It was another magical show at the Resorts World Theatre in Sentosa last Saturday.
The second night of annual children's charity concert ChildAid held the audience in thrall from the start, when 11-year-old Sylvia Tan on the guzheng and 20 female harpists from local ensemble Rave Harpers played the ChildAid theme song, A World To Imagine, composed by its late artistic director Iskandar Ismail.
The Boys Tap Group from Jitterbugs Swingapore followed and continued to delight the 1,500-strong audience with their fast feet.
The rest of the night featured 17 performances that were, in the words of first-time ChildAid concertgoer and undergraduate Tan Min, 21, "never boring".
Flautists were paired with harpists, while vocalists went solo or teamed up with dancers and musicians playing instruments such as the violin, piano, guitar and trumpet, in genres ranging from pop to classical and jazz.
Some performances featured only one or two performers, while others, such as the Kids Performing Academy of the Arts and ITE Combined Choir, had more than 20 members share the stage.
More than 150 of the performers were aged between six and 19 and they dazzled with impassioned acts.
Seven-year-old pianist Chen Jing poured her passion into Chopin's Waltz No. 1 In E Flat Major, bending forward and throwing her head back as she played. The 36-member Large Jazz Group from Jitterbugs twirled, high-kicked, somersaulted and danced their way into the hearts of the audience.
A high note was struck towards the end of the 90-minute concert, when balloons and confetti were released on the unsuspecting crowd, drawing gasps of delight and sending parents and children scrambling for balloons.
The two-night concert, which opened last Friday, raised more than $2 million for The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, which helps needy students pay for transport and meals, and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund, which supports arts training for financially disadvantaged students.
Sales executive Serene Chua, 31, says she bought tickets to her first ChildAid concert last Saturday to support "a good cause". She was there with her husband and two daughters, aged six and eight.
She says: "We also wanted to support local talent and, I must say, the performers were very good despite their age."
