Events
Sonic Thread
Sunday school / livecoding performance
This Sunday we are happy to host a livecoding workshop session with some of the rising practioners.
This workshop will dive into
- Puredata audio programming
- Hydra - a web based visual synthesizer
- Workflow and philosophy of electronic music composition.
Furthemore, we will also have livecoding performance from our instructors with many local coders.
Sonic Mirage
The conflict of coexistence between acoustic and artificial sonic materials has long been explored and studied by the pioneers of electronic music, from the early Musique Concrète and Elektronische Musik compositions to modern-day sonic arts. This sonic conflict, boasting vastly different-yet-so-similar sound sources, still fascinates sonic venturers to these days. The developed digital algorithms have allowed us to create a complex modeling system of acoustic systems, and similarly, the extension of musical instruments has also allowed us to imitate the most complex synthesis algorithms.
The SM Performance ensemble will explore the various auditory illusion phenomena by manipulating sonic particles from acoustic and electronic sources in the digital realm. The program features the performers in ensemble and solo settings for the sonic presentation by each member of the ensemble.
To this end, we ponder about the complex relationship between humans and machines –
What is the role of technology to the artist?
Who is the collaborator or antagonist?
When we lose our chance to control the music, is it still your music?
Kembang Mara: A Gathering of Flowers
Surround yourself in the mystical sounds of the gamelan as the Singa Nglaras Gamelan Ensemble presents a collection of music and poetry inspired by the beauty of flowers, reflecting the Javanese culture’s deep relationship with the natural world.
Gold Star Music International Music Competition Grand Final 2024
Participating as one of the finalists under the Ensemble 35 & Under category.
Treefall
Inspired by the philosophical thought experiment: “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around, does it make a sound?”, I have extended its application to the aural experience and perception through deliberating on the question’s literal object: tree. On perception, the symbol of a fallen tree is also associated with the awareness/ignorance of climate change – as media consumers, our awareness is controlled by what we know. Certain climate change phenomena are widely debated, while others go undetected. To that end, this discrepancy in perception has prompted me to create Treefall, an interactive installation that responds to audience interactions.
Audiences are given various coloured cups to place on various sensors on the interaction table. These cups symbolises the different forms of reconstruction/destruction happening around the world. Audiences also have the choice to undo their actions or leave their props on the table. In either case, audiences turn into global manipulators to change the way they want to shape the world, and in this installation, influence the sonic and visual experience for an indefinite time until the next audience interacts with it. The dilemma of perception then comes in play – when there is no one around, the installation will continue to evolve gradually, but who will be there to witness it, just like course of nature without human interactions?
Expert Interpreter Recital: Carolin Ralser
Each year an expert in contemporary music performance works with students from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory’s composition department. This year flutist Carolin Ralser led presentations and workshops with students to develop their works. In this concert, Ms. Ralser presents the finished works.
LEE YI XUAN
Flute Solo from Wind Quartet
XIAO WEN
(ve) from th_ri(ve)
ONG PING DIN
con:flux for Flute and Electronic Playback
ANYAMANEE PHAKHAPONWIWAT
Dukkha from Four Stages of Mind
CHUA ZI TAO
Duet for solo flute
JELLAL KOAY LOONG CHUEN
Jet Whistle for Flute and Electronics
TOUCH 2024: Celebrating Diversity
TOUCH is an annual flagship concert by NUS Piano Ensemble, presenting our members’ outstanding talents and contributions, and bringing our artform to the public outside of NUS.
The theme of TOUCH 2024 is diversity – in recognition of female and lesser known composers and compositions around the world. The programme includes works such as Con Ga Rung and Trong Com by Vietnamese composer Dang Huu Phuc, and iconic compositions such as the 4th movement of the Huang He Concerto by Chinese composer Xian Xing Hai. Additionally, this concert will also witness a special World Premiere by a very special local composer!
Purchase tickets here: https://nuscfa.bigtix.io/booking/NUSTOUCH/quantity?salesLinkCode=NUSTOUCH
Soundbites: Les Eclats du Son
Visiting ensemble les éclats du son premieres works written by YST composition students. The ensemble, founded in 2002 by members Sebastian Voltz and Max Riefer, has performed numerous contemporary works on festivals in the Ukraine and Russia as well as its native region of Saarland, Germany.
JELLAL KOAY
/mute
RACHEL AOW
Win(g/d)s
ZI TAO CHUA
for piano and vibraphone
LIN SSU TING
residual resonances
ONG PING DIN
re:set
20 Years of Nglaras
An evening of Javanese Gamelan music and dance, celebrating 20 years of the NUS Singa Nglaras Gamelan Ensemble.
nglaras verb: 1. to chill, to immerse in blissful non-productivity; 2. to harmonize, to be in tune, musically and with one another, and with cookies and cakes
We will be playing our favourite repertoire from our nglaras top 40 list on a full Javanese gamelan set with both pelog and slendro tunings (laras). We have invited special guests, musicians and dancers from Java, to better nglaras.
Do join us this evening and just, really, nglaras!
Free
NUS Singa Nglaras Gamelan Ensemble, with guests artists from Indonesia Angger WidhiAsmoro, Anon Suneko, and Dr. Dewi Cahya Ambarwati.
With musical contributions by students from SE2221
Organized and sponsored by the NUS Department of Southeast Asian Studies, with friendly support by Gamelan Asmaradana Ltd. and SKALA.
EMCC | Four Blank Walls: Experiments with Sound
Join us for the anticipated return of Four Blank Walls: Experiments in Sound, a new project by Centre for the Arts that aims to gather NUS students from different artistic backgrounds together to push the boundaries of conventional music, sound and art.
