The Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) will soon head to Europe for a concert tour, which includes performances in countries such as Germany, Italy and Greece.
Under the baton of music director Yeh Tsung, the Europe Concert Tour will kick off at the Konzerthaus Berlin on Saturday, before moving on to Dvorak Hall in Prague's Rudolfinum on Sept 3; Chiesa di San Giacomo in San Domenico in Forli, Italy, on Sept 6; and the ancient theatre of Dodoni in Ioannina, Greece, on Sept 9.
These concerts will be held as part of existing music festivals or concert series in these cities.
Each of the SCO concerts in Europe will have a different programme. Highlights range from Chen Gang and He Zhanhao's The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto, featuring violinist Kam Ning, to orchestral work Yellow Earth and huqin concerto Fire Ritual, both written by the Academy Award-winning composer Tan Dun.
Audiences can also look forward to conductor Wong Kah Chun's award-winning orchestral composition Krakatoa, which draws on the 1883 eruption of the volcano of the same name.
Sheng virtuoso Wu Wei will take centre stage in the Earth & Fire sheng concerto, composed for him by German musicologist Enjott Schneider.
Also featured are the orchestral composition Prince Sang Nila Utama And Singa, by SCO composer-in-residence Law Wai Lun, and Gordon Fung Dic-Lun's pipa concerto Arise, You Lion Of Glory.
Mr Laurence Bay, Singapore's Ambassador to Germany, describes the tour and the orchestra's inaugural performance at the Berlin Konzerthaus as "a key milestone for the SCO and a timely showcase of Singapore's deepening cultural ties with Germany and Europe".
This is the orchestra's second concert tour in Europe after its first in 2005.
Its executive director Terence Ho says this tour will showcase "the Singapore voice, sound and soul" and is part of the SCO's ongoing efforts to boost its international profile. The SCO also plans to do a concert tour in the United States in the future, he adds.
• For ticketing information, go to bit.ly/scoeuropeBER (Berlin), bit.ly/scoeuropePRA (Prague), bit.ly/scoeuropeFOR (Forli) and http://str.sg/JZdb (Ioannina)
