60 IN 2025: CLASSICAL ARTISTS BORN IN 1965

Yesterday, Singapore celebrated its 60 years of independence. YES, WE ARE 60! Probably the only nation on earth which had independence forced upon it, Singapore's separation from Malaysia was probably all for the best. We were forced to sink or swim, and we did the latter, like Joseph Schooling in 2016.

I will hit the big Six-O myself in a few days' time, so here is an opportunity to celebrate some significant classical artists who are or will be 60 this year. In short, they were born in 1965 - and there are some big names!

SIR BRYN TERFEL (9 November 1965)

The world-renowned Welsh baritone came to fame after his famous debut at the 1989 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. He has gone on to serenade the world, including my wife at his first Singapore concert.

DAME EVELYN GLENNIE (19 July 1965)

The Scottish lass-turned-dame was the world's first professional percussionist to have a solo career. Never once in her bios is there a mention that she is profoundly deaf, and nobody needs to know. And boy, can she lip read.

LILYA ZILBERSTEIN (19 April 1965)

The Russian-German pianist won the 1987 Busoni International Piano Competition and has a world- wide career. Her sons Anton and Daniel Gerzenberg are also concert pianists.

TASMIN LITTLE (13 May 1965)

The English violinist has recently retired from active concertising, giving her swansong in Singapore in 2020, just before the pandemic struck. She has a wide-ranging discography and nothing she performs is less than outstanding.

FRANK PETER ZIMMERMANN (27 February 1965)

The German violinist recorded extensively for EMI Classics and has an impressive Warner Classics box-set to his name. His appearances in Singapore with the New York Philharmonic (Brahms Violin Concerto and Singapore Symphony (Beethoven Triple Concerto) were memorable events.

WE MUST NOT FORGET NOTABLE CLASSICAL ARTISTS RESIDENT IN SINGAPORE.

TAN CHAN BOON (11 October 1965)

Singapore's most prolific composer of symphonies, with seven to his name at latest count. His influences have been Bruckner and Mahler, and he is the President of their respective societies in Singapore, which promote their music.

CHUA LIK WUK 

(11 October 1965, same day as Tan Chan Boon!)

Arguably the greatest violinist this nation has ever produced. His retirement from the Singapore Symphony Orchestra was a huge loss for local audiences. His occasional appearance in recitals, though rare as hen's teeth, are a must attend. His wife, former SSO oboist SELENA LAI, and piano collaborator GOH AIK GUAN (6 January) were also born in 1965.

LIONEL TAN

Lionel Tan was the founding violist of T'ang Quartet, Singapore's first professional string quartet. He and his brother, cellist Leslie Tan, were Singapore Symphony Orchestra musicians before they went indie to form the T'ang Quartet, which bears their surname. Lionel was a student of Raffles Institution, and I remembered regularly seeing him attend SSO concerts all those years ago.

LIM AI HOOI (23 July 1965)

Born in Penang, Malaysia, she is one of the most important chorusmasters in Singapore. Director of the Singapore International Choral Festival and One Chamber Choir, her energy and indefatigability has to be witnessed to be believed. Her choirs sing most beautifully. 

VALE (FAREWELL) MR LEE KUAN YEW

29 March 2015 was a dark day for Singapore. The skies opened with grief, pouring a torrential load on much of the island as Singapore's first Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923- 23 March 2015) was laid to rest after a glorious fight and final illness nobly borne. 

The cortege moved from Parliament House to University Cultural Centre for the funeral service, greeted by thousands who lined the streets despite the deluge. After the service, attended by many of the world's dignitaries, the cortege took a northward journey to Mandai Crematorium where the final rites were administered. 

We witnessed the moving service via computer, and then made our way to Farrer Road where the cortege passed for the final time. The street was lined with Singaporeans and foreign talents alike, many attired in black and some carrying Singapore flags. All had come to pay tribute for the man who made Singapore happen despite all the odds. 

9 August 1965 was the day when the new nation was born, ejected from the Federation of Malaysia, without natural resources nor a glimmer of hope to survive. "And yet we made it," to quote a popular song, and this was in the most part due to Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his indefatigable cabinet. He ruled without fear nor favour from 1959 to 1990, and had his critics who decried a lack of freedom in the so-called "Nanny State" or "Disneyland with the Death penalty". But think for a moment, would you prefer to live in any of the neighbouring ASEAN countries, which have perceived greater freedoms to protest or demonstrate?  

When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd,

And the great star early droop'd 

in the Western sky in the night,

I mourn'd, and yet shall mourn 

with ever-returning spring...