In this second edition, NUS students and alumni Aditya Joseph George, Parv Bhadra, Dinh Cao Tue, and Chua Zi Tao collaborate with Singaporean electronic sound artist Syafiq Halid to create a brand new production that showcases Southeast Asian diversity, seamlessly fusing electronic beats with traditional instruments. Through the collision, fusion, and reinterpretation of Southeast Asian traditions, the production reflects on the importance of listening to one another in a space (region) filled with varied voices.
This unique fusion is the result of an immersive collaboration and workshopping process that took place over six-weeks. Secure your tickets now for an evening filled with musical innovation and creative exploration.
https://www.eventbrite.sg/e/emcc-four-blank-walls-experiments-in-sound-tickets-772094333937
Soundbites: Fresh Perspectives
YST’s composition majors present a diverse and intriguing series of fixed media works made from sampling and signal processing and yielding a multi-channel listening experiment. The concert will showcase the unique and fresh perspectives of the next generation of young composers in Singapore.
ZI TAO CHUA
Distant Lines on a Nearby Shore
ESTENE CHEONG
Transcending
ALICIA CHANDRA
Circumambient Terrain
Sounding Climate Change
Presenting an innovative and captivating audiovisual experience: “Sounding Climate Change.” This groundbreaking performance seamlessly blends fixed media and live electronic music, channelling the urgent message of climate change through the region’s emerging Southeast Asian sound artists and composers.
HILDEGARD WESTERKAMPT
Talking Rain
ZI TAO CHUA
Distant Lines on a Nearby Shore
FENDI MAZALAN
Gelora Jalur Bunyi
CHOW JUN YAN
Awakening
NEAL FARWELL
Photographs of Water
LILI & YAN SAE
Days & Night
AINOLNAIM AZIZOL
Seed of Life (SOL) IV: Rest & Shelter
The Art of War Final Chapter
Introducing the Final Chapter to ‘The Art of War by Calista Liaw’—a highly-acclaimed multidisciplinary production that has enthralled full-house audiences at the Esplanade in its first two editions. This extraordinary series continues its exploration of curated philosophies from Sun Tzu’s renowned classic, 孙子兵法, offering a utopian fusion of contemporary Chinese chamber music, movement art, and haute couture—a visual spectacle unlike anything seen before in Singapore.
In its third edition, the program revisits the World Premiere of four commissioned Chinese chamber works titled ‘计Laying Plans’, ‘战Waging War’, ‘省Introspection’, and ‘翌March On’. Each movement is a tribute to selected quotes from Sun Tzu’s genius, and a metaphoric narrative of Calista’s relationship with Art and Life, performed by an outstanding team of established artists of diverse disciplines. An emblem of her deep-rooted passion for Chinese arts and culture, ‘The Art of War’ series serves as her inaugural masterpiece to tell her story.
B-L Duo: Student Composition Recital
The B-L Duo, comprising Singapore pianists Bertram Wee and Lynette Yeo, perform works by YST student composers.
ZI TAO CHUA
Scapes
NG XIN CI
Techno-echo
XIAO WEN
merry go where?
JELLAL KOAY
oMGgggG h0W dAR3 yoOouUwUu!!!!!1!
TOH YAN EE
On / In Key
JOAN TAN JING WEN
To drift, float, but never land
Composing Nature
The concert on Sunday 3 September concludes the third edition of the “Composing Nature” project, a summer course in musical composition open to students from all over the world, one of the few to be dedicated exclusively to percussion instruments. During the evening, the Art Percussion Ensemble directed by Massimo Pastore will present the musical pieces that the participants in the course, led by Giovanni Bonato and Stefano Bellon, composed inspired by the territory of Alpe Cimbra and its wonderful natural environments.
“Composing Nature” is a project realized in collaboration with the “C. Pollini” of Padua, the Municipality of Lavarone and the APT Alpe Cimbra. In this third edition, the project has seen good participation by composers from Italy and from abroad, each of whom has prepared the project of a piece of music to be concluded in Lavarone in the week preceding the concert.
LEONARDO ROSSI
Chiaroscuro 39
ALINA SILINA
Pastures of the Stars
ALESSIO PIRO
UFO on the Vigolana
EMMANUEL SÉJOURNÉ
Attraction
MATTIA PIZZATO
Resonance 01 (from the wind)
HENRY ZORDAN
Vers la lumier
TOMASZ GOLINSKI
Luminosity
ZI TAO CHUA
Nature Study No. 1
STEVE BERTO
Maudit ajout
ARTURO SUSANI
From the fog
IANNIS XENAKIS
Okho
The Art of War
In collaboration with Calista Liaw’s Multidisciplinary Production, I will be presenting an original composition for Chinese ensemble together with three other fellow composers
A utopian coalescence of contemporary Chinese chamber music, movement art directed by @ginlam, and haute couture by LONTESSA, presenting an unprecedented visual spectacle right here in Singapore. The program features the World Premiere of four newly commissioned Chinese chamber works titled ‘计Laying Plans’, ‘战Waging War’, ‘省Introspection’, and ‘翌March On’. Each movement is a tribute to selected quotes from Sun Tzu’s genius, and a metaphoric narrative of my relationship with Art and Life.
Soundbites
Students from the YST composition department present their recent pieces in collaboration with their classmate from the instrumental majors. This concert is guaranteed to be diverse and intriguing, showing off the unique and fresh perspectives of the next generation of young composers in Singapore.