Bookends

 

Media: The Sunday Times -  Life! Page

Date: 20 December 2015, Sunday

 

Who: Terrence Wong, 26, music composer and arranger

 

This up-and-coming musician, who is composer-in-residence for the Singapore Wind Symphony, was one of the young talents named in Life's "30 under 30" feature this year.

 

Despite his youth, he has received several high-profile commissions for various events and institutions.

 

These include the National Piano and Violin Competition 2013 and a 20-minute concerto titled Empire for renowned American trombonist Joseph Alessi, 56, last year.

 

Wong started his musical journey at the age of three, playing the electric organ at Yamaha music school. When he was 14, he joined his school band at Catholic High School, playing the trombone.

 

He went on to study at the Nanyang Academy Of Fine Arts, receiving a bachelor of music in a joint programme with London's Royal College of Music.

 

He is now assistant band instructor at Catholic High and CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh).

 

On New Year's Eve, Wong will co-conduct the New Year's Eve Countdown Concert 2016 by The Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

Held at the School of the Arts Concert Hall, the performance will feature pieces such as the waltz from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty Suite and Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1.

 

Tickets are available at Sistic (go to www.sistic.com.sg or call 6348-5555).

 

What are you reading right now?

 

I've just finished What To Listen For In Music by the late American composer Aaron Copland, which breaks music down into its basic elements. A layman with no knowledge of music theory can read the book and gain a better understanding of how music works.

 

I began reading this as I had to give a presentation to a group of wind band students on the topic of music appreciation, but had no idea how to help them do so. The book was enlightening.

 

I've also just begun reading Starting Point, 1979-1996 by acclaimed Japanese film director Hayao Miyazaki, in which he describes his reflections and thoughts on his long and amazing journey as one of the world's most famous film-makers.

 

What books would you save from a burning house?

 

I would not save any music- related books, but a few that have helped shaped me into the person I am today. One of these is Foundation by Issac Asimov, a fictional work which describes how one man's vision in the distant future aims to help reduce a period of galactic strife from 30,000 years to just 1,000.

 

He uses his understanding of how human beings behave en masse and thus influences them without their direct knowledge.

 

This book has helped me understand that human beings are only human and that our actions are predictable to a great extent. Accepting this fact helps us to work better with the people around us, especially if we, as artists, wish to make huge strides forward in the near future.

 

 

 

音乐声中辞旧迎新

(Welcoming the new sound of music)

 

Media: Lianhe Zaobao, zbNOW, Page 7

Date: 17 December 2015, Thursday

 

This is the fourth year that The Philharmonic Orchestra is organizing a New Year countdown concert, and the orchestra has invited young composer-conductor Terrence Wong to lead the orchestra along with Music Director Lim Yau. Terrence Wong, 26, graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). He studied composition under Zechariah Goh Toh Chai and Kenneth Hesketh, and conducting under Lim Yau and Volker Hartung. He is currently the composer-in-residence of the Singapore Wind Symphony.

While most of his peers went on to junior college, Terrence decided to pursue composition studies at NAFA after graduating from Catholic High School. After serving national service, he decided to further his degree studies at NAFA.

In 2014, Terrence's Empire Trombone Concerto was premiered by New York Philharmonic Orchestra principal trombonist Joseph Alessi along with the Singapore Wind Symphony. Terrence is also part of Quinnuance, a collective of composers that have presented new music concerts. 2015 further presented more opportunities: the Singapore Symphony Orchestra premiered his Five Images for Orchestra, and The Philharmonic Winds premiered Foundation as part of its Singapore Compose! concert.
 

Terrence believes that being able to conduct a countdown concert is a rare opportunity, and that attending a classical music countdown concert is a good way to conclude the year – akin to an invitation to a special party.

 

 

新加坡爱乐乐团跨年音乐会，邀请本地年轻指挥黄飞扬与音乐总监林曜联合执棒。

 

今年新加坡爱乐乐团（The Philharmonic Orchestra Singapore）将第四度举办跨年音乐会。在欧洲，知名乐团如维也纳爱乐每年举办新年音乐会，以古典乐揭开新年新篇章。爱乐乐团则以倒数方式，总结2015，迎接2016。

 

今年与乐团音乐总监林曜一起执棒的，还有年轻的黄飞扬。

 

26岁的黄飞扬毕业自南洋艺术学院，作曲师从吴多才与Kenneth Hesketh，指挥师承林曜、陈育朝与Volker Hartung。他目前也是新加坡交响管乐团（Singapore Wind Symphony）驻团作曲家。黄飞扬说，以古典音乐总结一年是非常好的方式，就像是在邀请大家参加一场特别的派对。

 

