Steven Baxter Recital Studio

The Learning Curve is a new and ongoing series led by Khoo Hui Ling exploring challenging aspects of teaching and learning in music education. It is a discussion not just for educators, but for students and parents too; it tackles issues both public and private music educators may confront, raises questions students can reflect on and discusses decisions that parents often struggle with. ‘Teaching Collaboratively’ is the second of this series. It explores the benefits of teaming up with fellow teachers in classroom and instrumental teaching, and strategies behind collaborative teaching. It is an honest discussion of the challenges and prejudices in teaching it brings up.

Leading postcolonial theorist, Homi Bhabha, argued that the colonialised adopt the cultural practices of the colonial master in the process of gaining power for themselves, a process he terms “mimicry” (Bhabha 1984). As Singapore’s arts scene matures, musicians are moving away from older models of emulating the West, and increasingly engaged with developing an individual voice. Born and (not completely) bred in Singapore, Churen Li and Chen Zhangyi have pondered over the role that their Singaporean-ness plays in their approach to the art form that they are trained in, which, historically, operates under a Western paradigm. Drawing on their embodied knowledge as insiders to this musical and cultural phenomenon, viewed through Yayoi Uno Everett’s taxonomy of musical transference/synthesis/syncretism, they explore some of the issues relating to identity, diaspora and syncretism through a lecture-recital centred on Singaporean piano music, while also showcasing examples from Chen’s composition oeuvre.

In celebration of Beethoven's 250th anniversary, YST Voice students present a discussion on the style and influences of his vocal works which comprise a significant part of his compositional output. Join Year 3 Voice majors (who have curated this presentation as part of their Voice Literature class) and members of the studio as they take you on a journey to discover how he was influenced by his teachers such as Joseph Haydn and Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, as well as how Beethoven influenced the next generation of composers as well.