Sunday, October 30, 2005
A solo piano showcase
 28 October 2005, Friday, 7:30PMVictoria Concert Hall
The opening concert this season features sonatas by Schumann, Prokofiev and Dutilleux, brilliant showpieces by Chopin and Liszt, and piano duos performing works by Debussy, Ravel and Smetana.
It was a dazzling showcase of technique and virtuosity which I thoroughly enjoyed, despite the audience of most notably, children, disrupting my concentration at certain points. An eye-opener for me during this concert was the use of different piano stools for different pieces. Some stools were cushioned, comfy ones while others were more sturdy, firm ones. I somehow came to a conclusion that the comfy chairs were for longer, more relaxed pieces while the firm ones were for fast pieces with a high level of technical difficulty. However, this might have been personal preference by the pianists after all. Another eye-opener was that of the pianists taking their time to prepare themselves before starting to play. This was both done mentally (I could see them relaxing themselves and practising several parts "in the air") and physically (each of them critically adjusted their seating position and the height of the piano stool beforehand). The night was a memorable one that the rest of the course missed (I was the only one interested to go) - which starts me thinking whether some people attend concerts only because their friends go as well, and not for the musical exposure.
7:17 am *
Friday, October 28, 2005
Beyond the Drum Solo
 26 October 2005, Wednesday, 7:30 PMVictoria Concert Hall
The Conservatory percussionists go solo in this concert! The fascinating variety of repertoire using a battery of drums, keyboards, gongs, and more, interpreted by six different personalities will make for a captivating and dramatic performance. Jonathan Fox, artist faculty of the Conservatory and Principal Timpanist & Percussionist of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, directs.
It was a night that turned the tables on classical performers by featuring contemporary percussion pieces instead. The large audience, most of whom came early, left my classmates and I contending with the row of seats near the back of the hall. The six performance pieces involved a variety of percussion instruments, ranging from the pitched keyboards (marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, vibraphone) to non-pitched drums (timpani, snare drum, etc.) and gadgets of all sorts (cabasa, guiro, vibraslap, gongs, "thunder sheets", etc.). Inevitably, the shifting of all these in between pieces took some time. This, however, was calmed by the antics and light-hearted words of the emcee Jonathan Fox. Throughout the night, much stamina was shown by the performers who had to mentally concentrate as well as cope with the physical demands of the pieces (especially so for those involving the marimba and timpani). It was not before rousing continual applause and three stage calls (but sadly, no encore) that the audience finally left, rhythmic tunes having been drummed into their hearts.
11:07 am *
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Ta'ng Quartet Masterclass
 21 October 2005, Friday, 2:00 PMEsplanade Recital StudioThe Yong Siew Toh Conservatory presents a masterclass by the T'ang Quartet, the Conservatory's Quartet-in-Residence. The Conservatory's piano and string quartets will perform an exciting selection of chamber works by Haydn, Mozart, Dvorak and more."Ans-wer the telephone!" The audience laughed at the T'ang Quartet's lyrical interpretation of a section of music. As the mood of that particular section was supposed to be "angry" and "urgent", the Quartet urged the student performers to inject more urgency, likening it to rushing to answer the telephone. The Recital Studio was only half-filled, and my classmates who had joined me were a bit more than half-satisfied. We had undermined the fact that this was a masterclass, so it was the students, not the T'ang Quartet, who were the performers. Nevertheless, as the Quartet put forth right before the masterclass began, the Conservatory students had grown to be of a much higher musical performance standard, despite being only first-year (three months in fact!) students. Professionalism was apparent in the way the students carried themselves all through the performance and in their musical techniques. Still, the event being a masterclass, even the best performers were critiqued by the T'ang Quartet, in areas ranging from dynamics, articulation, balance and even seating. The Quartet's criticism was harsh but necessary in order to raise the potential of the students even higher. One of the points that was constantly reiterated through the whole masterclass was that the performers had to connect and keep in touch with the piece they were playing, in order to convey the moods/emotions of the piece to the audience through their understanding of it. Personally, I felt this was applicable to me - that especially in classical pieces, I should not get too caught up with the notes but also take some time to ponder over what the music is trying to imply or describe. The masterclass overshot its estimated duration to at least two hours, but the time spent there was certainly a worthwhile experience in music appreciation for me.
