RE:SOUND 10TH ANNIVERSARY / BRADDELL HEIGHTS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 40TH ANNIVERSARY GALA CONCERTS / Review

 

10TH ANNIVERSARY GALA CONCERT

re:Sound

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall

Saturday (29 August 2026)

40TH ANNIVERSARY GALA CONCERT

Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Sunday (30 August 2026)

This review was published by The Straits Times on 1 September 2026 with the title "re:Sound and Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra's anniversary galas prove diversity of classical scene".

Over last weekend, three local musical ensembles marked their respective anniversaries with a gala concert each. These were Red Dot Baroque (8th), re:Sound Collective (10th) and Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra (40th). By actively programming local composers, the latter two groups have helped shape the concert repertoire enjoyed in Singapore today.

Photo: @Joelcaptures

Singapore’s first professional chamber orchestra re:Sound opened accounts with J.S.Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor (BWV.1041), showcasing 13-year-old Chua Suen Ern in an exacting solo role. With spotless intonation and technique as natural as breathing, she blended seamlessly with players double to quadruple her age. A very bright future beckons.

Photo: @Joelcaptures

Warmth and lushness of re:Sound’s strings were caught in full bloom with harpist Charmaine Teo for the Adagietto from Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. Led by violinist Yang Shuxiang, this love letter to Mahler’s wife Alma felt right at 10 minutes, its passionate climax coming at just the perfect moment.

Receiving its world premiere was Germaine Goh’s Sleepless In Singapore, a re:Sound commission. A suite for chamber orchestra, it played like a 21st century concerto grosso in four movements. Between Concrete and Sky evoked dawn in Little India with use of raga scales. Through Windows recounted a frenetic pace of traffic (and life) with the added impetus of pelting rain.

Highly effective scoring included solos for clarinet and soprano saxophone (Ralph Lim), French horn (Alan Kartik) and bassoon (Lim Tee Heong), the latter starring in its slow movement Sleepless, mimicking the call of a nightjar. The finale Tomorrow, Again combined Malay percussive beats with John Adams-styled minimalism for an excitingly manic conclusion.

Photo: @Joelcaptures

The concert’s main work was Ludwig van Beethoven Fifth Symphony in C minor (Op.67) guest-led by Ohio-based Jonathan Ong, first violinist of the Verona Quartet. Although not performing on period instruments, the ensemble adopted the spirit of early 19th century’s “age of enlightenment”.

Photo: @Joelcaptures

Lithe textures and swift tempos did not translate into thin wispy sounds, instead gained an edginess that kept listeners engaged on the edge of their seats. The use of natural horns (without valves) and calfskin timpani heads were added points of authenticity. For an old familiar favourite to sound this refreshing and revitalised is exactly why re:Sound exists.

Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra (BHSO), Singapore’s oldest community orchestra, was led by Leonard Tan in an unusually creative programme. It opened with the winner of a call-for-scores, Seem Jia Ang’s The Journey Ahead. Within a single minute, a flute solo expanded into something with cinematic aspirations but ended as soon as it began, leaving one guessing myriad possibilities for development.

Tan Chan Boon’s In Memory of Franz Schubert (1997) was built on two motifs from the slow movement of the Austrian composer’s “Unfinished” Eighth Symphony. First heard as fragments, these coalesced into actual quotations before launching into an inevitable fugue. The orchestra’s masterful handling of its scholarly discourse was admirable.

Even more impressive was its partnership with Cheong Kah Yiong, founding member of Morse Percussion, in Chinese-American composer Chen Yi’s Percussion Concerto (1998). A solo tour-de-force premiered here by renowned Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie and the Singapore Symphony in 1999, Cheong headily relived all its dynamic moments on gongs, drums and xylophones.

In the central movement Prelude To Water Tune, vocal recitation of Beijing Opera was where Cheong had the advantage of language and fine auditory nuances. The rapid-fire Speedy Wind finale drew the longest and loudest ovation of all soloists who have played with the orchestra.

BHSO literally pulled all the stops for Camille Saint-Saens’ Third Symphony in C minor, popularly known as the “Organ” Symphony, in a performance that lacked nothing in full-blooded passion and visual spectacle. On Victoria Concert Hall’s Klais organ, Loraine Muthiah did the honours, in the hymn-like slow movement and the grandstanding finale which unleashed voice and vibration to spine-chilling effect.

Professional or volunteer, long may communal music-making in Singapore thrive.

Jeremy Monteiro's very detailed personal account of the re:Sound concert:

(20+) Facebook

PRODIGIOUS II / re:Sound / Review

 

PRODIGIOUS II 

re:Sound 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Sunday (4 May 2025)

This review was published by The Straits Times on 7 May 2025 with the title "Young soloists steal the show".

Ever wondered how prodigies like violinist Chloe Chua come about? The reasons are complex, but much of it has to do with young people having an early start, pure dedication and superior teaching. This second concert of re:Sound’s Prodigious series had five more talented young soloists performing concertos with Singapore’s only professional chamber orchestra. 

Opening the evening was Francesco Geminiani’s Concerto Grosso in D minor, or the La Follia Variations, a single movement based on an early Iberian theme later popularised in works by Franz Liszt, Fritz Kreisler and Sergei Rachmaninov. The concertino component showcased violinists Low Peng Yang (14 years old) and Andrei Slobodyanuk (12) and cellist Charlotte Tseng (14), backed by the ripieno section of eight players. 

The threesome began as part of the general ensemble, and then stood out as the variations unfolded. Low had the juiciest and most virtuosic solos, unchanged from the Arcangelo Corelli sonata which this concerto was based. Slobodyanuk and Tseng had more than supporting roles, complementing Low well. All three played with confidence and accuracy. 

Following that were two works where 25 young string players from various youth orchestras and school ensembles were placed side-by-side with the professionals musicians of re:Sound. The results were revelatory. Who would have expected the massed sonority in Czech composer Josef Suk’s Serenade for Strings (Op.6) to have been this smooth and homogeneous? 

The four-movement work is united by the opening movement’s congenial theme, and every recurrence evoked a sense of nostalgia. The overall string tone was one of warmth and largesse, with a togetherness well fostered by concertmaster Yang Shuxiang’s exemplary leadership. 

The second movement’s Waltz flowed with charm and lilt. The Adagio slow movement opened with Lin Juan’s cello solo, later blossoming in an exquisite central E major section with the work’s most passionate violin playing. The playful but tricky finale showcased what can be achieved at high speeds when people put their collective minds to it. 

Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Pelimannit (The Fiddlers) was played by re:Sound last year, and this reprise with 36 players had an even more festive feel. Based on 19th century Finnish fiddler tunes, the folksiness was milked for all its worth, with the imitation of punch-drunk musicians captured with full fervour. 

Photo: Joelcaptures

Another two young soloists, violinist Chua Suen Ern (11) and violist Kaden Khew (10) were spotlighted in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major (K.364). Despite their extreme youth, the authority both exuded in their solo parts had to be seen and heard to be believed. It was not just the sheer sureness in their mission that impressed but also the clarity and quality of sound they coaxed from their sub-sized instruments. 

The sublime central slow movement was distinguished by sweetness of tone, and the sheer sense of cohesion in the exciting finale drew the cheers. As the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s annual President’s Young Performers Concert highlights older youths, re:Sound Collective’s Prodigious series has become the new magnet for the very young and very talented.