I have dedicated my review of the Pavel Haas Quartet's concert in Victoria Concert Hall on 19 May 2024 to the memory of Jiri Heger, SSO's first and original Bohemian. You can find the review on Bachtrack.com here:

Pavel Haas Quartet’s triumphant, all-Bohemian Singapore debut | Bachtrack

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  

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY / T'ang Quartet / Review

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

T’ang Quartet

School of the Arts Concert Hall

Saturday (7 September 2013)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 9 September 2013 with the title "Fresh sounds from veteran quartet".

It is hard to believe that the T’ang Quartet, Singapore’s first and only professional chamber group, is now 21 years old. In 1992, violinists Ng Yu Ying and Ang Chek Meng, violist Lionel Tan and cellist Leslie Tan, all in their 20s while members of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra gave their first concert at Victoria Concert Hall.

Besides their obvious musical passion, what also stood out were their attitude and sense of fashion. Clad in designer wear for gigs, posing topless in strange locations for photo shoots, the foursome actually made it cool to like chamber music. One musical colleague quipped that they had yet to grow up. That might sound like a barb, but this reviewer regards this as a virtue.

A refusal to equate maturity with ageing, and a continual pursuit to find eternal youth and joy in musical truths seems to be their credo. Except for the evolution of hairstyles and facial fur on the Tan brothers, the quartet pretty much appears the same as they were two decades ago.

Attired in loose fitting greyish coats by Depression, which made them look like Confederate extras in a Gettysburg movie set, they played sitting on non-matching chairs by Grafunkt. Typical of their attention-seeking style, but their vision in music-making remains undimmed. Their 21^st anniversary concert, as the title suggested, comprised wholly of Bohemian and Czech repertoire.

Dvorak's “American” Quartet in F major (Op.96) has been a loyal warhorse for the T’angs. Previously coached by teacher-mentor Jiri Heger, the Czech former SSO viola principal, their calling card work resounded with a freshness that belied its familiarity. The drumming rhythms of the outer movements were buoyant, over which the violins sang and soared. The slow movement, a cross between Slavic dumka and Afro-American spiritual, made time stand still.

Just as trenchant a performance was accorded the First String Quartet by Erwin Schulhoff, a Czech-Jew who died in the Nazi Holocaust. The unison sound achieved in the driving Presto opening was frightening in its intensity, as were the various sound effects yielded in its three other movements. Vigorous folk music coloured its course, but it was the poignantly quiet ending that was most haunting.

Smetana’s autobiographical First String Quartet called “From My Life” closed this excellent concert. The declamatory viola solo at its outset set the tone for this mostly cheerful work, which recounts the eventful life of the “Musical father of Czech nationalism”. Beneath its joyous exterior, the quartet was able to find an underlying melancholy, later epitomised by the cello solo in the slow movement that truly tugged at the heartstrings.

Even more apparent was the finale, when Ng’s violin screeched the highest E (in harmonics), an allusion to the composer’s affliction of deafness, which put a damper on the celebrations before the work closed quietly. There is a real life parallel to that episode, as Ng had himself gone through a life-threatening illness for several months before recovering and making his welcome return.

Just before the quartet’s tongue-in-cheek encore of Shostakovich’s Polka from The Golden Age, Ng had these few words to the audience, “Bear with us… for another 21 years.” Those years will be precious ones indeed.          

  

T'ANG QUARTET'S UPSIZED CHRISTMAS / T'ang Quartet / Review

T'ANG QUARTET’S UPSIZED CHRISTMAS

T’ang Quartet

Esplanade Concert Hall

Saturday (22 December 2012)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 24 December 2012 with the title "The T'ang of Christmas".

It is good to see that the T’ang Quartet can still pack a concert hall after all these years. Two decades ago, they were the “Bad Boys” of classical music, striving to do something different and make an impact. Today, they are the stylish middle-aged men of the local scene, wiser and wizened, but no less irreverent.

 

One could already anticipate the tomfoolery when they strutted on stage in Calvin Klein jeans, and with cellist Leslie Tan balancing precariously on an outsized armchair designed by Francfranc as they performed the first work. Professor Teddy Bor’s Eine Kleine Bricht Moonlicht Nicht Musik was the perfect opener, throwing up Mozart’s favourite serenade with highland melodies like Scotland The Brave and Auld Lang Syne into the mix.

Only the T’angs could bring out a barrel of laughs from the usually austere figures of 20^th century composers Shostakovich and Hindemith. The former’s Polka from The Age of Golden was performed straight – itself two minutes of pure satire - and the latter’s Minimax benefited from scripted gags by Pamela Oei and Ivan Heng.

