Encore
Socially distanced concert with a surround-sound vibe
In this weekly review feature, The Straits Times chronicles the recovery of Singapore's performing arts industry - whether through digital innovation or cautious reopening - after months in the dark due to the Covid-19 pandemic
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CONCERT
TOGETHER WE STAND, LIVE AGAIN!
Ding Yi Music Company
Black Box, Stamford Arts Centre Sunday
As Singapore continues to emerge from the circuit breaker, Chinese instrumental groups have been taking the lead when it comes to live concerts.
First, it was the Singapore Chinese Orchestra in September and, now, Ding Yi Music Company has given its first concert of the year.
The 16-member ensemble, led by Dedric Wong and Quek Ling Kiong, performed two concerts fully masked, with wind players sequestered behind screens, which resembled Covid-19 swabbing stations.
The audience of 50 was divided into two blocs, one seated in a gallery, the other onstage, surrounded on four sides by musicians and the conductor. This created a surround-sound atmosphere, which enhanced the audience's experience.
Ding Yi also stepped up audience interaction through a pre-concert poll of works that they wanted to hear during the performance. The top votes went to Zai Na Yao Yuan De Di Fang (In That Distant Place) and Dun Huang, both works with Central Asian influences.
The 75-minute programme was a light one, including popular favourites of the repertoire while remaining cognisant of various musical origins.
The Cantonese Han Tian Lei (Thunder In Drought) opened the concert with a lively bang, balanced later by the more sentimental strains of the Hokkien song Wan Chun Feng (Spring Wind), with pipa and guzheng lovingly sharing the melody.
Lo Leung Fai's Medley Of Hakka Folksongs highlighted the suona and percussion, while alternating between the joyous and the reflective.
The late Min Hui Fen's arrangement of Teochew favourite Winter Ducks Frolicking In The Water for erhu was simplicity itself.
With concertmaster Chin Yen Choong's solo and four percussionists, it began slowly, but ended in a fast burst.
Building upon the theme of unity in crisis, Singaporean melodies such as Malay song Lenggang Kangkung, Tamil hit Munnaeru Vaalibaa and Eurasian-Portuguese love song Jinkly Nona were given slicked-up treatments. The audience was encouraged to participate with tambourines and jingles.
Young local composer Phang Kok Jun's arrangement of National Day Parade song Our Singapore provided the icing on the cake, though the temptation to incorporate Dick Lee's overplayed Home into the mix proved irresistible.
The encore was the world premiere of Cultural Medallion recipient Eric Watson's Together We Stand. It layered an ostinato bass provided by audience clapping with snatches of local songs such as Voices From The Heart and Di Tanjong Katong.
The result was a contrapuntal stew, a veritable musical rojak, but something to proudly call Singapore's own.
