IN FULL BLOOM / THE ONE THING / The ROS Singers / One Chamber Choir / Review

 

IN FULL BLOOM 

The ROS Singers 

Esplanade Recital Studio 

Friday (16 May 2025)

THE ONE THING 

One Chamber Choir 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Saturday (17 May 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 19 May 2025 with the title "ROS Singers and The Chamber Choir flex vocals in accessible concerts".

It is hard to believe that Resonance of Singapore (ROS) is just celebrating its third anniversary, considering its prominence as the nation’s first charitable organisation helmed by a professional choral ensemble. All its eight singers (two each of sopranos, altos, tenors and basses), led by Young Artist Award recipient Toh Ban Sheng, are mature professional singers and vocal teachers. 

For this fund-raising concert, the ROS Singers performed a light and accessible programme comprising popular songs from musicals and operas. Its singers trooped in with The Impossible Dream from Man of La Mancha (1965), with each voice standing out before coalescing into a pleasing whole. To demonstrate versatility, the next number was something more contemporary, For Good from Wicked (2003). 

The ability of this vocal octet to master wide-ranging repertoire with highly idiomatic and authentic performances was a major strength. More proof was provided in John Rutter’s I Will Sing with the Spirit (1994), Leonard Bernstein’s Make Our Garden Grow from the operetta Candide (1956) and Elton John’s Can You Feel The Love Tonight from The Lion King (1994). 

In between, its individual singers shined in solo items, soprano Charmaine Tan in Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid (1989), soprano Suzanna Pua in O mio babbino caro from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi (1918), tenor Tseng Wen-Yu in George Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm (1930) and bass Wong Yang Kai in Out There from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). All the songs were accompanied by pianist Matthew Mak. 

Guest performers including violinist Lynnette Seah, jazz singer Reggie Pryor with his team (Fabian Lim (saxophone) and Mei Sheum (piano)) and British operatic soprano Kezia Robson added to the variety and allure of the occasion. Over twenty-one thousand dollars was raised by silent auction for charitable and educational causes. 

One Chamber Choir led by Lim Ai Hooi was established in 2009, but its 38 singers are wholly young working adults. The diverse programming showed how comfortable they were singing in multiple different languages. First was Latin in Jacobus Gallus’s Musica Musarum Germana (Music, Sister of the Muses), a six-part madrigal where polyphony was negotiated with clarity and tonal beauty. 

The many consonants sung in Chinese of Xia Yanbin’s Xuan Huang (Black and Yellow) and Tian Jing Sha: Qiu Si (Autumn Thoughts) were matched by skillful portamenti (bending of pitches). The repetitive notes in Japanese composer Ko Matsushita’s Hashiru (Running) were quickfire, breathless but exciting. 

Local colour and nostalgia were injected in the calypso beat of Singapore Town (1967) by The Sidaislers and the Xinyao of Eric Moo’s Kopi-O (1985), conducted respectively by their arrangers Cherie Chai and Ang Yi Feng. 

All facets of choral excellence came together for a few crowning minutes in South African composer Franco Prinsloo’s Salve Regina (Hail, Holy Mother). Here, tenderness, gentility and cinematic colour found their equals, closing with the final word “salve” left hanging in the air. 

Two school choirs led by conductor Lim, from Eunoia Junior College and Hwa Chong Institution, showed exactly where choral discipline begins - in the classroom. One will not find more polished performances respectively of Antonio Lotti’s Crucifixus or Felix Mendelssohn’s fugal Tag fur Tag sei Gott gepriesen (Day By Day, Praise Be To God), later topped with two more Matsushita songs. 

All three choirs got together for a final sing-along in The Clouds Give Way, Indonesian folksong Soleram, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Rest and Filipino Ryan Cayabyab’s hip and hilarious Da Coconut Nut. Both these varied but very satisfying concerts showed that one cannot be too young or not-so-young to make good music together.

CHRISTMAS WITH ROS / JAZZY CHRISTMAS ONE MORE ONCE! / Review

CHRISTMAS WITH ROS

Resonance of Singapore

SOTA Concert Hall

Friday (15 December 2023)

 

JAZZY CHRISTMAS ONE MORE ONCE!

Jeremy Monteiro & Friends

Esplanade Concert Hall

Saturday (16 December 2023)

 

This review was published in The Straits Times on 19 December 2023 with the title "Festive cheer from Resonance of Singapore and Jeremy Monteiro." 

Christmas concerts warm the heart, and not all of that has to do with faith or religion. Much festive music season is filled with rich melodies, lush harmonies and happy feelings, and the eight members of a cappella group Resonance of Singapore delivered all that. There were, however, some serious songs in the form of Mendelssohn’s Six Anthems (Op.79), each representing a holy day in the German calendar - from Christmas, New Year, Ascension Day to Good Friday - and each closing with a Hallelujah.