Minimax was Hindemith’s answer to Mozart’s A Musical Joke, a 25-minute spoof in six movements on musical clichés, poor technique and the chicanery musicians get up to. Prefaced by violist Lionel Tan’s remark, “Somebody did not practise again!” his brother Leslie was literally the butt of the jokes with off-pitched playing, mistimed cues and the breaking of wind.

There was the customary send-up to Wagner, the Johann Strauss waltz, the military march, and the rivalry between fiddlers as second violinist Ang Chek Meng attempted to upstage his leader Ng Yu Ying. Whether the reference to tonight’s AFF Suzuki Cup Final between Singapore and Thailand was intentional or not, both received red cards from referee Lionel, as Leslie blew a whistle for their efforts. Believe it or not, it is more difficult to deliberately play badly than one thinks.

Christmas music dominated the second half. Local jazz pianist and arranger Kerong Chok’s (above) medley was classy lounge music, opening with Mykola Leontovych’s Carol of the Bells and Howard Blake’s Walking in the Air from The Snowman, before incorporating The Christmas Song, Silent Night and Let It Snow. Chok’s cool and understated pianism was well supported by the quartet, who was already in cruise control.

Closing the show was Syafiqah Sallehin’s (left) medley Nutty But Nice which cleverly interpolated movements from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite with various seasonal favourites. A female Malay-Muslim composer arranging Christmas music for four Chinese guys is one for the books, the sure sign that our multi-cultural society has inexorably progressed.

Whoever thought of merging the Trepak with Feliz Navidad, using the ostinato bass of the Arabian Dance as rhythm for The Little Drummer Boy, or playing a neat game of counterpoint with Waltz of the Flowers and Silver Bells? Such surprises, coupled with the T’ang Quartet’s usual showmanship, gave the fuzzy, warm and happy feeling on seeing a well-filled stocking on Christmas morning. Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas, you all.  



KAM NING AND FRIENDS / Review

A CHAMBER CONCERT 

WITH KAM NING AND FRIENDS 

4th Singapore Chamber Music Festival 

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall 

Tuesday (29 March 2011)

An edited version of this review was published in The Straits Times on 31 March 2011 with the title "Perfect playing by Kam Ning & strings".

The name of violinist Kam Ning was the obvious draw for this chamber concert of string music. However the London-based Singaporean virtuoso, runner-up in the prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition (2001), performed in just two works.

The first was the opening movement of Mozart’s Flute Quartet No.1 (above), spotlighting the fluid technique of flautist Duan Duoni, from the Conservatory’s Young Artist programme. Kam was happy to let the youngster take the lead in a work dedicated to one Ferdinand de Jean, a surgeon in the Dutch East India Company. 

That was the full extent of Kam’s violin involvement, as she played violist to Ng Yu Ying’s violin and Leslie Tan’s cello in Beethoven’s cheerful Serenade (Op.8), the programme’s major work. Its five movements were a joy to behold, if anything to witness the sheer chemistry between performers, who moved and breathed as one.

Eye contact was paramount as the trio maintained a cohesive unit throughout, traversing a vast array of moods and tempi. The third movement’s chameleon-like shifts in pace, from lament-like Adagio to quicksilver Allegro molto and back, were deftly handled. The humour displayed in the Alla Polacca was also clearly palpable, an exercise in Beethovenian wit.

The rest was a veritable showcase for the Rin Collection, one of the world’s great repositories of historical stringed instruments, performed by students of the Conservatory. For good reason is Yong Siew Toh hailed “Asia’s International Conservatory”. Two movements from Haydn’s quartets were performed, first by a foursome that included three Vietnamese players, and another led by an Uzbek violinist. 

One Beethoven movement featured four Chinese musicians, one each from Taiwan, China, Malaysia and Singapore. However the best of the Conservatory quartets was formed by two Australians, one American and Chinese, playing the first movement from Janacek’s Intimate Letters. They produced a mature sound, with accurate solo playing and rhythmic exuberance as to sound ready for a professional career.

The most touching rendition came from younger colleagues, students from the School of the Arts (SOTA, above) mentored by Leslie Tan, in Viktor Ullmann’s Third Quartet. Their mastery of the poignant and rarefied idiom from a Holocaust victim, filled with spiky dissonance and acerbic irony, was simply astonishing. The future of chamber music here looks plenty assured.

Kam Ning with the T'ang Quartet