Full house for ST lunchtime concert for subscribers

The performance at the Victoria Concert Hall was led by SSO associate conductor Jason Lai.
The performance at the Victoria Concert Hall was led by SSO associate conductor Jason Lai. ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

For Straits Times subscriber Susan Loo, a lunchtime Singapore Symphony Orchestra concert was just the break she needed from her usual routine.

"Today is my day off so I could come and watch," said the residents' committee employee. "Otherwise, I would be at home doing other things."

Ms Loo, who is in her 50s, was one of 200 subscribers to receive a pair of tickets to The Straits Times Concert 2016, a 45-minute performance led by SSO associate conductor Jason Lai.

The giveaway was one of a series of events organised by the paper to reward and thank subscribers.

The performance at the Victoria Concert Hall played to a full house. Part of the free community concert series, Gift of Music, sponsored by Singapore Press Holdings, it featured music inspired by the works of William Shakespeare, as well as pieces by English composers Edward Elgar and George Butterworth.

Ms Loo said she found the concert entertaining, particularly Butterworth's orchestral idyll, The Banks Of Green Willow, which she enjoyed for the continuous changes in tempo. The performance also won praise from the younger members of the audience.

University student Yeam Cheng Teng, 24, who attended the concert as part of a research project for a Western music module, liked how the conductor took the time to explain the pieces to the audience.

"The music was good and the conductor was good," he said.

Straits Times editor Warren Fernandez said: "We hope to do more events of this sort to connect with, and thank, our loyal readers."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 02, 2016, with the headline Full house for ST lunchtime concert for subscribers. Subscribe