Review: Masterpieces by Peng Xiuwen 《乐坛巨人》by Ding Yi Music Company

A rousing showcase of the late Chinese Orchestra master’s best work. With over 400 compositions and arrangements to his name, it’s nigh impossible to choose the very best pieces to represent the late Maestro Peng Xiuwen in a 2 hour concert. For Ding Yi Music Company’s Masterpieces by Peng Xiuwen 《乐坛巨人》, it just takes the eight pieces chosen to convince us of the master’s skill and … Continue reading Review: Masterpieces by Peng Xiuwen 《乐坛巨人》by Ding Yi Music Company

Preview: Masterpieces by Peng Xiuwen 《乐坛巨人》by Ding Yi Music Company, and an Interview with Conductor Quek Ling Kiong

The late Maestro Peng Xiuwen is often considered one of the father figures of contemporary Chinese music, having established Chinese orchestra music as a key genre all across the globe before he passed in 1996. As part of their 2019 season, local Chinese chamber orchestra Ding Yi Music Company is set to pay tribute to Maestro Peng with a brand new, full length concert this April. Speaking … Continue reading Preview: Masterpieces by Peng Xiuwen 《乐坛巨人》by Ding Yi Music Company, and an Interview with Conductor Quek Ling Kiong

Shanghai Nights: Liao Zhai Rocks! by The Theatre Practice (Review)

An overseas debut and source of Singaporean pride. SHANGHAI, CHINA – Presenting their original musical Liao Zhai Rocks! overseas for the very first time, it’s hard not to feel a sense of pride seeing The Theatre Practice’s name displayed across the massive theatre at Shanghai Culture Square. Written by Wu Xi, with soundtrack by Eric Ng and lyrics by Xiaohan, the musical feels only appropriate as debut, … Continue reading Shanghai Nights: Liao Zhai Rocks! by The Theatre Practice (Review)

#SupportLocal: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre Launches the Arts Support Framework

As part of their ongoing efforts to support the arts and cultural ecosystem in Singapore, the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC) has announced its all new Arts Support Framework, set to launch an Arts Housing Programme, Visual Arts Partnership and Artspace@SCCC, offering more opportunities for local arts and cultural groups to develop and present their works in SCCC. Three groups have been selected to move … Continue reading #SupportLocal: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre Launches the Arts Support Framework

Review: FAUST/US (浮世/德) by Nine Years Theatre

Lest the demons get to me. Written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in the early 1800s, there is a timelessness to the narrative and themes discussed in Faust that have led to it becoming an inspiration for countless other works of art, and its regard as one of the greatest works of German literature. To stage it in a new capacity then, is certainly a challenging … Continue reading Review: FAUST/US (浮世/德) by Nine Years Theatre

Strange Tales From A Theatre Studio: An Interview with Kuo Jian Hong, Joanna Dong and Sugie Phua of The Theatre Practice’s Liao Zhai Rocks! Shanghai Tour

The life of a Singaporean theatre production is often limited to a single staging before being relegated to a film in the archives, or living on in the memory of audiences lucky enough to have caught it. A restaging is a rare event, and for a company to present their work overseas rarer still. For The Theatre Practice (TTP), Liao Zhai Rocks! is nothing short of a … Continue reading Strange Tales From A Theatre Studio: An Interview with Kuo Jian Hong, Joanna Dong and Sugie Phua of The Theatre Practice’s Liao Zhai Rocks! Shanghai Tour

Ding Yi Music Company Raises Over $560,000 at Fundraising Gala Dinner and Concert 2019

Ding Yi Music Company held their third biennial Fundraising Gala Dinner & Concert on Wednesday, 13th March 2019 at the Tanah Merah Country Club. Themed ‘Rhapsody of Romance, the gala successfully raised over $560,000 in support of Ding Yi’s efforts to promote Chinese chamber music as a music genre in Singapore, the highest amount since their first fundraiser held in 2015. Attended by guest-of-honour and … Continue reading Ding Yi Music Company Raises Over $560,000 at Fundraising Gala Dinner and Concert 2019

Museum Musings: Asian Civilisations Museum to Celebrate A Year Of Chinese Art

Following last year’s focus on Southeast Asia, Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) has announced a brand new Season of Chinese Art set to run from June 2019 to mid-2020. A total of three blockbuster exhibitions in collaboration with leading Chinese institutions and artists will spotlight the best of Chinese art, from masterpieces of art, heritage, culture to even fashion from China and Singapore, as ancient Chinese traditions … Continue reading Museum Musings: Asian Civilisations Museum to Celebrate A Year Of Chinese Art

Dealing with the Devil: An Interview with Performer Mia Chee and Director Cherilyn Woo of Nine Years Theatre’s FAUST/US (浮世/德)

This March, Nine Years Theatre (NYT) opens their 2019 season with what is now their signature style of adapting a Western text into Mandarin, this time around having selected Goethe’s Faustus, the quintessential ‘deal with a devil’ story of a scholar who sells his soul in exchange for his wildest dreams. But in Nine Years Theatre’s FAUST/US, not only will protagonist Faust be receiving a gender swap; for … Continue reading Dealing with the Devil: An Interview with Performer Mia Chee and Director Cherilyn Woo of Nine Years Theatre’s FAUST/US (浮世/德)

Huayi Festival 2019: Painted Skin by Singapore Chinese Orchestra (Review)

Western meets Chinese opera in a spectacle to remember. Inspired by the short story of the same name from Pu Songling’s Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai Ziyi), the Singapore Chinese Opera adapts Painted Skin for the stage as a 100 minute opera in concert. The classic tale follows a Chinese scholar when he comes across a beautiful woman crying in the rain, giving her an … Continue reading Huayi Festival 2019: Painted Skin by Singapore Chinese Orchestra (Review)