1:47 pm *
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Gordon Stout Marimba Recital
11 October 2005, Tuesday, 7:30 PM
Esplanade Recital Studio
Gordon Stout is currently Professor of Percussion at the School of Music, Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, USA. A composer as well as percussionist who specializes in the marimba, he has studied composition with Joseph Schwantner, Samuel Adler and Warren Benson, and percussion with James Salmon and John Beck. As a composer-recitalist, he has premiered a number of his original compositions and works by other contemporary composers. Many of his compositions for marimba are published, and have already become standard repertoire for marimbists world-wide. A frequent lecture-recitalist for the Percussive Arts Society (PAS), he has appeared at twelve International PAS Conventions to date, as featured marimbist, as well as throughout the United States and Canada, Europe, Japan, Taiwan and Mexico. In May 1983, he performed clinics and recitals in France, Germany, Holland and Belgium with transcendental virtuosity, being described as the Rubinstein of all aspects of the marimba. Gordon Stout was on the Jury of the 1st and 2nd Leigh Howard Stevens International Marimba Competitions during the summers of 1995 and 1998. In the summer of 1998, he was a featured marimbist at the World Marimba Festival in Osaka, Japan and he was a member of the jury for the 2nd and 3rd World Marimba Competitions in Okaya, Japan and Stuttgart, Germany respectively. Gordon is a clinician/recitalist for Kp3 (formerly Malletech), and performs exclusively on their M5.0 Imperial Grand five-octave marimba.
In the small but cosy acoustical space of the Esplanade Recital Studio, I experienced the marimba as never before in its timbral fullness. The marimba, known in Mexico as the "wood that sings", had itself a five-octave span, allowing the player to produce a large range of pitches. One aspect of the marimba I appreciated was its ability to blend tremoloes that were struck smoothly. This, coupled with dynamics ranging from near-silence to full-forced attack, brought out the emotions of songs like Eric Ewazen's Northern Lights. The final piece, Three Choros (No. 1, 3 and 9) by Augusto Marcellino, proved to be the favourite among the audience with its chirpy Mexican feel. Although this recital was FREE, only 1 person in class accompanied me for the event. This was even though I had e-mailed an announcement of the event to the whole class. I guess very few people check their e-mails regularly (if at all) or are simply not interested in this solo recital. However, I must say I have not regretted being present at this opportunity to broaden my musical exposure.
10:17 am *
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Thomas Hecht Piano Recital
29 September 2005, Thursday, 7.30pm
Victoria Concert Hall Renowned American pianist Thomas Hecht gives his recital debut here in Singapore! Winner of the 1992 Munich Competition, the Conservatory's Head of Piano Studies will engage piano lovers with Copland's spacious Piano Sonata, the dreamy and festive landscapes of Albeniz's Iberia, Mussorgsky's towering Pictures at an Exhibition, and a dazzling showpiece he wrote in his youth entitled Toccata giocosa.
"Thomas Hecht revealed a rich artistic spirit and highly developed technique, a velvety way with sonorities, seamless phrasing and expert pianistic skill." - Washington Post
Two Thursdays later from the last concert I attended (Enigma Variations), I was back at Victoria Concert Hall - the concert venue I'll be visiting at least FIVE times during this vacation. We seated ourselves early, feeling fortunate to be able to get hold of good seats in the front rows for only $10.
It was not soon after the programme began that we found out that the night was totally devoted to abstract 20th Century pieces. Pieces from the composers Copland, Albeniz, Scriabin, Mussorgsky plunged us into an abyss of dissonant tones.
6:32 am *
Sunday, October 30, 2005
A solo piano showcase
28 October 2005, Friday, 7:30PMVictoria Concert Hall
The opening concert this season features sonatas by Schumann, Prokofiev and Dutilleux, brilliant showpieces by Chopin and Liszt, and piano duos performing works by Debussy, Ravel and Smetana.
It was a dazzling showcase of technique and virtuosity which I thoroughly enjoyed, despite the audience of most notably, children, disrupting my concentration at certain points. An eye-opener for me during this concert was the use of different piano stools for different pieces. Some stools were cushioned, comfy ones while others were more sturdy, firm ones. I somehow came to a conclusion that the comfy chairs were for longer, more relaxed pieces while the firm ones were for fast pieces with a high level of technical difficulty. However, this might have been personal preference by the pianists after all. Another eye-opener was that of the pianists taking their time to prepare themselves before starting to play. This was both done mentally (I could see them relaxing themselves and practising several parts "in the air") and physically (each of them critically adjusted their seating position and the height of the piano stool beforehand). The night was a memorable one that the rest of the course missed (I was the only one interested to go) - which starts me thinking whether some people attend concerts only because their friends go as well, and not for the musical exposure.
