Events

Rehearsing and practising are part of a musician's everyday life - but it's not just about playing through the music end to end! From making important artistic decisions, to obsessing over details, to discovering new ideas, join the Conservatory Orchestra for a series of open rehearsals where you get to see all the work that goes into every performance. Witness a rigorous and creative exploration of music that takes you beyond the finished surface, into the artistry that creates the works you hear.

NUS Symphony Orchestra once again presents Miniatures, its annual concert series which showcases chamber music groups and ensembles formed by the orchestra members. Miniatures is part of the ExxonMobil Campus Concerts series.

Faculty members of the newly found Tianjin Juilliard School presents an afternoon recital of popular classics as part of their visit to Singapore to promote the famed institution’s new excursion to Asia.

Guillaume Sutre was a Professor in String Quartets at the Paris Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional, then Professor of Violin and director of string chamber music at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Herb Alpert School of Music. In 2019, he will join the inaugural faculty of The Tianjin Juilliard School. His recordings for Sony Classical, Decca, Harmonia Mundi, Naïve, Aeon, Ysaÿe Records, Hortus and Sonarti have received the highest distinctions in France and internationally.

Born in Hungary and a graduate of the Budapest Liszt Academy of Music, flutist Gergely Ittzés is a researcher of his instrument and composer of many experimental flute works, who specialises in contemporary music and seeks to connect it with tradition. Ittzés is flute professor at the Széchenyi University in Győr and editor of various flute compositions composed or transcribed by himself or others. His piece Totem, commissioned by the American National Flute Association for its 2012 Young Artist Competition and printed by Falls House Press, won the NFA Newly Published Music Competition in 2013. His research on the multiphonic capabilities of the flute led to him publishing the software Flouble in 2012.

DaXun Zhang comes from a family of bassists in Harbin, China. He has been playing the double bass since the age of nine, and began studying at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing at the age of eleven. He continued his studies in the United States at the Interlochen Arts Academy and received his Artist Diploma at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he worked with Lawrence Hurst. He has served on the faculty of Northwestern University and is Associate Professor of Double Bass at the University of Texas at Austin.

We have come to associate the letter “B” with many of the great composers, with Bach, Beethoven and Brahms respectfully referred to as “The Three B’s.“ Pianist Thomas Hecht follows pathways from the Old World to the New - drawing parallels to an American “B”, the neoclassic composer Samuel Barber, whose piano writing owes as much to the pithy sonatas of Beethoven as it does to the enriched sonorities of Brahms. Featured on Prof. Hecht’s dynamic programme will be the Six Bagatelles (Op. 126) of Beethoven, the haunting Four Ballades (Op. 10) of Brahms and Barber’s Ballade (1977) and Sonata (1949), a 20th-century tour de force.

Join 4th-year YST pianists as they present a diverse programme of music for solo piano.

Do you ever feel 'stressed out' before or during an important performance? Do you feel like no matter how much you practice, it's never quite enough? Have you ever wondered why it seems that you leave your best performances in the practice room? If so, don't miss this lecture.

The Art of Fugue marks the conclusion of Bach’s compositional career. In this presentation Associate Professor Daniel Herscovitch from The University of Sydney Conservatorium of Music discusses this work and its relationship to the other five major compositions of Bach’s final decade. He examines various issues raised by these works, some of these being genre, the implications of their titles, numerology, the forms in which they have come down to us and their place within the performance practice of the time. This presentation will challenge some of the assumptions of received wisdom and conclude by discussing various issues to be addressed in preparing a performance of The Art of Fugue on the modern piano.

Melbourne-born pianist, Daniel Herscovitch studied with Alexander Sverjensky at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, then continued his studies under Rosi Schmid in Munich. During his twelve years in Germany he performed extensively on the continent and in England. He appeared at several international festivals such as Berlin Festival, the Zagreb Biennale and the Saabrucken Tage der Neuen Musik, and his performances were broadcast by major European networks such as the BBC, RIAS Berlin and Bavarian Radio.

The Wednesday Noon Recitals offer short student performances from the full range of Conservatory activity, an ideal introduction to the world of classical music.

Students(‘) Present is a day-long mini-conference showcasing the diversity and creativity of student projects undertaken through courses offered at the YST Conservatory, in line with the upcoming 2019 Performers(‘) Present international artistic research symposium. Over the years, YST has encouraged students to take on a wide range of unique and original research and performance-based projects. The number of courses open to NUS students has also greatly increased over the years, bringing in greater interactions and collaborations with disciplines outside of music which are in turn reflected in the projects.

