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:

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A PIANO CONCERTO CONCERT NOT TO MISS: BEETHOVEN 3 & 4 WITH RE:SOUND on 11 JULY 2026

HERE IS A PIANO CONCERTO CONCERT NOT TO MISS, featuring two of Singapore's brightest young pianists with re:Sound. The first concert in the Dennis Lee Piano Series, Abigail Sin will perform Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto and Lin Xiangning will solo in Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto. This series is inaugurated in memory of the late Penang-born pianist Dennis Lee (1946-2023) who has been a vital part of Singapore's musical life over the decades.

The programme:

BEETHOVEN 

Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op.37

with ABIGAIL SIN, Piano

BEETHOVEN

Cavatina from String Quartet, Op.130

BEETHOVEN

Piano Concerto No.4 in G major, Op.58

with LIN XIANGNING, Piano

with re:Sound

led by YANG SHUXIANG, Concertmaster

The luscious strings of re:Sound
rehearsing Beethoven's Cavatina from Op.130

Saturday 11 July 2026

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory 

Concert Hall, 7.30 pm

Tickets available here:

The Resound Collective Dennis Lee Piano Series

QIN LI-WEI RETURNS / re:Sound / Review

 

QIN LI-WEI RETURNS

re:Sound

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall

Saturday (30 August 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 1 September 2025 with the title "Cellist Qin Li-Wei and re:Sound deliver exuberant showcase of string techniques".

If there were a locally-based soloist who could be relied on to generate ticket sales and assure box-office success, that would be Chinese-Australian cellist Qin Li-Wei.

Blessed with innate communicative skills and apparent ease of execution, his third collaboration with crack chamber outfit re:Sound opened with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Cello Concerto in A major (H.439). Composed in 1753 and straddling between the Baroque and Classical eras, this work is fast becoming as popular as Joseph Haydn’s two famous concertos.

In the intimate spirit of chamber music, Qin functioned as a third cellist in ensemble tuttis and when his solo arrived, a mellow but full-toned voice was revealed. Nimbleness and agility ruled in the first movement, later brooding in the introspective slow movement filled with sensitivity and feeling, which the Germans called Empfindsamkeit.

Its lingering beauty would later find culmination in a brief but soulful cadenza. The exciting finale reeled off like a fast danceable jig. With cello and accompanying strings in quickfire repartee, this made for an exhilarating end.

The Singapore premiere of 20th century French composer Jean Francaix’s Concert Variations for Cello (1950) was served like a 12-minute dessert after the main course. This was not strictly a set of variations, but witty and sometimes bluesy character studies alternating between fast and slow. Virtually an encyclopaedia of virtuoso cello and string techniques, it delighted in pizzicatos while a perpetual motion final variation closed the work on an exuberant high. Qin’s encore of the Gavotte from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suite No.3 in C major was also warmly received.

When Qin Li-Wei plays,
everybody listens.

A landmark set by re:Sound this evening was Ludwig van Beethoven’s Third Symphony in E flat major (Op.55), or Eroica Symphony, performed in Singapore for the first time without a conductor. Concertmaster Yang Shuxiang did the honours by leading from his violin. This reading was also remarkable for using valveless natural horns and trumpets, and baroque calfskin timpanis.

While the other musicians played on modern instruments, this performance with chamber orchestra came as close as possible to the spirit of music-making in Beethoven’s lifetime, some 200 years ago. While running for some 50 minutes, there was never hint of a drag. Distinguished by lithe and light textures, this was also the edgiest performance in living memory. Urgency and heroism in the first movement was contrasted by tragic gravitas of the second movement’s Funeral March. Surprisingly, this slow movement’s longueurs was a minute swifter, a case of relativity being upended.

Very exciting was the Scherzo, where the trio of natural horns played by Edward Deskur (founding Singapore Symphony Orchestra member), Alan Kartik and Xavier Tan faced the ultimate test in its Trio section. They blazed through fearlessly with lusty aplomb. The finale, built on variations on a dance from Beethoven’s ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, brought the enterprise to an unforgettably breathless close.

As an encore, the orchestra performed the memorable Scherzo completely from memory. For the record, it sounded even better the second time around.

Post concert photo:

Three fine pianists:
Natalie Ng, Lin Xiangning & Abigail Sin

SCHUBERT 1824 / Chamber Music and Arts Singapore / Review

 

SCHUBERT 1824 

Chamber Music and Arts Singapore

Esplanade Recital Studio 

Monday & Tuesday 

(16 & 17 December 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 20 December 2024 with the title "Chamber Music and Arts presented sparkling showcase in mini Schubert festival".

So soon after the Ding Yi Chinese Chamber Music Festival came another mini-festival, this time for Western instruments by Chamber Music and Arts Singapore (CMAS) curated by Singaporean violinist Tang Tee Khoon. Its focus was on Austrian composer Franz Schubert (1797-1828) and the year 1824. Three repertoire works from that annus mirabilis were heard over two evenings. 

Tang Tee Khoon is the founder 
and driving force behind
Chamber Music and Arts Singapore.

Schubert’s Sonata in A minor (D.821), popularly known as the Arpeggione Sonata, was originally written for the arpeggione, an obsolete bowed instrument with frets. Now commonly heard on cello, this evening’s performance came instead from the viola, helmed by American violist Julianne Lee with locally-based American pianist Ning An. 

Cello or viola, the music is equally beautiful, intimated by Lee’s rich and warm tone. Its lyrical lines were gorgeously voiced and her intonation impeccable. Every bit an equal partner was An’s crisp and unflappable pianism which never sought to dominate, instead making the music sing through three congenial movements. 