对黄飞扬来说，2015是特别的一年，这一年中他得到不少机会，新加坡交响乐团演奏了他的 “Five Images for Orchestra”，他也参加了新加坡爱乐管乐团的“作曲吧！新加坡”，能够指挥跨年音乐会，更是难得的机会。

 

黄飞扬以作曲为主，同时也指挥校园乐团。

 

黄飞扬自公教中学毕业后，身边朋友都进入初级学院，但他那时便已下定决心，进入南艺学习作曲。服完兵役，他回到南艺继续考取学士文凭。学生时期，本 地乐团便开始演奏他的作品。更难能可贵的是，去年纽约爱乐乐团首席长号演奏家Joseph Alessi与新加坡交响管乐团合作时，便首演了他的《帝国长号协奏曲》（Empire Trombone Concerto）。

 

他也是“音原伍韵”的成员之一，这是由六名本地年轻作曲家组成团体，几个月前他们举办了新作发表音乐会。

 

芬兰作曲家西贝柳斯是黄飞扬崇拜的作曲家，今年正好是他150岁冥诞。黄飞扬认为西贝柳斯的音乐语言简洁有力，他深受启发，在指挥时，他也贯彻这一理念，避免繁冗，避免过度诠释。

 

黄飞扬喜欢听各类型音乐，他认为音乐没有高低之分，都是不同个体表达自我的方式。遇到瓶颈的时候，他会听平常较少接触的音乐，丰富自己，不过他说，他很少遇到瓶颈，因为他每天都大量聆听取材。

 

●12月31日（星期四）／晚上10时／新加坡艺术学院（SOTA）音乐厅／37元／售票：SISTIC；热线：63485555

 

 

 

Local classical composer collective stage concerts out of their own pockets

 

Media: The Straits Times, Life! Page

Date: 14th May 2015, Wednesday

 

Despite his hectic job as a freelance clinical research nurse, Bernard Lee Kah Hong still manages to find time for his passion - composing music.

 

The 36-year-old composes in the little time he has at home or finds time at work to jot down ideas that are set to music later. He has a diploma in nursing from Nanyang Polytechnic and a degree in music from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Nafa) in affiliation with the University of Wales.

 

He formed Quinnuance in 2012 with other young composers who had studied at Nafa. The group have six members, including Lu Heng, Alicia Joyce De Silva, Natalie Ng, Terrence Wong and Clarence Tan.

 

They will hold their fourth concertat the Esplanade Recital Studio on May 27. The hour-long concert will see six original pieces performed by eight to 10 professional musicians hired by the group.

De Silva, 28, a music lecturer at Nafa, says: "A lot of the time, classical composers are viewed as distant or even dead figures.

 

"Because we are neither of those things, we want to promote the emphasis on local composers and change the notion people have about classical composers."

 

Among the other members, Ng, 28, is an arts administrator; Tan, 39, is a band and orchestra conductor; Lu, 26, works as an administrator; and Wong, 26, is a band instructor.

 

The name of the group, Quinnuance, is a combination of two words, "quintet" and "nuance". This combination reflects the original number of members in the group - five, when they started - as well as their individual "shades of sound".

 

What distinguishes them from other music groups is that they do not perform the pieces they write, but hire professional musicians to do it instead. This is because the group members want to concentrate on composing music.

 

Lee says: "If we perform the songs we write, our music will be restricted because we can make only music that we play. Composers should know how to work with an instrument, even if they don't know how to play it."

 

The group's composing gig may only be part-time, but their passion is so great that they continue to stage concerts even if ticket sales cannot cover operating costs.

 

The cost of renting the venue, hiring professional musicians and other miscellaneous expenditure can come up to $9,000 to $10,000 for each concert. Paying the musicians alone takes up nearly half of the cost.

 

Most of the time, the group barely break even, despite the help of grants from the National Arts Council or the Arts Fund. But they consider it worth it to showcase their art.

 

Says Lee: "As composers, there is no other platform to show our music. In the long term, the profit can come from audience appreciation and the improvements we make with experience."

 

Quinnuance consider the music that they write "Western, but with a Singaporean root to it". Their previous concerts have been reviewed in Life! by freelance music critic Chang Tou Liang, who has described their music as an "interesting mix of diverse and sophisticated musical minds".

 

Each of the six composers has a different style. For example, Lee's music has less tonality and focuses on pure sound, while Tan's music is harmonious, with a minimalist feel to it.

 

The title of their fourth concert, Refracting Rituals, reflects their aim to challenge the rituals or traditions of how music is formed, as well as the notion of concert-going.

 

The dynamic of the group is very democratic, with members coming together on a regular basis to decide on the number of pieces and arrangements for the performance.

 

However, Lee says that members often do not get to hear one another's works until the concert itself.

