EVERYBODY LOVES A SOIREE: SPRING SONATINA @ CHING LEE'S

Our long-time friend Goh Ching Lee has to be the master of all soirees - she has hosted the most soirees of anyone we know. This year's springtime offering on Sunday 3 May was no exception, with new friends, new repertoire and new food offerings. The usual suspects were there, including the resident cellist of Havelock - Hoe Kit - who will be premiering two concertos in June. Also in attendance was long time veteran arts manager Juliana Lim, and arts entrepreneurs Michael and Meena Tay. A new addition is pianist Alan Lim, Hoe Kit's church friend and new accompanist. Here are the photos.

Hoe Kit and Ching Lee opened with
Schumann's Fantasiestucke Op.73 No.1
followed by Chopin's Largo from Op.65

The it was the 1st movement of
Milhaud's Cello Concerto

Encore: The Swan by Saint-Saens

Delicious grub from Dian Xiao Er

Alan entertains us with
Liszt's Petrarch Sonnet No.104 and
Rachmaninov's Prelude Op.32 No.12

Handel's Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
for piano four hands

Something new: Franz Behr's
Lachtaubchen (Turtle Dove Polka)
and Stephen Hough's transcription
of P.Ramlee's Getaran Jiwa

The Schumann-Liszt Widmung
and Wang Jianzhong's
Glowing Red Morningstar Lilies

Ching Lee and Alan try something
from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite

The Waltz of the Flowers

Ching Lee serenading till late!

CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF SOIREES: CHING LEE'S MID-AUTUMN BASH

It's been a while, but since ex-Singapore Arts Festival director Goh Ching Lee is back in town, there's no reason not to have another musical soiree with the usual suspects. Its past mid-Autumn and there's no longer a full moon and moon cakes are out of circulation, but food and music is still in bountiful supply. 

She and neighbourhood cellist Loke Hoe Kit are still working on the Darius Milhaud Cello Concerto, and a Singapore premiere looks like on the cards in the near future. So we got a sneak preview, but just the first and third movements. Ching Lee has also returned from the Chetham's Piano Summer Festival, and was ready to for some virtuoso action after being tutored by no less than Peter Donohoe!

So here are the photos of an enjoyable evening. What else could it have been? 

You saw it here first, Loke Hoe Kit
to premiere the Milhaud Cello Concerto soon.
Akan datang!

Ching Lee gave a free-wheeling
account of the Kreisler-Rachmaninov Liebesleid.

The food was Eurasian on this occasion.

Still working on the 
Mozart Fantasy in D minor, K.397

Zhang Heyang chipping into to play
Ennio Morricone's Gabriel's Oboe
from The Mission.

Rachel Yee tries some bluegrass fiddling
on Heyang's violin.

Music for four hands,
Handel's Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.

Heyang now joins in to play
the top bar violin part.

It's Rachel's turn to enter the fray, with
excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite.

Sooner or later, someone had to play
Teresa Teng's The Moon Represents My Heart.

Janet surprises one and all with her
keyboard prowess. John is suitably impressed.

Everyone had fun, we hope!

FIRST SOIREE OF THE YEAR!

It's been a while since the last soiree organised at the Havelock home of Goh Ching Lee. As always, it was a cosy affair, with yummy food, good company and more lovely music. The turn of the Lunar New Year has just concluded, but the penchant for yusheng still lingers, until the year of the snake becomes the year of the horse. 

As before, our in-house cellist Loke Hoe Kit had a new cello concerto to unveil. He performed the final movement of a rarely-heard Cello Concerto in E minor by a Soviet era composer better known for his other cello works and ahem, Peter and the Wolf. (This was, of course, top secret, hush-hush, and classified news.) He was ably partnered by pianist Daphlyn Gao who was visiting from Melbourne. Also new was violinist-in-residence Zhang Heyang trying out a new piece on his pipa.

Needless to say, it was an enchanting evening, and here are the photos to remember the soiree of Sunday (2 February 2025) by. 

A sneak preview of a
Singapore premiere to come.

Daphlyn & Rachel Chen play
Jean Gabriel-Marie's La Cinquantaine.

Can't remember what this was, but
Ching Lee & Pianomaniac probably played
Brahms' Hungarian Dance No.5.

The obligatory Lohei. Huat ah!

The pipa makes a debut 
at the Havelock soiree,
courtesy of Zhang Heyang.

Rachel imagines herself to be Yu Jia.

Ching Lee played the 
Kreisler-Rachmaninov Liebesleid from memory.

This must have been a four-hand version
of Dvorak's Humoresque.

More pipa music.

Mozart's Rondo alla Turca
or something like that.

Something to spook concert hall minions-in-black.

Our customary selfie.

EVERYBODY LOVES A SOIREE: THE FRENCH EDITION

EVERYBODY LOVES A SOIREE: 

THE FRENCH EDITION

Sometimes it isn't easy to organise a soiree, simply because its difficult to find a date in which everyone is free to attend. However it helps with the main people who perform reside in the same condo, and can have regular musical rehearsals. Such was the case of our superb host Goh Ching Lee, once of the Singapore Arts Festival (when it was still relevant for music lovers) and cellist Loke Hoe Kit, who are the Havelock soiree's mainstays and sine qua non. 

Attendees were sworn to secrecy
about the French concerto performed.

The theme this time on Sunday (28 April 2024) was French - the music that is, which included a rare airing of a rare French cello concerto, the mandatory Cesar Franck sonata (or Frank Sinatra) and other Gallic delights. The company was always a delight, with arts administrators dominating the healthcare people, and there were also new musical partnerships being forged. We don't know when the next soiree will be, but this one was a blast.  

The first movement of a French cello concerto
whose composer is shrouded in secrecy,
in case people misappropriated the rights
 of performing it in Singapore first. 

Ching Lee played the first two
of Poulenc's Novelettes.

A first ever collaboration between
NTU professor of humanities / social sciences
Rachel Chen and the Pianomaniac.

The final movement of the Frank Sinatra.

Here's the grub from Canton Paradise,
and no need to be French here.

SSO CEO Kenneth Kwok
baked a seriously delicious cake.

Rachel and Hoe Kit discover they both played
in the Singapore National Youth Orchestra,
while Ching Lee plays Liszt's Un sospiro.

Here are some Chopin Nocturnes
where the violin takes the melodic lines.

Some movements from
J.S.Bach's Suite No.3

A wefie to go home with after a
memorable soiree with great company.

About the "secret" French concerto, it's by a member of Les Six who was not Poulenc, Honegger, Auric, Durey or Tailleferre.