Singapore, 23 November 2016 (Wednesday) – Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) will kick start 2017’s first concert at the Victoria Concert Hall. SCO’s three conductors, erhu musician Lu Yi Wen and violinist Alexander Souptel will put together a brand new concert experience. The concert titled A Music Voyage Around The Island will be held on 13 & 14 January 2017 (Saturday & Sunday), 8pm at Victoria Concert Hall.
SCO’s three conductors – Music Director Tsung Yeh, Resident Conductor Quek Ling Kiong and Assistant Conductor Moses Gay – will relay-conduct and perform Eric Watson’s world premiere piece Journey Around Singapore in a fun and engaging way. Besides conducting, Tsung Yeh will be playing the piano, Quek Ling Kiong on the percussion and Moses Gay playing the erhu. This concert format represents SCO travelling to different performing venues in Singapore in 2017. Eric Watson incorporates five unique songs that represents Singapore to describe Singapore’s five areas – South, East, West, North and City. The five representative songs are: Sentosa Ise representing (South) area, Di Tanjong Katong representing (East) area, Voices From The Heart representing (West) area, Horse Racing Song representing (North) and Singapore Town representing (City) area.
Violinist Alexander Souptel will perform Gypsy Rhapsody under the baton of music director Tsung Yeh. This piece, arranged by Phoon Yew Tien, comprises of four gypsy melodies: Czardas，Ciocarlia, Whistling Hora and Black Eyes. The gypsies are a group of nomadic people from Europe who are naturally optimistic and passionate about freedom and they are also well–known for their wildness and romanticism towards romantic violin music. This piece represents SCO, like gypsies, travelling around Singapore to spread our music.
Alexander Souptel began learning violin and piano at the age of five. After completing secondary school under Russian violin master Gnesins in 1967, he continued his studies with Gnesins at the Gnesins Musical Institution. He graduated with the highest award for his ability as a violin soloist, teacher and orchestra player in 1972. Alexander Souptel began his music career with the Grand Symphony Orchestra in 1973. Later that year, he joined the Moscow Symphony Orchestra as the Associate Concertmaster. In 1980, he become the Concertmaster of the State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR Ministry of Culture, under the direction of Russian master Gennadi Rozhdestvensky. In 1986, Alexander Souptel was awarded the “Honored Artist of Russia” medal. He has been the Concertmaster of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra from 1993 to 2012. He is also an experienced teacher with many of his students being graduates of top music conservatories in America and Europe.
This concert also features well–known erhu musician Lu Yi Wen. Lu Yi Wen will be performing Amannisha, composed by Wang Dan Hong, under the baton of Quek Ling Kiong. This piece was composed in 2015 and commissioned by the 10th China Golden Bell Award for Erhu Music. This erhu concerto expresses a concubine of Abdurashid Khan of the Yerqiang (Yarkand) kingdom who is an amazingly talented and beautiful legendary lady – Amannisha’s sentimental emotions presenting in an unsurpassed poetic form. As the erhu narrates, it seems to unveil the mystic of the ancient kingdom.
Lu Yi Wen is a young erhu musician who is a graduate from Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She was conferred as one of the “Top Ten New Erhu Artist of China’ in 2014 and the following year, she was the recipient of the Outstanding Newcomer Award at the 32nd Shanghai Spring International Festival. In 2015, she won the Gold Award in Erhu at the 10th Chinese Golden Bell Awards for Music. In 2016, she was selected to be on the delegation of President Xi Jinping’s visit to Egypt and performed at the Opening Ceremony of the China-Egypt Cultural Year 2016. She has performed with many leading orchestras, including performing solo at Taipei Chinese Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.
SCO will also perform Zhang Xiao Feng’s Singapura Overture, Simon Kong Su Leong’s Izpirazione II, which was awarded the 2nd prize of Composition Award in Singapore International Competition for Chinese Orchestral Composition 2006; Jiang Ying’s Hot Melody from Southeast Asia participated in the Singapore International Competition for Chinese Orchestral Composition 2006 and Zhao Ji Ping’s Celebration Overture.
Conductor/ Music Director : Tsung Yeh
Conductor: Quek Ling Kiong
Conductor: Moses Gay
Concert Details:
A Music Voyage Around The Island
Date: 13 & 14 January 2017 (Friday and Saturday)
Time: 8pm
Venue: Victoria Concert Hall
Ticket Prices: $70, $50, $30/$15*, $20/$10* (exclude SISTIC fee)
Tickets from SISTIC (+65 6348 5555/ www.sistic.com.sg)
*Concession price
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Koh Mui Leng
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