CULTURAL MEDALLION & YOUNG ARTIST AWARD CEREMONY 2024

It's that time of year again, when the nation awards accolades to its artists for their achievements in artistic endeavour. This time, guests got to attend the actual presentation ceremony, held at the National Gallery rather than the Istana itself. Gracing the occasion was President Tharman Shanmugaratnam who presented the awards to both of this year's Cultural Medallion recipients - Dr Ghanavenothan Retnam (Music) and Mr Siew Hock Meng (Art). There were four Young Artist Award recipients - Alan Choo (Music), Evan Low (Music), Tan Si En (Film) and Zhang Fuming (Art).

I was honoured to be the guest of violinist Alan Choo, who founded Red Dot Baroque in 2018 and has truly lit up the cause of early music and period instrument music-making in Singapore. He is a true pioneering violinist musician, following the great tradition set by the likes of Goh Soon Tioe, Alphonso Anthony, Lee Pan Hon, Kam Ning and Lynnette Seah. Here are some photos from the Ceremony and reception on Wednesday (27 November 2024).

Here are this year's Cultural Medallion recipients:

Ghanavenothan Retnam,
virtuoso of the bansuri.

Siew Hock Meng & his most famous painting,
The Dawn of an Era (2000).

Alan Choo gets his YAA award 
from MCCY Minister Alvin Tan.

The Siew family.

The Choo family.

Alan Choo, founder & leader
of Red Dot Baroque
with Dr Wong Tien Hwa,
National Arts Council board member

Dr Emily Koh (YAA 2019) with
Jeong Aeree, founder New Opera Singapore.

Dr Brett Stemple, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory
with violinist Lynnette Seah (CM 2006)

Arts impresario Dr & Mrs Robert Liew.

Mervin Beng, founder re:Sound Collective
with Prof Koh Tai Ann (Literature).

Composer Dr Eric Watson (CM 2017)
with pianist Lim Yan (YAA 2006)

The Siew sibs,
baritone Chun Yuan & violinist Yi Li,
sons of Siew Hock Meng.

Fantastic Fiddlers,
Alan Choo & Lynnette Seah.

One final photo, with composers
Dr Emily Koh, (YAA 2019),
Dr Zechariah Goh Toh Chai (YAA 2003) 
and chorusmaster Lim Ai Hooi.

ARTS AWARDS 2023 / Photographs from the post-award get together

ARTS AWARDS 2023

The Arts House

Tuesday (5 December 2023)

The Arts Awards, Singapore annual celebration of artistic achievement, has come and gone. It usually takes place in October, but this year's marquee event was delayed until December. And it was a most pleasant surprise to be invited to attend, and the invitation came from someone I had not written a recommendation for but nonetheless a wholly deserving recipient. Sadly, all three persons whom I had recommended - incidentally all violinists - did not make the cut. Perhaps the next time.

The Arts House was jam-packed with people,
mostly unmasked. Someone's going to catch Covid!

The actual ceremony took place at the Istana with the President in attendance, but the post-ceremony party, attended by all and sundry of the arts fraternity took place at The Arts House. It was a rather informal and unstuffy affair, the dress code being casual and there were no security checks to be had. The food was excellent and the company close to perfect.

Minister Edwin Tong
delivers his address

For the record, three Cultural Medallions were awarded (to two writers and one dance practitioner), while five Young Artist Awards were handed out (of whom two were composers). The composer who so kindly extended me the invitation was 35-year-old Wang Chenwei, who is presently the Composer-in-Residence of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the youngest person to ever hold that position. 

Wang Chenwei

He is also likely to be the most performed of all local composers, with works written for Western and Chinese orchestras, school ensembles, and even competition pieces for the National Piano & Violin Competition. His ability to convincingly blend Asian and Western musical idioms makes him the archetypal composer of Nanyang music. The sheer accessibility of his works makes them popular among performers and listeners alike. Works like The Sisters' Islands (composed at the age of 16) and Confluence have become very popular in their versions for Chinese and Western instruments. Well-deserved congratulations are due for this remarkable achievement and accolade. 

Now watch this video:

The Cultural Medallion recipients seated.

Here are some photographs from the Arts Award dinner party, a happy meeting of the Who's Who of Singapore culture today.

Writer Meira Chand

Footballer turned dancer
Osman Abdul Hamid.

Writer Suchen Christine Lim

Can you spot past Cultural Medallion recipients here?
There's Rahimah Rahim, Lynnette Seah, Ivan Heng...

Chinese music people:
Elvia Goh (Ding Yi) & Ng Siew Quan (SCO)

NAFA people:
Sunny Wong, Nellie Seng, Lena Ching,
Jessica Chen and Zechariah Goh

Former SSO CEO Chng Hak-Peng
& NAC staffer and soprano Rebecca Li

Chorus Masters unite!
Eudenice Palaruan & Toh Ban Sheng

Bansuri (Indian flute) meisters:
Niranjan Pandian & Ghanavenothan Retnam

Wang Chenwei with his
first composition teacher Tan Chan Boon,
from whom he had lessons since 11 years of age.

Tan Chan Boon is Paris-bound
to write his seventh symphony.