7:17 am *
Friday, October 28, 2005
Beyond the Drum Solo
26 October 2005, Wednesday, 7:30 PMVictoria Concert Hall
The Conservatory percussionists go solo in this concert! The fascinating variety of repertoire using a battery of drums, keyboards, gongs, and more, interpreted by six different personalities will make for a captivating and dramatic performance. Jonathan Fox, artist faculty of the Conservatory and Principal Timpanist & Percussionist of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, directs.
It was a night that turned the tables on classical performers by featuring contemporary percussion pieces instead. The large audience, most of whom came early, left my classmates and I contending with the row of seats near the back of the hall. The six performance pieces involved a variety of percussion instruments, ranging from the pitched keyboards (marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, vibraphone) to non-pitched drums (timpani, snare drum, etc.) and gadgets of all sorts (cabasa, guiro, vibraslap, gongs, "thunder sheets", etc.). Inevitably, the shifting of all these in between pieces took some time. This, however, was calmed by the antics and light-hearted words of the emcee Jonathan Fox. Throughout the night, much stamina was shown by the performers who had to mentally concentrate as well as cope with the physical demands of the pieces (especially so for those involving the marimba and timpani). It was not before rousing continual applause and three stage calls (but sadly, no encore) that the audience finally left, rhythmic tunes having been drummed into their hearts.
11:07 am *
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Ta'ng Quartet Masterclass
21 October 2005, Friday, 2:00 PMEsplanade Recital StudioThe Yong Siew Toh Conservatory presents a masterclass by the T'ang Quartet, the Conservatory's Quartet-in-Residence. The Conservatory's piano and string quartets will perform an exciting selection of chamber works by Haydn, Mozart, Dvorak and more."Ans-wer the telephone!" The audience laughed at the T'ang Quartet's lyrical interpretation of a section of music. As the mood of that particular section was supposed to be "angry" and "urgent", the Quartet urged the student performers to inject more urgency, likening it to rushing to answer the telephone. The Recital Studio was only half-filled, and my classmates who had joined me were a bit more than half-satisfied. We had undermined the fact that this was a masterclass, so it was the students, not the T'ang Quartet, who were the performers. Nevertheless, as the Quartet put forth right before the masterclass began, the Conservatory students had grown to be of a much higher musical performance standard, despite being only first-year (three months in fact!) students. Professionalism was apparent in the way the students carried themselves all through the performance and in their musical techniques. Still, the event being a masterclass, even the best performers were critiqued by the T'ang Quartet, in areas ranging from dynamics, articulation, balance and even seating. The Quartet's criticism was harsh but necessary in order to raise the potential of the students even higher. One of the points that was constantly reiterated through the whole masterclass was that the performers had to connect and keep in touch with the piece they were playing, in order to convey the moods/emotions of the piece to the audience through their understanding of it. Personally, I felt this was applicable to me - that especially in classical pieces, I should not get too caught up with the notes but also take some time to ponder over what the music is trying to imply or describe. The masterclass overshot its estimated duration to at least two hours, but the time spent there was certainly a worthwhile experience in music appreciation for me.
1:47 pm *
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Gordon Stout Marimba Recital
11 October 2005, Tuesday, 7:30 PM
Esplanade Recital Studio
Gordon Stout is currently Professor of Percussion at the School of Music, Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, USA. A composer as well as percussionist who specializes in the marimba, he has studied composition with Joseph Schwantner, Samuel Adler and Warren Benson, and percussion with James Salmon and John Beck. As a composer-recitalist, he has premiered a number of his original compositions and works by other contemporary composers. Many of his compositions for marimba are published, and have already become standard repertoire for marimbists world-wide. A frequent lecture-recitalist for the Percussive Arts Society (PAS), he has appeared at twelve International PAS Conventions to date, as featured marimbist, as well as throughout the United States and Canada, Europe, Japan, Taiwan and Mexico. In May 1983, he performed clinics and recitals in France, Germany, Holland and Belgium with transcendental virtuosity, being described as the Rubinstein of all aspects of the marimba. Gordon Stout was on the Jury of the 1st and 2nd Leigh Howard Stevens International Marimba Competitions during the summers of 1995 and 1998. In the summer of 1998, he was a featured marimbist at the World Marimba Festival in Osaka, Japan and he was a member of the jury for the 2nd and 3rd World Marimba Competitions in Okaya, Japan and Stuttgart, Germany respectively. Gordon is a clinician/recitalist for Kp3 (formerly Malletech), and performs exclusively on their M5.0 Imperial Grand five-octave marimba.
