Arts Picks
Pianist Churen Li premieres Jonathan Shin’s concerto at SSO’s concert
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Singaporean composer Jonathan Shin and home-grown pianist Churen Li.
PHOTO: WAN ZHANG HAO
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Hans Graf & Churen Li
Churen Li, the 30-year-old pianist who charmed audiences during the National Day Parade in 2025 with her flamboyance, will play a piano concerto written by composer Jonathan Shin in a one-off concert on Dec 19.
The concerto, child of the shore, is commissioned by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) and gets its world premiere at the Esplanade Concert Hall. Li characterises this as a milestone moment, “where Singapore’s national orchestra commissioned a Singaporean to write a Singaporean concerto performed by a Singaporean pianist at Singapore’s premier concert hall”.
Though the piece may still be based on the Western classical tradition, those who keep their ears peeled will discern echoes of the guzheng, pipa, gamelan and even a reference to local singer-songwriter Dick Lee’s Bunga Sayang in the second movement, Li says.
The two-hour concert complements Shin’s concerto with SSO’s rendition of Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10, conducted by the orchestra’s outgoing music director Hans Graf.
Li says there is a world of difference between playing a Singapore concerto and European ones.
“I feel a greater sense of ownership because everything is an exploration and I feel like I’m co-creating with a friend I’ve known since childhood.”
Where: Esplanade Concert Hall, 1 Esplanade Drive str.sg/meWd
MRT: Esplanade/City Hall
When: Dec 19, 7.30pm
Admission: From $15
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New art gallery in Paragon
Linda Gallery’s new space at Paragon.
PHOTO: LINDA GALLERY
Luxury shopping in Orchard will come with more art breaks with the opening of a new gallery in Paragon. This lengthens the list of Central Business District spaces, including Opera Gallery at Ion Orchard and Tang Contemporary Art at Delfi Orchard.
Linda Gallery’s new space at Paragon is its second, in addition to the one in Tanjong Pagar Distripark. Whereas it previously put on ad hoc shows in the atrium, the mall has since invited it to expand into a 500 sq m space on the fourth floor.
The opening show suggests ties between Chinese and Singapore artists, featuring over 80 paintings and sculptures, including works by key Singapore artists Cheong Soo Pieng, Chen Wen Hsi and Chen Cheng Mei. There are also works by modern and contemporary Chinese artists such as Yin Zhaoyang and Zhu Wei.
Titled Their Story In Singapore, the exhibition wants visitors to draw connections, for instance, between the mountains daubed in saturated colours by Yin and the more abstract hieroglyphs of Chen Wen Hsi.
Ms Linda Ma, founder of the gallery, says the bigger space at Paragon allows for more ambitious programming to engage a more curious, informed and globally engaged collector base here.
She has sought to serve as translator between the art of Singapore and China for the past three decades. She says: “We see increasing international curiosity around Singapore’s art history and are committed to championing home-grown artists while placing them in dialogue with broader Asian and global narratives.”
Where: 04-01/02/03 Paragon, 290 Orchard Road str.sg/p6v9
MRT: Orchard
When: Dec 21 to Feb 1, 10am to 9pm daily
Admission: Free
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Steel Garden
Yao Qingmei’s Dance! Dance! Bruce Ling!.
PHOTO: SHANGHART
Clad in Hong Kong-American martial artist and actor Bruce Lee’s instantly recognisable yellow-and-black jumpsuit from his film Game Of Death (1978), Chinese artist Yao Qingmei is captured in poses balletic and humorous.
Her nunchucks? The communist hammer and sickle.
The acclaimed artist is given a solo show by ShanghART at Gillman Barracks, and visitors get an introduction to her nuanced critique and parodying of authority in her video works.
From her earlier clips acting as a character in staged situations, she has retreated behind the camera to the role of director, splicing together under-noticed moments to shape how they are seen.
Her latest two-channel video installation at the heart of the show is Steel Garden, which draws on a flurry of activity during China’s national day: Flag raising is a sort of collective choreography, yet birds forage among cracks and weeds grow between paving stones.
Where: ShanghART, 02-22, 9 Lock Road str.sg/9qvE
MRT: Labrador Park
When: Till Feb 15, 2026, Wednesdays to Sundays, noon to 6pm
Admission: Free
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