 

Then there were the hymns, like the ancient Gaudete (Rejoice) which opened with a procession accompanied by percussion, or Handel/Lowell Mason’s Joy To The World, dressed up with elaborate harmonies by Garrett Breeze, and O Tannenbaum (O Christmas Tree) sung in German. John Rutter’s saccharine-sweet Angels’ Carol saw a cameo with eighteen members of ROS Young Artists, and how they brightened the evening’s proceedings.

 

There was time for two world premieres, Kenneth Tay’s Rorate Coeli and John Lee’s The Lamb, both beautifully crafted works of sacred inspiration without being the baggage of being preachy. These were contrasted with popular favourites like Twelve Days Of Christmas with the singers led by Toh Ban Sheng outdoing themselves in the choreographed action department.

 

The 90 minutes passed swiftly, including a Christmas Medley sing-along of hymns and here the audience was surprisingly vocal. Making them stand up to sing did the trick. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and the obligatory We Wish You A Merry Christmas, and I’ll Be Home For Christmas as encores made for the perfect send-off.

 

There was a tinge of sadness to piano virtuoso Jeremy Monteiro’s annual Jazzy Christmas concert when he announced this to be its fifteenth and final edition. An element of nostalgia was had when he brought back long-time collaborators for one last hurrah. The first was Malaysian pianist Michael Veerapen with whom he duetted on two Steinway grands, with Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride and Duke Ellington’s Caravan receiving the full improvisatory treatment.

 

There were no half-measures with Singapore’s King of Swing, whose team had to work extra-hard with their solos, guitarist Joe Lee in Frosty The Snowman, bassist Ben Poh in Let It Snow, trumpeter Paul Panichi in Adolphe Adam’s O Holy Night and saxophonist Sean Letts in It Came On A Midnight Clear. Here, they held centrestage with added support from drummer Tamagoh.

 

Vocalists also had pride of place, with popular chanteuse Melissa Tham returning with Have Yourself A Merry Christmas and What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve. Stealing the show, however, was Grammy-nominated Carmen Bradford and her booming voice in Merry Christmas Baby and the Louis Armstrong favourite What A Wonderful World.

 

Listeners of a certain age will remember the 1970s vocal group called Stardust, whose five members led by swimming’s original “Golden Girl” Pat Chan were disinterred and dusted for a very lively Christmas Medley. The entire cast was then united for a final sing out with Santa Claus Is Coming To Town and We Wish You A Merry Christmas.

 

The ensuing applause was long and loud enough to prompt an encore, the world premiere of Monteiro’s newest song I Wish The World, A Happy Christmas. He soulfully reflected on Singapore’s peace and harmony within a world of war and strife, the song offered a prayerful plea. Singing its very catchy melody with a crooner’s ease, he was joined by the whole crew for a grand apotheosis. Jazzy Christmas could not have bade farewell in a more meaningful way.

All the fairy lights
came on spontaneously!

A fond farewell to Jazzy Christmases

Wishing one and all a Blessed Christmas 

and Happy New Year!

ROOTS / Resonance of Singapore Singers / Review

ROOTS

Resonance of Singapore Singers

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall

Sunday (10 September 2023)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 12 September 2023 with the title "Childhood songs revived in crowd-pleasing concert".

 

The many songs we know and love from childhood, sung by our parents and loved ones, have roots in the past. Some were actually composed but many transmitted by oral traditions have been modified by deft changes of harmonies and words. Roots, a 90-minute concert by a cappella choir Resonance of Singapore (ROS) was a reminder of heritage, home and what we cherish most.

 

Led by choral conductor and former Young Artist Award recipient Toh Ban Sheng, the concert opened with Rasa Sayang in his lovely arrangement, incorporating Lenggang Kangkong as its central interlude. Both Malay songs dwelled on love and gracefulness, duly delivered by the eight-strong ensemble boosted by community-based volunteers.

 

Sounds of Nanyang, also by Toh, was a tandem of Chinese song Molihua (Jasmines) with Dayong Sampan, the latter also known as Tian Mi Mi. As before, creative harmonisations can alter the overall impact, sometimes even raising goosebumps for listeners.

 

In that respect, the highlight were the Malay songs in Peribahasa (Proverbs) by Eudenice Palaruan, with vocal accompaniments employing gamelan scales and drones to electrifying effect. Also interesting were Ikan Kekek (The Ponyfish) and Geylang Sipaku Geylang in Toh’s arrangement. Whoever knew these seemingly innocent songs in traditional pantun verse carried exhortations or admonishments. These included “mind your own business” and “do not gossip”, and so beware.

 

The 13 singers of ROS Young Artists put a gloss on Singapura (Toh again), with original Malay lyrics referencing honour and defence, being far more meaningful than the banal English version about “pretty flowers blooming for you and me”.

 

Separating sets of choral pieces were solo songs accompanied by pianist Matthew Mak. African-American spiritual Swing Low, Sweet Chariot received a soulful reading from bass Wong Yang Kai while soprano Charmaine Tan did the honours for the American classic, Henry Bishop’s Home Sweet Home. Less well known was Home Will Forever Be Home by Sabahan Malaysian composer Sun Xiu Zhang, rendered poetically in Chinese by tenor Raymond Lee, with a gravitas qualifying it to be a proper art song.    