CULTURAL MEDALLION EXHIBITION @ THE ARTS HOUSE

CELEBRATING THE 

CULTURAL MEDALLION

 

If you happen to be in the vicinity of Victoria Concert Hall / Theatre and have a half hour or so to spare, why not visit the exhibition of the Cultural Medallion at The Arts House? Located at its ground floor (formerly occupied by a gift shop and café), here is a nostalgic look at the artists who have defined Singapore’s cultural scene over the past half-century and more.

 

Inaugurated in 1980, the Cultural Medallion (CM) is Singapore’s highest accolade for the arts awarded by the government, and stands apart from the many thousands of service awards dished out annually in the National Day Awards. Only a select handful of artists are awarded each year. There were only two recipients this year and just 132 CMs have been awarded in total. In short, it is a very special and rare privilege to receive one.

How many of these Cultural Medallion
recipients can you name? 

There are three chambers for the exhibition, the first comprising photo discs of each CM recipient. How many of them can you name? Just pick a familiar face and flip it around for the name and the year in which his or her CM was presented. The second and third chambers includes archival photos from ceremonies over the years as well as video interviews. There is an interactive element and also a sitting area with reference books on all the recipients on loan from the National Library Board.

 

This exhibitions keeps alive the invaluable work contributed by these artists as well as refresh our memories on the very people who made us appreciate and value art. I was particularly thrilled to see photos of the men who facilitated and encouraged my own modest journey in the arts. They presented me my first paid accompaniment job (David Lim), my first editorship of a newsletter and programme notes writing gig (Lim Yau), my first paid research job (Paul and Alex Abisheganaden), and there are many others whom I have written about for The Straits Times and this blog.  

 

Early years of the Cultural Medallion.
Can you identify some of the winners?

As more artists of significance emerge from within our ever-thriving arts scene, it becomes even more difficult to receive the CM. One cannot help but feel that many deserving artists in our midst who have yet to receive this accolade would have been recognised had they been born a decade or two earlier. The reverse is also true, to ponder the notion that some recipients would not have gotten their award had they emerged a decade or two later. 

In short, the competition is much stiffer and the bar has been set so much higher for today’s rising artists, such that a CM really becomes more treasurable an achievement than it would have been previously.  

It took some time before artists in the field 
of popular music and entertainment were finally
recognised, including Jeremy Monteiro (above),
Dick Lee, Liang Wern Fook and Jerry Soliano.

Another quibble of mine is the failure of the CM to acknowledge grouped rather than individual artistic endeavour. As such, it remains elusive to deserving groups like the T’ang Quartet (Ng Yu Ying, Ang Chek Meng, Lionel Tan and Leslie Tan) and the incomparable piano duo of Dennis Lee and Toh Chee Hung, whose joint efforts surpass individual ones. 

Artists better known as teachers and pedagogues such as Lucien Wang, Victor Doggett, Yu Chun Yee and Ong Lip Tat (to name only the piano people) have been bypassed. Perhaps a new category of Arts Awards may be created to honour these people. For political reasons, artists like pianists Melvyn Tan and the fellow who wrote Crazy Rich Asians will doubtlessly be overlooked.   

 

The more recent musical maestros
who have been honoured:
Lan Shui, Tsung Yeh,
Margaret Leng Tan & Eric Watson.

Entry is free for this exhibition, except for the unvaccinated (who will be turned away), and is deserving of your time and indulgence.

 

The young Lynnette Seah bids you
to come visit the exhibition sometime.

Lunch Celebrating Maestro Tsung Yeh's Cultural Medallion Award 2013

Heartiest congratulations go to Maestro Tsung Yeh, Music Director of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO), for being awarded the Cultural Medallion in October 2013. Singapore's highest accolade in the arts is awarded annually to artists who have contributed significantly to the nation's cultural scene and heritage. Maestro Yeh's eleven years at the helm of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra can be described as phenomenal, having completely redefined and vitalised the genre of Chinese orchestral and instrumental music. 

No longer can Chinese instrumental music be labelled as staid or old-fashioned, as Yeh's concerts have brought a new cutting edge to the genre. Classical works sit comfortably alongside experimental creations of the Chinese avant-garde, and he is unafraid to adapt selected Western classical favourites to Chinese instrumentations. 

The results have been variable, but are often provocative and there is no want for trying. He has also championed the cause of Singaporean and locally based composers, and the SCO outperforms all other professional ensembles in commissioning and performing local compositions. Central to this philosophy is the development of "Nanyang music", music that assimilates Southeast Asian idioms into Chinese orchestration, a genre that is unique to this part of the world. 

The Singapore Chinese Orchestra is on its way to becoming a world-renowned ensemble and Maestro Yeh's contribution has been its vital life-force. A celebration lunch was held at the Singapore Conference Hall on Tuesday (19 November) to honour the maestro. It was attended by members of the orchestra, staff, board and committee members, all of whom have helped the cause of Chinese music in Singapore.   

As always, Maestro Yeh cuts a relaxed pose, even as
he views the short documentary on the Cultural Medallion.

Maestro Yeh, flanked by Mr Patrick Lee (Chairman of SCO)
and board member Mrs Goh Chok Tong.

All eyes on board member Mr Seng Han Thong's Ipad.

A family photo of the SCO board for the album.

Chairman Mr Patrick Lee has some ideas for the 
orchestra's next endeavour, while 
board member Ms Hu Wenyan looks on warily.