Events

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.

Locked away in the deepest darkest depths (more like on the table) of the Computer Music Project Studio, lies a beast — unbeknownst to many — named the Doepfer A-100 (with a few bonus parts). Menacing and terrifying, this behemoth has been menacing and terrifying all who enter its den. A magnificent creature, majestic in its domain; the peril that is locked within its electrically powered visage of LEDs and Potentiometers must be held with the utmost of caution, for it and many of the relevant contemporary counterparts fuelled the onslaught of early electronic music. Do not let its humble appearance fool you, the noble modular synthesiser can push out aural experiences capable of bewildering the sane and the sorry — vagrants to vagabond.

Lin Kuei-Ju is a Taiwanese composer who enjoys working with acoustic and electroacoustic instruments, sound installations and interdisciplinary collaborations in both theater and dance. She has collaborated extensively with Taiwan’s theatre and dance groups. Her collaborative project Kuang Qi with the M.O.V.E. Theatre won four prizes at the 2017 Bangkok Theatre Festival Awards, including best art direction, Dear John won the 2014 Taishin Arts Awards.

‘Their playing has everything you could possibly wish for.’ - BBC Music Magazine 
Praised by the The New York Times for its “passion, precision, warmth, a gold blend,” the Jerusalem Quartet has performed and recorded since 1996, with appearances in London, Paris, Zurich, Hamburg, St. Petersburg, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and other major cities, and recorded award-winning albums for the Harmonia Mundi label.

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

‘Their playing has everything you could possibly wish for.’ - BBC Music Magazine
Praised by the The New York Times for its “passion, precision, warmth, a gold blend,” the Jerusalem Quartet has performed and recorded since 1996, with appearances in London, Paris, Zurich, Hamburg, St. Petersburg, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and other major cities, and recorded award-winning albums for the Harmonia Mundi label.

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.

Shlomo Mintz is the 2018/19 Ong Teng Cheong Professor in Music at the YST Conservatory. He served as Distinguished Artist-in-Residence in the 2018 Singapore International Violin Competition. He is also Artistic Director of Crans Montana Classics (Switzerland); Mentor and President of the Jury of the International Violin Competition Buenos Aires (Argentina); Chair of the Munetsugu Angel Violin Competition (Japan); and Founder of the Keshet Eilon International Violin Mastercourse (Israel).

In this lecture recital, Abigail Sin will discuss her recent doctoral work on the piano music of American composer Charles T. Griffes. Griffes was an underrated composer who has been frequently compared to Debussy and Ravel in order to familiarise and legitimise his music in both scholarly and popular contexts. This lecture recital presents selected case studies that demonstrate a methodical toolkit, exploring elements of structure and sound colour, which Abigail has developed in response to Griffes’s music. Having performed Griffes's works since her early teens, Abigail also shares about her performance history with his music and how the experience has shaped her own pianism and vice versa.

The Wednesday Noon Recitals offer short student performances from the full range of Conservatory activity, an ide

Bask in the wonderful acoustics of the Victoria Concert Hall’s historic atrium in a performance curated by YST Head of Voice, Prof Alan Bennett, and performed by YST students.

Guest conducting many of the major international orchestras and numerous recordings spread Bruno Weil’s worldwide fame as one of the leading conductors of music of Viennese Classicism. Born in Germany, Bruno Weil was a master student of Hans Swarowsky and Franco Ferrara. A prize winner of several international competitions, he was named General Music Director of the City of Augsburg in 1981, being Germany’s youngest General Music Director at that time. Bruno Weil resigned his post as General Music Director of the City of Duisburg, Germany in 2002 and is now principal guest conductor of the Tafelmusik Orchestra and music director of the Cappella Coloniensis.

The YST Piano Academy 2019 presents young talented pianists from ages 16 to 18 in open masterclasses with Conservatory piano faculty, Prof Thomas Hecht and Assoc Prof Albert Tiu, culminating with a finale concert at the end of the 3-day Academy.

The YST Piano Academy 2019 presents young talented pianists from ages 16 to 18 in open masterclasses with Conservatory piano faculty, Prof Thomas Hecht and Assoc Prof Albert Tiu, culminating with a finale concert at the end of the 3-day Academy.

The YST Piano Academy 2019 presents young talented pianists from ages 16 to 18 in open masterclasses with Conservatory piano faculty, Prof Thomas Hecht and Assoc Prof Albert Tiu, culminating with a finale concert at the end of the 3-day Academy.

The YST Piano Academy 2019 presents young talented pianists from ages 16 to 18 in open masterclasses with Conservatory piano faculty, Prof Thomas Hecht and Assoc Prof Albert Tiu, culminating with a finale concert at the end of the 3-day Academy.

The YST Piano Academy 2019 presents young talented pianists from ages 16 to 18 in open masterclasses with Conservatory piano faculty, Prof Thomas Hecht and Assoc Prof Albert Tiu, culminating with a finale concert at the end of the 3-day Academy.

The YST Piano Academy 2019 presents young talented pianists from ages 16 to 18 in open masterclasses with Conservatory piano faculty, Prof Thomas Hecht and Assoc Prof Albert Tiu, culminating with a finale concert at the end of the 3-day Academy.

The YST Piano Academy 2019 presents young talented pianists from ages 16 to 18 in open masterclasses with Conservatory piano faculty, Prof Thomas Hecht and Assoc Prof Albert Tiu, culminating with a finale concert at the end of the 3-day Academy.

The YST Piano Academy 2019 presents young talented pianists from ages 16 to 18 in open masterclasses with Conservatory piano faculty, Prof Thomas Hecht and Assoc Prof Albert Tiu, culminating with a finale concert at the end of the 3-day Academy.