In the small but cosy acoustical space of the Esplanade Recital Studio, I experienced the marimba as never before in its timbral fullness. The marimba, known in Mexico as the "wood that sings", had itself a five-octave span, allowing the player to produce a large range of pitches. One aspect of the marimba I appreciated was its ability to blend tremoloes that were struck smoothly. This, coupled with dynamics ranging from near-silence to full-forced attack, brought out the emotions of songs like Eric Ewazen's Northern Lights. The final piece, Three Choros (No. 1, 3 and 9) by Augusto Marcellino, proved to be the favourite among the audience with its chirpy Mexican feel. Although this recital was FREE, only 1 person in class accompanied me for the event. This was even though I had e-mailed an announcement of the event to the whole class. I guess very few people check their e-mails regularly (if at all) or are simply not interested in this solo recital. However, I must say I have not regretted being present at this opportunity to broaden my musical exposure.
10:17 am *
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Thomas Hecht Piano Recital
29 September 2005, Thursday, 7.30pm
Victoria Concert Hall Renowned American pianist Thomas Hecht gives his recital debut here in Singapore! Winner of the 1992 Munich Competition, the Conservatory's Head of Piano Studies will engage piano lovers with Copland's spacious Piano Sonata, the dreamy and festive landscapes of Albeniz's Iberia, Mussorgsky's towering Pictures at an Exhibition, and a dazzling showpiece he wrote in his youth entitled Toccata giocosa.
"Thomas Hecht revealed a rich artistic spirit and highly developed technique, a velvety way with sonorities, seamless phrasing and expert pianistic skill." - Washington Post
Two Thursdays later from the last concert I attended (Enigma Variations), I was back at Victoria Concert Hall - the concert venue I'll be visiting at least FIVE times during this vacation. We seated ourselves early, feeling fortunate to be able to get hold of good seats in the front rows for only $10.
It was not soon after the programme began that we found out that the night was totally devoted to abstract 20th Century pieces. Pieces from the composers Copland, Albeniz, Scriabin, Mussorgsky plunged us into an abyss of dissonant tones.
6:32 am *
 - Name: niwdehot
- Location: Singapore
Music has always been an integral part of Edwin’s life since the tender age of 4. The top graduate from the pioneer batch of the Diploma in Music & Audio Technology (Singapore Polytechnic), Edwin achieved the Media Development Authority Gold Medal (Course Medal) & DBS Bank Award.
An avid performer, Edwin plays at corporate and private functions, cafes, weddings, musicals, and community and charity events throughout the year. In Singapore Polytechnic’s “Superstar: The Pop Musical” (2006), he took on multiple roles of Cast Member (Chorus), Rehearsal Pianist and Baritone Section Leader. Edwin was also the second keyboardist in the incidental music band of Young NTUC’s May Day 2007 musical, “A Labour of Love”. He has appeared regularly at music festivals (Singapore Street Festival 2009, MoonFest @ Esplanade 2009) and charity events (Charity Fiesta 2006 @ South West, Music For Hope 2008, Blackout @ Emily 2009).
His artistic passion continues to grow, as does his hope to inspire others through his expressive music.
View my complete profile
My Goals:
-Long Term: To become well-trained in all aspects of music
-Medium Term: To improve my sight-reading and keyboard skills to another level
-Short Term: To brush up on my basic music theory after stopping for 5 years+
Special Skill Set:
Improvisation, Playing-by-ear
Repertoire includes (to be updated):
*Pending (practice in progress)
Electone Organ pieces:
Piano pieces:
Piano/choral arrangements:
(They Long To Be) Close To You - Burt Bacharach
Walk On A Rainbow Trail - Berta & Sonja Poorman
Laudate Dominum - Sherri Porterfield
When You Believe - Stephen Schwartz
*Joyful, Joyful - Beethoven (arr. Mervyn Warren)
*Because He Lives - Sally DeFord
Original compositions:
Vivid Dreams (theme: hope)
And any other tune/piece that I know well (play-by-ear)...
This performance journal was created as part of an ongoing assignment of the DMAT module "Performance".
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