Internationally-renowned Swedish soprano Miah Persson has appeared at leading stages including the Wiener Staatsoper, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Deutsche Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Theater an der Wien and the Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona, among many others.

Rehearsing and practising are part of a musician's everyday life - but it's not just about playing through the music end to end! From making important artistic decisions, to obsessing over details, to discovering new ideas, join the Conservatory Orchestra for a series of open rehearsals where you get to see all the work that goes into every performance. Witness a rigorous and creative exploration of music that takes you beyond the finished surface, into the artistry that creates the works you hear.

HAYNA YAP YING-SHUEH (B.MUS3), piano PROGRAMME BACHPartita No. 1 in B-flat major, BMV 825 RAVELPavane pour une infante defunte DOHNANYIRhapsody in C major, Op. 11 No. 3   Programme Notes TICKETING INFORMATION• Free admission.• All event information is correct at time of print.• Out of respect for other concertgoers, no children under 6 years of …

Continue reading "Junior Recital: Shayna Yap, Piano"

PROGRAMME FRANZ DANZIWoodwind Quintet No. 2 in G minor, Op. 56I. AllegrettoII. Andante KIM MINSEO (B.MUS3), fluteTANG JUNG SIONG (B.MUS3), oboeLIM WEI CHEAH (B.MUS3), clarinetLEE HUI (B.MUS3), bassoonBRYAN BENEDICT CHONG (B.MUS3), horn FERENC FARKASEarly Hungarian Dances from the 17th Century for Wind QuintetI. IntradaII. Slow DanceIII. Shoulder-Blade DanceIV. ChoreaV. Leaping Dance SEE RUI YANG (B.MUS2), …

Continue reading "Visiting Artist Series: Ensemble Dialoghi Chamber Masterclass"

In a letter addressed to his father Leopold, Mozart wrote on 10 April 1784: "I have written two grand concertos, and also a quintet which was received with extraordinary applause. I consider it myself to be the best thing I ever wrote in my life. How I wish you could have heard it; and how beautifully it was executed!" The quintets of Mozart and Beethoven are true little jewels of the chamber music repertoire, engaging the audience with a variety of emotions: operalike dialogues and improvisation, drama and humor… An experience made of contrasts!

Video is getting progressively more important in classical music. Musicians - soloists, choirs and orchestras alike - are expressing a growing interest in having their work documented for distribution on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube or Vimeo. Many audio recordings are accompanied by video productions of varying lengths and formats, to be presented at the release of the CD. A growing number of orchestras have their concerts available live either on streaming services or posted live on their YouTube channels or webpages.

Joined by Ashlee Liu on piano and Rex Chin on drums, NAP will be exploring the trio dynamic with both a standard and free improvisation. There may be some audience participation too... Be prepared for anything!

Boris Kuschnir is Professor at the University of Music in Graz, and Professor at the Arts University of the City of Vienna. He is the 2018/19 Ong Teng Cheong Professor in Music at the YST Conservatory. In 2018, he served on the jury of the Singapore International Violin Competition.

The Wednesday Noon Recitals offer short student performances from the full range of Conservatory activity, an ideal introduction to the world of classical music.

As mankind keeps evolving, instruments keep evolving. But is it true that instruments have improved and become better? The instruments which Bach knew were different from what we now know. Bach knew all the good and bad points of his contemporary instruments, and he composed the pieces which are the most suitable for them. Instruments have been changed in conformity with social development. Therefore, we have to know these instruments and their performing customs in order to perform the music as Bach imagined. In this lecture, we learn the history of the development of instruments, wind instruments in particular, and the performance customs of the Baroque period.

Founded by Virtuoso Yao Jue BBS, JP., the Hong Kong String Orchestra (HKSO) has achieved significant recognition locally and internationally for its “music uniqueness fusing Eastern and Western influences”. The HKSO strives to expand musical horizons and promote new music, and since its establishment has become a string orchestra with the best local string elites in Hong Kong. This evening, musicians from HKSO will join hands with YST Cello faculty Assoc Prof Qin Li-Wei to perform Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence and Mendelssohn's Octet.

Johann Sebastian Bach's music requires no introduction. Indeed, on this evening's programme, we see familiar instrumental works from the German composer's vast oeuvre including the Harpsichord Concerto in D minor and the Concerto for Violin and Oboe. But J.S. Bach also has hundreds of religious works which were composed for the services of the Lutheran Church. These works, such as the Cantata and Motet featured on tonight's concert, were often written very quickly and for functional reasons - yet they are frequently described as being Bach's most emotionally engaging music.