O powerful western fallen star

O shades of night 

O moody, tearful night! 

O great star disappeared 

O the black murk that hides the star!

O cruel hands that hold me powerless

O helpless soul of me

O harsh surrounding sky that will not free my soul...

Coffin that passes through lanes and streets, 

That day and night with the 

great cloud darkening the land,

With the pomp of the inloop'd flags 

with the cities draped in black,

With the show of the states themselves

as of crape-vale'd women standing,

With processions long and winding

and the flambeaus of the night...

Here, coffin that slowly passes

I give you my sprig of lilac. 

O how shall I warble myself for 

the dead one there I loved?

And how shall I deck my song 

for the large sweet soul that has gone?

And what shall my perfume be 

for the grave of him I love?

Come lovely and soothing death,

Undulate round the world, 

serenely arriving, arriving,

In the day, in the night, to all, to each,

Sooner or later delicate death. 

I cease from my song for thee,

From my gaze on thee from the west,

fronting the west, communing with thee,

O comrade lustrous 
with the silver face in the night...

For the sweetest and wisest soul 

of all my days and lands,

- and this for his dear sake,

Lilac and star and bird twined 
with the chant of my soul,

There in the fragrant pines 
and the cedars dusk and dim.

quoted from

Lilacs Last In The Dooryard Bloom'd,

Walt Whitman

VALE MR LEE KUAN YEW

& THANK YOU ALWAYS...

THE BEST OF 2011 (CLASSICAL CONCERTS) as reported on The Straits Times

MAHLER’S Symphony No.9
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
22 January 2011, Esplanade Concert Hall

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra has been living with Mahler’s Ninth Symphony for almost 20 years, and how it has matured with time. Under Shui Lan’s direction, the orchestra is no longer content in accurately churning out the notes but actually living the music and faithfully bringing out the composer’s intentions. Little wonder that SSO was the only Asian orchestra invited to perform Mahler’s symphonies at the 2011 Beijing Festival.

ELGAR Cello Concerto
QIN LI-WEI, Cello
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra

JASON LAI
8 April 2011, Esplanade Concert Hall

Forget about Yo-Yo Ma, because we have in our midst another great Chinese cellist Qin Li-Wei, whose breathtaking account of Elgar’s Cello Concerto is one for the ages. In the same concert, the Conservatory Orchestra directed by Jason Lai also scaled great heights with Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life).

BEST DÉBUTS: Tie between
  MELVYN TAN, Piano
  19 January 2011

  Esplanade Concert Hall
  ALAN CHOO, Violin
  27 August 2011, 

  Esplanade Recital Studio

One is a seasoned veteran while the other a fledgling artist, but both have music flowing in their veins. Melvyn Tan made a welcome return after 35 years in exile, enthralling a full house with Schumann, Debussy and Chopin. 21-year-old youngster Alan Choo showed his mettle in Mozart, Beethoven, Biber, Bloch and Saint-Saëns, his prowess later confirmed by winning 1st Prize in the National Violin Competition (Artist Category). Certainly a name for the future.

What we can do less of:

Unruly, noisy students attending concerts. Well-intentioned schools (especially supposedly elite ones) may think they are doing their students great service by packing them into bus loads to attend concerts. However more effort should be made to inculcate in them the finer points of concert etiquette. Courtesy, consideration and commonsense, is that too much to expect?

Singapore's last piece of Eden: SUNGEI BULOH WETLAND RESERVE

No longer one of Singapore's best kept secrets, the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve is a last piece of Eden left on our concrete-forested island. A favourite haunt of my family's, its biological diversity and serenity (never mind the hordes of students and tourists) makes it a frequently visited locale.

Its generally safe here, but

watch out for the occasional croc!

The ubiquitous Water Monitor Lizard

(Varanus salvator) is a generally shy creature

despite its dramatic appearance.

Frolicsome sea otters are a rare sighting.

Panorama of a mangrove in high tide.

Children's art adorn the ceilings
of the pavilions on stilits.

The Sungei Buloh marshland with

Johore (Malaysia) in the background.

Can you spot the giant mudskipper?

Gnarled trees with hanging roots.

The majestic Sungei Buloh.

The HAZE descends on Singapore

Its October, and the forest fires in Sumatra have begun.

A pall has descended on our island.

Is this Indonesia's revenge on its successful and cocky neighbour?

Skyscrapers shrouded in smog.

The view from the Swisshotel

can't be too good this evening.

How long will the flowers bloom?