 

He says: "Composers are touchy and sensitive people. We may be friends and peers, but we don't want to be in a place to critique others, since we're all equals."

 

 

 

Tune in to young composers

 

Media: The Straits Times - Life!, Page

Date: 17 June 2014, Tuesday

 

Young composers from Singapore are striking a chord at home and overseas. Aged 20 to 30, they are winning commissions from the Singapore Chinese Orchestra and Singapore Symphony Orchestra and have their works played by ensembles such as the London Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

On June 28, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra’s mega-concert at the new National Stadium at the Singapore Sports Hub features a percussion piece, Power Singapura, written by music student Phang Kok Jun, 24, who is completing his bachelor’s in music at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory.

 

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO), meanwhile, has scheduled for its upcoming 2014/2015 season a work from conservatory alumnus Chen Zhangyi, 30, and commissions from Emily Koh, 28, as well as Terrence Wong, 25, who has just completed his bachelor’s degree in music under the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts’ joint programme with London’s Royal College of Music.

 

The Chinese orchestra organised a composers’ workshop last year and has held two composition contests in 2006 and 2011. Entries can be submitted until Oct 1 for another contest next November, which offers a Singapore Composer Award and Young Singapore Composer Award of $8,000 and $4,000. This is good news for composers such as Lu Heng, 26, who did his diploma in music performance at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. He mostly arranges other composers’ works for ensembles  such as the Singapore Wind Symphony’s Monteiro concert on July 20, while trying to interest local ensembles in his original work. He and four other young composers in 2012 co-founded a group, Quinnuance, to promote and perform their work. Their most recent concert was on May 30 at the Esplanade Recital Studio. “It’s given us the motivation and a tangible reason to keep composing,” he says. “The onus is on us to push for outreach and nurture understanding of our music ourselves.”

 

 

 

Trombonist Joseph Alessi to play Singapore concerto

 

Media: The Straits Times - Life!, Page

Date: 11 February 2014, Tuesday

 

American trombonist Joseph Alessi is looking forward to rediscovering Singapore through its music. Known for his horn work at the New York Philharmonic, where he has been principal trombonist for 29 years, he plays solo in Singapore for the first time at the Esplanade Concert Hall on Feb 23.

 

Alessi, 55, appears with the Singapore Wind Symphony and premieres a 20-minute concerto titled Empire, written for him by Singaporean composer Terrence Wong Fei Yang. He said, "Empire is the first significant addition to the trombone repertory from the region and it is incredibly exciting for me to explore the unique musical ideas in the piece with musicians and audiences in Singapore." This is high praise from a musician who is considered one of the world's best players of the trombone, and who has trained many others of the same quality, as a faculty member of The Juilliard School since 1986.

 

A concert with Alessi is an "incredible privilege", says the Singapore Wind Symphony's music director Adrian Tan, 37. "The fact that he generously agreed to present the music of a Singaporean composer is also a validation of the maturity of our composers and music scene. This opportunity gives us the chance not just to showcase our talents, but also to be inspired and to learn." Wong was the obvious choice of composer, Tan says, citing his "impressive" rearrangement of the folk song Singapura, Oh Singapura for the group in 2012.

 

Wong is studying for his bachelor's of music degree under the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts' partnership with London's Royal College of Music and will this week hear the Singapore Symphony Orchestra workshop another composition of his, a 10-minute piece titled Two Moods.

 

 

 

Young composers get a boost

Workshop and concert is Singapore Symphony Orchestra's first such initiative in 10 years

 

Media: The Straits Times - Life!, Page

Date: 11 February 2014, Tuesday

 

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is premiering the works of young local composers at a free concert at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music on Thursday. Observers say it is the orchestra's first initiative in 10 years to encourage new compositions from Singapore and hope it will not be the last. The SSO used to run a composer- in-residence scheme for local musicians, which ended with composer John Sharpley's term in 2004. A New Music Forum featuring modern music from Singapore composers ran from the 1980s but ended in 2003. The programme this Thursday will be determined after a workshop today in which the orchestra plays eight entries received after an open call last October for unpublished orchestral works five to 10 minutes long, from Singaporean or Singapore-based composers who should be no older than 35 years on Feb 1.

 

The eight composers who wrote in range from teenage music students to 20somethings who are making a name in the local scene. They include Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts students Terrence Wong, 25, whose concerto for trombone and wind symphony will be premiered by American trombone star Joseph Alessi on Feb 23, and Fam Hui Yuen, 20. Composer Zechariah Goh, 44, senior lecturer of composition at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, encouraged his student Ms Fam to send in a piece for the workshop and hopes the orchestra will organise other similar events. "When I was a student, I looked up to this New Music Forum - it was something I could aspire to participate in. The younger generation should also have something to look forward to," he says.