28
September
2015
|
17:53
Asia/Singapore

A communal symphony

Fifty Singaporeans from all walks of life formed community orchestra Project Symphony and performed at the Singapore Conference Hall

Fifty young and old Singaporeans from all walks of life formed the first community orchestra under the baton of Associate Professor Jason Lai, Principal Conductor of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra based at NUS. Assoc Prof Lai mentored the ensemble, which performed on 20 September at the Singapore Conference Hall.

Earlier this year, a production company had approached Assoc Prof Lai about setting up a community orchestra in Singapore comprising musicians from various backgrounds and playing a wide range of Western and Eastern instruments, which is commonly not seen in Western orchestras. The latter included the Indian violin, pipa (a Chinese string instrument) and kompang (a Malay drum), which presented a musical challenge.

Assoc Prof Lai initially toyed with the idea of writing new parts for these Asian instruments, planning to insert them into the existing music. However, to showcase the full flavour of these instruments, he decided to commission a composer to write a new piece for the Project Symphony orchestra, giving prominence to these instruments. The task of composing the new piece was undertaken by Year 2 student Huang Ding Chao, who is currently studying music composition at the NUS Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM). He penned Stars and Crescent, featuring a mix of orchestral and traditional ethnic instruments. Assoc Prof Lai said of the new piece, "Huang Ding Chao...rose to this challenge and gave us a brilliant piece that was unlike any of the other repertoire we were playing, it really stretched the orchestra.

Assoc Prof Lai's other challenge was working with musicians who had little or no experience of playing together, unlike the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra and amateur orchestras which he had worked with in the UK. He overcame this by offering them the experience of performing as a team and encouraged them to listen to one another and to share the music.

symphony-2

Leading the orchestra was Assoc Prof Lai, who mentored the orchestra through eight weeks of rehearsals

The participants of Project Symphony included working adults, housewives and retirees, with the youngest musician being eight-year-old violinist Chloe Chua and the oldest, 63-year-old trumpet player Adrian Flowers. Speaking of the musicians, who rehearsed twice weekly for eight weeks at YSTCM, Assoc Prof Lai said, "The transformation has been amazing...it's been heart-warming to see this community work and grow together. I've always loved the idea that music can bring people together with a common goal in mind.

The concert was a resounding success, garnering a sold-out performance. For Assoc Prof Lai, he felt very privileged to be involved in this project, having played a part in creating an orchestra from different communities to celebrate Singapore's 50th birthday.

The musicians' journey was captured in an eight-part television series, with the first episode scheduled for telecast on MediaCorp's okto channel on 7 October. View trailer here.