The Singapore Chamber Music Festival 2024 ends off with a gala concert of chamber music, showcasing the best and brightest of the SCMF Academy; past SCMF Chamber Academy participants who have gone on to become chamber musicians, teachers and pedagogues; and a coming together of the Artists and Coaches in a wonderful celebration of friendships and music-making.

The Dvořák piano duets in this concert also pay tribute to the late Dennis Lee, one of the finest and pioneer proponents of chamber musicians in Singapore, most fondly remembered for piano duets with his wife Toh Chee Hung.

INTRADA (7:10pm, Atrium)

Suite Impromptu - Andre Lafosse
I: Epithalame

Suite Americana - Enrique Crespo
I: Ragtime
III: Vals Peruano

Harmony Brass
Nur Imaan Binte Zulkiffli (trumpet)
Yong Yi Ting Amanda (trumpet)
Koh Zi Lin Krystal (horn)
Hu Shaozhen (tenor trombone)
Benjamin Xavier Lim (bass trombone)

CONCERT PROGRAMME

Joseph Haydn
String Quartet in G major, Op. 9 No. 3
I. Allegro moderato

Pythagoras Quartet
Mark Chia (violin)
Chua Suen Ern (violin)
Kaden Khew (viola)
Jayden Qin (cello)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Horn Quintet in E-flat major, K. 407
I. Allegro

Kartik Alan Jairamin (horn)
Ng Wei Ping (violin)
Thaddeus Chung Yu (viola 1)
Judy Tay (viola 2)
Theophilus Tan (cello)

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 1 in F major, Op. 18 No. 1
I. Allegro con brio

Jurong String Quartet
Neville Ang (violin)
Lim Hao Wei (violin)
Placida Ho (viola)
Olivia Chuang (cello)

Felix Mendelssohn
String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13 No. 2
I. Adagio – Allegro vivace

Pandan Quartet
Eleanor O’ Brien (violin)
Sébastien Tsai (violin)
Holly Bogle (viola)
Madeleine Hearn (cello)

Alfred Schnittke
Piano Quartet

Tang Tee Tong (violin)
Christoven Tan (viola)
Leslie Tan (cello)
Cherie Khor (piano)

– Intermission –

Antonín Dvořák
Slavonic Dances for Piano Duet, Op. 72
II. Dumka: Allegretto grazioso
Slavonic Dances for Piano Duet, Op. 46
VIII. Furiant

Toh Chee Hung (piano)
Kosuke Akimoto (piano)

Johannes Brahms
Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor Op. 60
III. Andante
IV. Allegro comodo

Toh Chee Hung (piano)
Jonathan Ong (violin)
Martin Peh (viola)
Leslie Tan (cello)

Felix Mendelssohn
String Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20,
IV. Presto

Edward Tan (violin)
Kyoko Ogawa (violin)
Yang Shuxiang (violin)
Kim Kyu Ri (violin)
Martin Peh (viola)
Jeremy Chiew (viola)
Yu Ito (cello)
Lin Juan (cello)

Continuing along the festival's theme of Connect, Share, and Celebrate, this concert brings together all featured artists playing in different combinations to present an exciting programme of works from Mozart to Tchaikovsky.

Old friendships are renewed and new friendships are forged as the artists connect during rehearsals, sharing their ideas and working out how to incorporate these into the music.

Experience the classical proportions of Mozart's lively oboe quartet and the drama of Shostakovich's piano quintet.

Programme

Mozart
Oboe Quartet in F Major, K.370
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Rondeau: Allegro

Shostakovich
Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57
I. Prelude
II. Fugue
III. Scherzo
IV. Intermezzo
V. Finale

Intermission

Mendelssohn
String Quartet Op.44 No.2
III. Andante
II. Scherzo: Allegro di molto

Tchaikovsky
String Sextet in D Minor "Souvenir de Florence", Op. 70
I. Allegro con spirit
II. Adagio cantabile e con moto
III. Allegretto moderato
IV. Allegro con brio e vivace

Featuring

Joost Flach (Oboe)
Yang Shuxiang (Violin)
Jonathan Ong (Violin)
Jeremy Chiew (Viola)
Leslie Tan (Cello)

Concordia Quartet
Edward Tan (Violin/Viola)
Kim Kyu Ri (Violin)
Martin Peh (Viola)
Lin Juan (Cello)

Aoi Trio
Kyoko Ogawa (violin)
Yu Ito (cello)
Kosuke Akimoto (piano)

Newly-appointed piano faculty member Ning An fronts this concert in a programme of Romantic solo and chamber works, collaborating with Albert Tiu in Rachmaninoff's Suite for Two Pianos, and reuniting with old friends and current YST Conservatory Faculty colleagues Qian Zhou (violin), Qin Liwei (cello) and Zhang Manchin (Viola).

Programme

Chopin

Berceuse in D-flat major, Op. 57

Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op. 60

Mazurka in F minor, Op 68. No. 4
In memory of Russell Sherman (1930-2023)

Rachmaninoff
Suite for 2 pianos, Op. 17

Intermission

Schumann
Piano Quartet in E-flat Major Op. 47

Featuring

Ning An (piano)
Albert Tiu (piano)
Qian Zhou (violin)
Zhang Manchin (viola)
Qin Li-Wei (cello)

First prize winner of the 2018 ARD Music Competition in Germany, Aoi Trio is the most celebrated piano trio from Japan. They open the SCMF 2024 Concert Series with a programme spanning the globe, from the earliest days of the piano trio as a chamber combination, to a contemporary trio by Toshio Hosokawa, that explores the world of shamanism, and closing with the most important works of the piano trio canon, Dvorak's Piano Trio No. 3, op.65.

Programme

Mozart
Piano Trio No.1, K.254

Toshio Hosokawa
Trio (2013)

Dvořák
Piano Trio No.3, Op. 65

Featuring

Aoi Trio
Kyoko Ogawa (violin)
Yu Ito (cello)
Kosuke Akimoto (piano)

Special thanks to MK Memorial, Japan for their support of this concert.

Post-Concert Chat

There will be a post-concert chat right after the concert with Festival Director Mervin Beng, festival artist Jonathan Ong and Kazumi W. Minoguchi, Professor at Tokyo University of the Arts and pioneer Programme Director of Suntory Chamber Music Academy.

All are invited to stay on for this 20-minute session.