About 12,000 secondary school students to attend live professional concerts by end-2024
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By the end of 2024, close to 12,000 students are expected to have attended a live music performance as part of this initiative.
ST PHOTO: HESTER TAN
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SINGAPORE - Only one student out of a class of 37 raised his hand when Deyi Secondary School music teacher Ho Si Liang asked them if they had been to a classical concert.
On May 21, as part of an effort by schools to broaden musical exposure for students, she took her Secondary 2 class to watch a one-hour concert led by conductor Jason Lai at Victoria Concert Hall.
They are among lower secondary students from 22 schools who are attending performances by the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra or the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in May.
The performances will be held at Victoria Concert Hall and Yong Siew Toh Concert Hall.
By the end of 2024, close to 12,000 students are expected to have attended a live music performance as part of this initiative.
The Performance Arts-Based Learning initiative
It was first piloted in 2023 at 22 secondary schools.
An MOE spokeswoman said the music syllabus was refreshed in 2023 to place greater emphasis on the experience of music through listening, creating and performing activities.
It also provides opportunities for students to engage with music from local and global cultures both in and outside the classroom.
As part of the refreshed syllabus, students will have the chance to attend at least one live music performance produced and staged by professional local performing arts groups, featuring music pieces by local and overseas composers.
They will also engage in lessons related to the performance before and after they attend the concert.
The spokeswoman said the programme aims to deepen “students’ appreciation for live music performances (and) cultivate their sense of curiosity and pride towards local music, musicians and performance venues”.
It is also meant to strengthen their ability to make connections between classroom music learning and arts experiences beyond school, she said.
The costs of students’ tickets to these performances are covered by MOE and the National Arts Council.
To prepare her students for a concert on May 20, East Spring Secondary School music teacher Clara Sng taught them about performance etiquette and how they should behave as part of the audience at a concert.
East Spring Secondary School music teacher Clara Sng (centre) attending a musical performance with her students, Seah Jun Hui Xavier and Myra Nur Nisrina, on May 20.
ST PHOTO: HESTER TAN
She also tried to draw connections between one of the concert pieces and something that students would be familiar with.
“The piece that I chose was Ma Vlast, (which is) about the river in the Czech Republic. So I likened that to our Singapore River,” she said, adding that she wanted students to understand why the Czech composer Bedrich Smetana composed music about Vltava, the longest river in the Czech Republic.
Ms Sng, who is head of the school’s craft and technology department, said this initiative helps to widen students’ experiences with music and foster an appreciation for the arts, as watching such performances would be a first for many of her students.
“We want to tell them that concerts like these can be enjoyed by anyone, young and old, and we’re starting them young. For my students who are already in music CCAs (co-curricular activities) and performing arts CCAs, hopefully it will inspire them and get them to pursue their talents and interests, post-secondary.”
One of her students, Myra Nur Nisrina, 14, said she enjoyed learning about the music pieces in school before watching the concert, and liked a piece called Rain Tree by local composer Chen Zhangyi.
“It’s very interesting to see a local Singaporean write orchestra music. The ones that I hear are usually from other countries,” said the Secondary 2 student.
Her classmate, Xavier Seah, 14, said he enjoyed listening to the live performance of Ma Vlast at Victoria Concert Hall.
“When they play the music in front of you, it gives you a sense that the music is alive as compared (with) watching pre-recorded music, which does not have the same feeling.
“This first concert experience is very memorable, and I would like to go for more.”
Correction note: This story has been edited for clarity.
