“For its tour of Prague and Germany this month, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is going beyond the well-known works of classical music titans from the West,” writes Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh in Tuesday’s (5/17) Straits Times (Singapore). “It will also be performing a specially commissioned composition by Singaporean Chen Zhangyi, offering Europe a taste of what Singapore’s own musical scene has to offer. The piece, An Ethereal Symphony, was conceptualized as a movement of a larger symphonic work that explores the idea of cosmic motion and also harks back to Chen’s memory of his late grandfather, a former fisherman … Last year, when the SSO performed one of Chen’s compositions, Rain Tree, which was premiered by the Tokyo Philharmonic in 2011, [SSO Music Director] Shui Lan was so impressed with his work that he commissioned a piece from Chen for the orchestra’s Europe tour.” Shui Lan states, “We want to bring something special, our very own SSO sound and our own music-making, and we also want to show our flexibility, playing works from Europe along with our very own work.” The orchestra will perform in Dresden, Prague, Berlin, Munich, and Mannheim from May 23 to 31, with guest violinists Gil Shaham and Arabella Steinbacher, and cellist Jan Vogler.
Posted May 18, 2016
