Kopi & Song: We Chat With The Opera People About Their New Series, And The Future of Performance

In a time where live concerts and performances are made impossible due to the coronavirus situation, The Opera People have prepared Kopi & Song, a digital recital series showcasing some of Singapore’s best professional singers through short, online recital presentations of the work that they are doing in their careers as singers, while also providing an informal opportunity for the public to get to know these stars of the local opera scene, bringing the classical vocal community together in this time.

Over 10 weeks, The Opera People will feature ten of Singapore’s most recognisable young singers performing 10-minute recitals. All of the recitals will be accompanied by pianist Pauline Lee and live-streamed from her studio, and will be followed up by a short coffee chat with the singers where they will share more on their journey as singers, the work that they are currently doing in Singapore and abroad, as well as any questions from the live-stream audience. Much like the idea of a casual coffee, Kopi & Song is all about getting comfortable with The Opera People, as it will be presented as a series of professionally live streamed mini-recitals in a living room setting.

The 10 featured artists and their recitals are as follows: Felicia Teo Kaixin with Selections from the Kurt Weill Songbook (6th June, 5pm), Chan Wei En with Selections from Poulenc’s Banalités and George Crumb’s Three Early Songs (13th June, 5pm), Joyce Lee Tung with Selections from Operettas by Lehar, Stolz and Johann Strauss (20th June, 5pm), Jonathan Charles Tay with Selected lieder by Franz Schubert (27th June, 5pm), Akiko Otao (4th July, 5pm), Daniel Fong with Selections from Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Song of Travel (11th July, 5pm), Jade Tan Shi Yu (18th July 5pm), Leslie Tay Hwee Liang with Selections from 24 Italian Songs and Arias (25th July, 5pm), Wendy Woon with Selected lieder by Wagner and Strauss (8th Aug, 5pm), and David Charles Tay with Beethoven’s An die Ferne Geliebte (To The Distant Beloved) (15th Aug, 5pm).

Plus, watch an interview we conducted with The Opera People founders Shridar Mani, David Charles Tay and Jonathan Charles Tay below, in which we talk about how they’ve adapted to the circuit breaker, establishing their identity from their start to now, how they planned and what to expect from Kopi & Song, and their excitement about the new possibilities and plans that lie ahead for them in the future:

If you’re looking for a dose of opera in your life amidst this trying period, look no further than The Opera People’s Kopi & Song series. Grab your family, make a cup of your favourite coffee, and settle in for your weekly dose of opera from the comfort of your own home.

Kopi & Song runs from 13th June, every Saturday from 5pm. All the programmes will be livestreamed on The Opera People’s Facebook page, and information on each of the programmes can also be found on the same Facebook page prior to each recital.