HAPPY 340TH BIRTHDAY, J.S.BACH! / Soiree at Ying's with Red Dot Baroque

Happy Birthday, Papa Johann Sebastian Bach! 340 years ago, he was born in Eisenach, Thuringia on 21 March 1685, long before anyone had heard of Deutschland. What better way to celebrate his birthday than to organise a party bash with Singapore's foremost baroque group, Red Dot Baroque?

That was the idea of Huang Ying, Head of Culture, Press and Public Diplomacy at the German Embassy in Singapore, when she invited her Singapore and German friends to her lovely home in Katong for a Bach und Freunde soiree. Here are the photos from a most gemutlich evening through possible.

Ying introduces Red Dot Baroque
and violinist Alan Choo to her guests.

The musical evening opened with
J.S.Bach's Sonata No.4 in C minor (BWV.1017)

The opening movement uses the
same melody as Erbarme dich
from the St Matthew Passion.

From the living room to the dining area,
Leslie Tan introduces the baroque cello.

Leslie performs a work by
Italian composer Joseph Dell'Abaco and
the Prelude from JSB's Cello Suite No.1.

Christopher Clarke on theorbo
offers a Toccata by Alessando Piccinini. 

Brenda Koh performs Fantasia No.9
by Bach's best buddy Georg Philipp Telemann.

To close the concert was a dance work
by Giovanni Fontana.

Red Dot Baroque doing what they do best,
having musical fun.

Singapore Writers Festival director 
Yong Shu Hoong meets the Meyers.

Alan Choo chats with
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
CEO Kenneth Kwok

Germans and Singaporeans meet.

Lianhe Zaobao's Zhang Heyang with
Kenneth Kwok and soprano Alison Wong.

Red Dot Baroque's harpsichordist
Gerald Lim cuts the JSB birthday cake.

Informal music-making, with
Alan and Heyang playing J.S.Bach's
 Double Violin Concerto in D minor (BWV.1043)

Photo: Gerald Lim

They finally got a real keyboardist
to complete the concerto.

Alison served as the page-turner
for the 21st century tablet.
17th century tech at work.

The Air and Gavotte from
J.S.Bach's Suite No.3 in D major
as arranged by Max Reger.

That bag's not going anywhere near
Berlin Brandenberg Airport.

We had a great time, did you?

SAYANG SINGAPURA! ORIGINS / Asian Contemporary Ensemble / Review

SAYANG SINGAPURA! ORIGINS

Asian Contemporary Ensemble

The Chamber, The Arts House

Saturday (14 November 2015)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 16 November 2015 with the title "Fun way to discover Singapore".

The Asian Contemporary Ensemble, founded by Singaporean conductor-composer Wong Kah Chun, seeks to preserve Asian musical aesthetics while forging new paths in expression. Its 75-minute-long concert incorporated story-telling, dance and pantomime with eight works (including three world premieres) woven into its fabric.

Aimed at young people, the story of Indian King Rajasuran and how his grandson Sang Nila Utama discovered Temasek was directed by Peggy Ferroa, narrated by Rosemarie Somaiah, choreographed and danced by members of Paragraph. The 11 members of ACE conducted by Wong performed on stage, making for a colourful affair of sound and movement.

Phoon Yew Tien's Variations On A Transfigured Theme Rasa Sayang performed on piano by Jonathan Shin opened the concert, revealing a metamorphosis of a simple song that went through a whole panoply of tonalities and modes. John Sharpley's Glissando On The Black Keys was a pentatonic fantasy that saw Shin's instrument channelling the sound world of a Chinese guzheng.

The three world premieres began with Christopher Clarke's Teeth, a concertino for saxophone accompanied by Indian percussion inspired by the merlion's dentition. Samuel Phua's dusky tone on sax was a revelation, as was Joyce Poh's dizi in Bernard Tan's Keroncong, a cheerful dance that combined Chinese and Malay influences with the Western rondo form. Poh's arrangement of the popular Jiangnan Hao saw the familiar Chinese tune on dizi accompanied by Edward Tan's violin and Dylan Lee's cello.

The musicians then congregated around a collection of gongs and metallophones for the gamelan-inspired Suite of the Thieving Sea by Anne Choo, with solo parts for bamboo flute and bowed rebab. This Javanese-styled music accompanied the dance of Sang Nila Utama surrending his crown to appease buffeting waves, before the premiere of Shin's Sang Nila Utama Meets The Mercat, which saw Li Lingzhi's clarinet, sax and dizi backed by tinkling toy piano.

The mercat is the official mascot of ACE, created by violinist Ayane Sato, and supposedly some descendant of the merlion, Pokemon and Hello Kitty. Even she has a theme of her own, composed by Wong, which combines a march, sea shanty and Anime music.

This final piece of merrymaking saw the appearance of the fluffy blue mascot, also named Ace, in the flesh, who went on to pose for photographs with National Arts Council CEO Kathy Lai and all the children in attendance. Needless to say, everyone present had a good laugh. 

Photographs by the kind permission of Asian Contemporary Ensemble.