“An impressive list of musicians has been featured in the President’s Young Performers concerts over the years,” writes Mervin Beng in Monday’s (10/2) Straits Times (Singapore) about the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s September 29 concert. “This year, only one performer was picked … Kang Chun Meng, who has taken the local wind band scene by storm, plays the euphonium, normally seen and heard only in symphonic bands. For this concert, he performed an even rarer euphonium concerto with a full symphony orchestra, playing with remarkable virtuosity and musicianship. SSO associate conductor Joshua Tan opened the concert with Singapore-born composer Er Yenn Chwen’s Symphonia Anamneseos. … Er’s orchestration is highly listenable. His use of exciting rhythms and sweeping gestures makes the music sound rather film-like in a most positive way.… The concerto [performed] by Kang was the highlight of the evening. He played the Euphonium Concerto by Philip Wilby, composed in 1995 for a British student’s graduate recital. The work fully exploits the techniques available to a euphonium soloist … It is rare enough to hear a euphonium in a concerto. To listen to a young, exceptionally talented player like Kang was a delight.” The concert also included Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”).
Posted October 4, 2017
