Attend Sing50 and raise funds for charity

Pianists at a rehearsal last month for the Sing50 concert. Insurance group Zurich has pledged to donate $5 for every person who attends the show. Mr Jonathan Rake, chief executive of Zurich's general insurance business in Singapore, encouraged those
Pianists at a rehearsal last month for the Sing50 concert. Insurance group Zurich has pledged to donate $5 for every person who attends the show. Mr Jonathan Rake, chief executive of Zurich's general insurance business in Singapore, encouraged those who cannot attend to give their tickets to a friend or family member. PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI FOR THE STRAITS TIMES

Besides being a mega show celebrating 50 years of Singapore music, the Sing50 concert on Aug 7 is also expected to raise more than $200,000 for charity.

Insurance group Zurich has pledged to donate $5 for every person who attends the concert at the National Stadium.

More than 45,000 people have tickets to the show, which were sold publicly, via a Mapletree-Sing50 Charity Ticket Drive, and also given to schools and community groups.

Mr Jonathan Rake, chief executive of Zurich's general insurance business in Singapore, said: "As we are donating $5 per attending visitor, every 'body' counts in contributing to the donation. So if you cannot make it to the concert, we encourage you to give your ticket to a family member or friend. Tickets are freely transferable."

The funds raised will be donated to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, which gives a monthly stipend to students from low-income homes to help them with school-related expenses, and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund, which helps underprivileged children aged five to 19 develop their talents in music, dance, theatre and the visual arts.

The two-hour concert, which is organised by The Straits Times and The Business Times, will showcase iconic songs that have been composed, performed or made popular by home-grown artists across all languages and music genres over the past 50 years.

Concert-goers will be treated to performances by a star-studded line-up of more than 70 artists, including Stefanie Sun, JJ Lin, Tracy Huang, Dick Lee, Jeremy Monteiro, Rahimah Rahim and Mohamed Raffee, as well as emerging artists Reuby, Dru Chen and Ling Kai. The line-up also includes two international performers - Chinese pianist Lang Lang, who will lead a segment involving 50 pianos, and Apl.de.ap from American pop band The Black Eyed Peas.

They will be joined by a 1,000-strong choir, 50 pianists, the 100-strong Metropolitan Festival Orchestra and 14 rappers.

Sing50 is produced by non-profit arts and culture organisation The Rice Company. It is sponsored by Mapletree Investments, Resorts World Sentosa and Zurich Insurance, with support from Steinway Gallery Singapore.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 01, 2015, with the headline Attend Sing50 and raise funds for charity. Subscribe