Review: Firebird – Piano Sensation Tony Yike Yang Solo Recital (Huayi 2020)

★★★★☆ (Performance attended 2/2/20) Piano prodigy’s plays like a majestic phoenix rising from the flames.  Playing as part of the Esplanade’s 2020 Huayi – Chinese Festival of the Arts, award-winning piano prodigy Tony Yike Yang made his Southeast Asian debut at the Esplanade Recital Studio last weekend. With expectations running high for the youngest-ever laureate at the Chopin International Piano Competition, the 21-year old made it … Continue reading Review: Firebird – Piano Sensation Tony Yike Yang Solo Recital (Huayi 2020)

Review: 7 Sages of the Bamboo Grove 竹林七贤 by Toy Factory (Huayi 2020)

★★★☆☆ (Performance attended 31/1/20) Allegorical tale of a dystopian surveillance state preaches the value of the arts, but loses itself in a myriad of subplots along the way. During the rule of the Three Kingdoms, the seven sages of the bamboo grove were a group of scholars and artists who chose to counter the bureaucracies and corruption of the time in the only way they knew … Continue reading Review: 7 Sages of the Bamboo Grove 竹林七贤 by Toy Factory (Huayi 2020)

Review: Prism of Truth 眾相 by Ground Z-0 (Huayi 2020)

★★★☆☆ (Performance attended 31/1/20) Modern rework of Rashomon allows audience to play jury in a multimedia social experiment.  In the field of conspiracy theory, so long as a claim cannot be disproven, the possibility of it being true exists, allowing the idea of multiple relative ‘truths’ to exist simultaneously without conforming to an absolute. Perhaps one of the earliest versions of this comes in the form … Continue reading Review: Prism of Truth 眾相 by Ground Z-0 (Huayi 2020)

Huayi 2020: An Interview with Kwok Wing Hong, Playwright of HKRep’s Principle, and Anthony Chan, Artistic Director of HKRep

When a new principal joins a school, she establishes her power with a host of new rules and an authoritarian leadership, forcing everyone to go strictly by the book. In contrast, her vice-principal stands as an advocate for compassion. As gossip swirls about the brewing tension between the two top dogs, a campus crisis is set to erupt as students and parents add to the … Continue reading Huayi 2020: An Interview with Kwok Wing Hong, Playwright of HKRep’s Principle, and Anthony Chan, Artistic Director of HKRep

Huayi 2020: An Interview with Goh Boon Teck, Director and Playwright of Toy Factory’s 7 Sages of the Bamboo Grove

In Chinese history, there existed a group of seven Chinese scholars, writers, and musicians of the third century CE. As the Jin dynasty came into being, the ‘Sages’ found their lives to be in danger, and their reactions to the changes expressed themselves in new ways. Some wrote poems criticizing the court and the administration, while others tried to negotiate their way through the difficult … Continue reading Huayi 2020: An Interview with Goh Boon Teck, Director and Playwright of Toy Factory’s 7 Sages of the Bamboo Grove

Huayi 2020: An Interview with Star Pianist Tony Yike Yang

At the tender age of 16, Chinese-Canadian pianist Tony Yike Yang took the music world by storm when he became the youngest-ever laureate at the prestigious 2015 Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw. Now, the young prodigy is set to make his Southeast Asian debut at the Esplanade, performing a solo recital as part of this year’s edition of Huayi – Chinese Festival of the arts. … Continue reading Huayi 2020: An Interview with Star Pianist Tony Yike Yang

Preview: Esplanade presents Huayi Festival 2020

As we approach Chinese New Year once again, so does the Esplanade’s annual Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts. Come the year of the Rat, often considered a symbol of wit, imagination and curiosity, Huayi is set to bring these traits to life in its programming, with a line-up of leading Chinese artists from Singapore and beyond between 31st January and 9th February 2020. Presenting a mix … Continue reading Preview: Esplanade presents Huayi Festival 2020

Preview: Of Music and Story – River of Life by Ding Yi Music Company

In collaboration with Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Chinse chamber music ensemble Ding Yi Music Company is back with the 2019 edition of their signature Of Music Series, which brings together multiple disciplines with music to create a unique concert experience. This time around, in conjunction with the Singapore Bicentennial, they’ll be uniting Chinese chamber music with storytelling, a concept by Ding Yi Principal Conductor … Continue reading Preview: Of Music and Story – River of Life by Ding Yi Music Company

Review: The Gingerbread Man by SRT’s The Little Company

★★☆☆☆ (Performance attended 26/10/19) A children’s show that needed more time to rise in the oven. “Run run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the Gingerbread Man.” The iconic lines of everyone’s favourite anthropomorphic baked good has been taken quite literally in SRT’s The Little Company’s latest musical for kids, with the titular Gingerbread Man using his need for speed to … Continue reading Review: The Gingerbread Man by SRT’s The Little Company

Preview: Southern Elegance – Music of the Teochews (华族室内乐: 弦诗潮韵) by Ding Yi Music Company

This November, Ding Yi Music Company presents a classically elegant evening of traditional Teochew music. Featuring renowned Teochew music master and National Class One composer Wang Peiyu as concert artistic advisor, this recital presents renditions of classic Teochew repertoire such as The Lion’s Mischief, Lotus Blossoms, Waves Sifting Sand and a special performance with Wang in Spring Brocades. Take some time off, and come discover the Music of the Teochews as Southern Elegance. Southern … Continue reading Preview: Southern Elegance – Music of the Teochews (华族室内乐: 弦诗潮韵) by Ding Yi Music Company