While the sonata basked in genteel Biedermeier sensibilities, String Quartet No.14 in D minor (D.810), or “Death And The Maiden”, reflected a more turbulent aspect of the Romantics. Festival director Tang, local violinist Yang Shuxiang and German cellist Eckart Runge joined violist Lee for what had to be the most passionate performance of this masterpiece heard in recent times. 

Its unison opening bars came like a fearsome onslaught, fair indication of angst and agitation to come. Unity and tautness of ensemble was on full display, yet every voice was heard with a startling immediacy and resounding clarity. The tempestuous first movement was contrasted with the slow movement’s variations, based on the solemn plodding chords which Schubert’s eponymous song Der Tod und das Madchen (Death and the Maiden) begins with. 

The full gamut of string quartet writing was wondrously revealed, each variation unfolding with ever increasing tension. Solos from Tang and Runge were lovingly voiced in this mini-epic. While the short Scherzo and Trio contrasted brusqueness with decorum, the adrenaline-fueled finale’s tarantella rhythm closed with an unabashed show of blood and guts. 

The second evening saw a rare outing of the Octet in F major (D.803), scored for strings and winds. The earlier quartet of strings was joined by Frenchman Florent Héau (clarinet), Lim Tee Heong (bassoon), Kartik Alan Jairamin (French horn) and Wang Xu (double-bass), the latter three members from re:Sound Collective. 

In six movements running for almost 70 minutes, this is Schubert’s longest chamber work, even more expansive than his “Great” Symphony. That the eight musicians stayed the course for this exhausting (more for players but less so for audience) masterpiece was credit enough, but they also impressed with an excellent balance of voices and individual instrumental virtuosity. 

The imposing opening movement established their credentials beyond doubt, while the Adagio second movement’s sheer lyrical beauty could melt hearts. Héau’s clarinet solo was an echo of the slow movement from Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. Tang’s violin and Runge’s cello later took turns to gild the lily, while Kartik’s horn provided the counterpoint. Simply sublime. 

The faster movements, a Scherzo and Minuet, possessed a drive that resisted rhythmic rigidity, opting instead for flexibility when it came to contrasting second subjects. Sandwiched in between was one of Schubert’s greatest Theme and Variations movements, a folksy Mozartean subject put through a creative spin that was both inventive and delightful. 

Vigorous rumbling tremolos from Runge dramatically heralded the finale, an expressive outpouring of joie de vivre all the way to an ecstatic close. The rousing reception accorded to the octet was clear indication that the audience had witnessed something truly special.

IMAGES OF EXOTIC LANDS / re:Sound / Review

 

IMAGES OF EXOTIC LANDS 

re:Sound 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Wednesday (13 November 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 15 November 2024 with the title "Impressive soloists and enjoyable romp by re:Sound".

If one thought that classical music was old-fashioned, staid and boring, one just needs to attend the latest concert by re:Sound, Singapore’s first professional chamber orchestra, for a serious rethink. Which famous orchestra had as its motto, “True Pleasure Is Serious Business”? That could very well apply to re:Sound’s collective identity as well. 

The concert opened with the world premiere of Cultural Medallion recipient Eric Watson’s Concerto Arabesque for flute and strings. A happy marriage of the Baroque concerto grosso and hallowed British string work tradition, its four movements were highly engaging and enjoyable. 

A more excellent soloist than Rachel Ho, familiar to concert-goers as Red Dot Baroque’s traverso player, would be hard to find. She comfortably surmounted the onerous technical challenges in its fast outer movements, yet yielded a silky smooth tone for the second movement’s filigreed and sinuous lines, accompanied by sliding string portamenti. 

Composer Eric Watson takes a bow.

The third movement’s slow tango oozed sensuousness over a palpable South American beat, and the solo arabesques for the finale had everyone’s attention captivated. Even its false ending had nobody fooled, with vociferous applause coming when it truly mattered. 

Programming Maurice Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin after Watson was elementary, a case of perfect symmetry. Its four neo-Baroque dance movements complemented and mirrored the earlier work. Fluidity of string playing defined the flowing opening Prelude, and the quirkily syncopated Forlane benefited from extrovert woodwind and discreet brass contributions. 

The slow Menuet was the only concession to formality, while the closing Rigaudon’s romp again had woodwinds in top form for its central interlude. Tay Kai Tze’s oboe stole the show, with cor anglais, flute and clarinet following up his good work. 

In case no one noticed, the entire first half was performed with the conspicuous absence of a conductor. For the second half, Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos had Adrian Chiang leading from the podium, if only to keep all the riotous elements in check. 

The impressive soloists were Nicholas Loh and Jonathan Shin, who had earlier played examples from the concerto during re:Sound founder Mervin Beng’s eloquent yet succinct preamble about its musical themes. Chief of these were tinklings of the Balinese gamelan, with pelog scales getting a workout, Mozartian niceties with a Gallic twist, and Parisian dancehall frivolities all wrapped up in three neat movements. 

Despite being very different pianistic personalities, Loh and Shin worked like hand and glove, with pinpoint precision and unfettered clangour. The hypnotic slow section at the first movement’s end was so filled with Oriental mystique that one could almost smell the incense. 

The joke-a-minute Finale, with fingers flying over both keyboards, seemed like too much of a good thing. However, the final word was left to the “gamelan” making its run of mass malleting before closing with several healthy slaps of the bottom. The duo’s encore of the uproarious Finale from Poulenc’s Sonata for piano four hands was just as rousingly received.