Pianist Tedd Joselson’s second S’pore concert cancelled; organiser accused of being ‘duplicitous’

SINGAPORE – The second of two concerts in June in Singapore by acclaimed pianist Tedd Joselson has been cancelled, following an eleventh-hour decision by concert organiser Soroptimist International of Singapore Orchid (Siso) not to go ahead with the June 23 programme.

In its wake, Joselson’s team has accused Siso’s president, Ms Candice Chong, of dealing in a “duplicitous manner” over the performance that was to be held at Victoria Concert Hall.

The June 23 performance was originally intended as a fund-raiser for Siso, a volunteer organisation advocating for women’s causes and mental health issues, but later evolved into a commercial concert.

E-mail correspondence seen by The Straits Times appears to show that Ms Chong had presented Siso as a charity organisation despite it not being registered as one, raising red flags with the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) and the police.

Two business partners of Ms Chong have since reached out to ST about a police report and a pending bankruptcy suit against her.

According to a letter seen by ST dated May 8 from the landlord, Ms Chong, who manages Blue Cafe @ Rifle Range, allegedly has rental arrears in excess of three months.

Ms Chong did not respond to queries from ST other than to say that Siso is not filing for bankruptcy.

Ticketing agent Sistic Singapore on June 12 confirmed that all affected patrons will be contacted this week and offered a full refund on their tickets, citing “unforeseen circumstances”.

The Brahms concert, with tickets priced between $168 and $528, was to be Belgian-American Joselson’s “personal statement”, with his friends from around the world coming to Singapore for the rare performance. His last show was in 2022 at the Esplanade Concert Hall, in his Platinum Jubilee Concert titled Flights Of Fantasy.

The 72-year-old maestro, known particularly for his playing of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, had retired in 1999 and has lived in Singapore since.

Ms Chong reportedly approached Joselson’s team in December 2023 to perform two Brahms concerts to raise funds for Siso. This is one of three clubs here that report to the Soroptimist International Southwest Pacific, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, that seek to uplift women.

Its inauguration in 2016 was attended by Senior Minister of State for National Development, Ms Sim Ann, who then praised it on Facebook for being the global volunteer movement’s first Singapore chapter to focus on Mandarin-speaking women’s needs.

According to Joselson’s team, Siso had agreed to foot the bill – $200,000 a concert – in exchange for some royalties from the sale of concert recordings and a fund-raising gala dinner to be held at the Four Seasons Hotel.

But Joselson’s team and Siso were advised in April by the NCSS that Siso was neither a charity nor an Institution of Public Character. This meant Siso would need a special licence to hold the public fund-raising event under Singapore law.

A police check on April 18 showed that Siso had not applied for this, after NCSS president Anita Fam wrote to the police that Siso had been “soliciting donations... (and) misrepresenting itself to potential donors that it is a member of NCSS in spite of the written advice”.

At around the same time, Siso announced that it would instead collaborate on the concert with Singapore Chinese Cultural Calligraphy Art Awards & Enterprise (SCCCE), an annual social-cum-charity event, to raise funds, this time on behalf of Metta Welfare Association.

Ms Chong also allegedly included a caveat that all monies be directed through Golden Compass School, founded by entrepreneur Claire Chng. Neither SCCCE nor Golden Compass School is registered as a charity or Institution of Public Character.

According to Joselson’s team, Metta Welfare Association said it was unaware of the project when it contacted the organisation.

Further prompts by Joselson’s team – in which Joselson’s manager Daniel de Costa described Ms Chong’s conduct as “highly appalling” – led the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth’s (MCCY) charities unit to say it was “looking into the matter involving the alleged fund-raising concert” in May.

MCCY told ST: “The Commissioner Of Charities Office has received feedback on the Tedd Joselson Concert organised by Soroptimist International of Singapore Orchid (Siso) and is looking into the matter.”

After pressure from Joselson’s team on Siso, registered charity Heartware Network took over the first concert on June 16. This concert will proceed as planned and will benefit the youth organisation, which is dedicated to helping those aged 14 to 35.

Joselson’s team decided that the concert on June 23 was to proceed on a commercial basis until Ms Chong abruptly announced its cancellation on June 11 and sought refunds from other parties involved. The concert was supposed to be under the baton of Dr Robert Casteels.

A fuming Joselson, who had come out of retirement for the event, said: “What she put everyone through, including Dr Casteels and myself, is beyond words.

“Dr Casteels and myself have never faced anything like this in our entire careers. My deepest apologies to the many innocent people who were affected and hurt by this.”

One of Ms Chong’s former business partners, who wanted to be known only as Mr Ng, showed evidence of her attempt to get loans of up to $30,000 from him for the concert.

In March, he made a police report after Ms Chong allegedly used his company’s name to apply for a $200,000 loan from DBS Bank, in addition to allegedly falsifying details to get government grants. The police confirmed a report was lodged and said they are looking into the case. 

ST has also contacted the NCSS for more information.