 

Past ROS Young Artist Riyan Ballesteros-Pattanayak displayed sensitivity in Dvorak’s Songs That My Mother Taught Me in Czech, a final chance for the boy soprano to shine before his voice breaks. The clear crowd-pleaser was sung by soprano Susanna Pua. In Aaron Copland’s humorous I Bought Me A Cat from Old American Songs, she had assistance from a delighted audience by way of calls from farmyard animals. From the same set was Ching-A-Ring Chaw, a vaudeville number from male alto Tseng Wen-Yu bringing the solo segment to a cheerful close.

 

Time passed like a flash when one is having fun, and what followed the hymn-like Appalachian song Will The Circle Be Unbroken were two perfect encores, Stephen Paulus’ reassuring The Road Home and a welcome reprise of Rasa Sayang/Lenggang Kangkong. 

IN DULCI JUBILO by Red Dot Baroque / CHRISTMAS WITH ROS by Resonance of Singapore / Review

IN DULCI JUBILO

Red Dot Baroque

Chamber @ The Arts House

Saturday (17 December 2022)

 

CHRISTMAS WITH ROS

Resonance of Singapore

Esplanade Recital Studio

Tuesday (20 December 2022)

 

This review was published in The Straits Times on 22 December 2022 with the title "Charming chorals for Christmas".

It takes an Ebenezer Scrooge to begrudge the idea of Christmas concerts, events with light festive music where both musicians and audience may be excused for letting down their collective hair to enjoy the moment. There are other occasions for serious reflection during times of pestilence and war, but such concerts make people forget their troubles, albeit for a while.

Photo: Yong Junyi

 

Red Dot Baroque is Singapore’s premier outfit for performing chamber music on period instruments. Its Christmas concert was totally refreshing by programming fare mostly unfamiliar to local audiences. Some people might, however, know the Coventry Carol which opened as a processional, sung by soprano Teng Xiang Ting accompanied by host Rachel Ho on recorder.

 

The ensemble of nine players and two singers then performed a sequence of short suites representing Christmas traditions in different European countries. The sequence started with Italy, Germany and France before closing with England. Which group could have offered Dietrich Buxtehude’s Trio Sonata in G major, performed on two violins (by Brenda Koh and Placida Ho), viola da gamba (Mervyn Lee), theorbo (Christopher Clarke) and organ (Gerald Lim), with such missionary zeal? Or Michel Corrette’s Sinfonia No.1, which brought together French carols as light entertainment?

Photo: Yong Junyi

 

If there were a single work to sum up the evening’s sublime quality, that would be Heinrich Schutz’s Hodie Christus Natus Es (Today Christ Is Born) where the beauty of two voices, Teng and tenor David Charles Tay’s, became intertwined as one, accompanied by just the organ. The titular In Dulci Jubilo by Michael Praetorius received an equally lovely reading, while Tay’s leading of the audience singalong in Wassail, Wassail, All Over The Town got the audience enthusiastically involved.

 

Resonance of Singapore (ROS), led by award-winning choral conductor Toh Ban Sheng, is an a cappella choir formed entirely of professional singers. Its Christmas concert was an equally sparkling affair, opening with the famous Shaker hymn Simple Gifts, in a medley arranged by Toh and Bob Chilcott (once of the King’s Singers). Its eight singers filled the suitably reverberant Esplanade Recital Studio with a cathedral of rich sonority totally befitting the group’s name.

 

John Rutter’s saccharine What Sweeter Music? saw guest countertenor Chan Wei En and pianist Matthew Mak join in the festivities. Chan, fresh out of last weekend’s Die Fledermaus, also delighted in Mozart’s most famous motet Exsultate, Jubilate, revelling in its familiar rounds of Alleluias.

 

In common with Red Dot Baroque’s concert was In Dulci Jubilo, now sounding fuller with more voices involved in R.L.Pearsall’s arrangement. Just as beautiful was Gustav Holst’s In The Bleak Midwinter which sounded anything but bleak with soprano Susanna Pua’s solo contribution. The longest and most serious work was Francis Poulenc’s Quatre Motets pour le temps de Noel (Four Christmas Motets), sung in Latin, rendered sensitively and reverentially.

 

Eleven-year-old Riyan Ballesteros-Pattanayak, a ROS young artist, was given the spotlight in the gorgeous carol Adolphe Adam’s O Holy Night. Discreetly accompanied by soprano Pua and pianist Mak, he sang with a purity of tone and no little confidence.

 

The latter segment of the concert showcased popular seasonal favourites such as The Christmas Song (popularised by Mel Torme), Leontovich’s Carol of the Bells (based on a Ukrainian hymn) and a most animated version of The Twelve Days Of Christmas possible, sung with a panoply of slick actions. The general singalong, with no less than five carols, was surprisingly rousing given the usual reticence of local audiences. Perhaps they had been sufficiently roused by ROS to go one better.  

ROS photographs by courtesy of 

Resonance of Singapore