Opening Night – Welcome Address
Dr Stephen Emmerson, Professor Bernard Lanskey
Professor Bernard Lanskey (Director, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory) delivers a welcome address and framing remarks to the 2009 Performers Voice Symposium (convened by Dr Anne Marshman). As part of the address, Dr Stephen Emmerson (Griffith Univesity, Queensland Conservatorium) juxtaposes Scarlatti’s Sonata in B minor (L33) and Brahms’ Intermezzo, B Minor Op 119 Pt 1 in a revealing demonstration of how artistic practice, scholarship and critical self-reflection may be realised through the act of performance.
Opening Night – Tembusu Evenings
Qin Li-Wei
The Tembusu is a hardy tree that is native to Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia. It can grow quite tall while its roots can reach deep into the ground. Its canopy of leaves provides welcome shade in this equatorial climate and its flowers exude a fragrance that grows stronger as the night deepens. Grown amongst pockets of garden around the island, the tree is often a gathering place for the young and old, friends and lovers. With all that had gone on beneath its shelter through the years, this long-lived tree would have collected enough special moments to last several lifetimes. Tembusu Evenings is a short suite that presents just a slice of these memories in music, and draws from the music temperaments of this part of Asia to tell the story of this majestic tree and the misty memories that surround it.
Opening Night – Ballade No. 2
Abigail Sin
The Ballade No. 2 in B minor is one of Liszt’s greatest compositions, an enormous canvas of colour and resonance. Written shortly after the monumental Piano Sonata in the same key, the Ballade No. 2 is similarly imbued with high-voltage drama, evoking a wide range of emotional states. As with the Sonata, Liszt continues to explore methods of thematic transformation in his Second Ballade, which gives the piece a sense of unity and coherence.
Opening Night – Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 20
Associate Professor Qian Zhou
In many ways, the Serenade in E minor for string orchestra was the first of a series of compositions, later to include the Enigma Variations for orchestra and the oratorio The Dream of Gerontius, which established Elgar as the most admired British composer since Henry Purcell. Elgar’s Serenade for Strings in E Minor [Op. 20] is performed by the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Strings led by Qian Zhou.
Opening Night – Schäppchenjagd
Dr Aiyun Huang
Schäppchenjagd is the German word for bargain hunting, but it is built off of the verb schappen, which means, “to grab”. The work is constructed in such a way that glimpses of musical events – processes or unfoldings of the material – are given but, in general, a full grasp of the event isn’t offered. One is left to piece together these glimpses and references into a meaningful whole.
Opening Night – Performers Voice Forum Discussion
Abigail Sin, Associate Professor Qian Zhou, Dr Aiyun Huang, Dr Anne Marshman, Dr Stephen Emmerson, Qin Li-Wei
Forum discussion from the opening night of the Performers Voice symposium (2009), moderated by symposium convenor Dr Anne Marshman, addressing creative and research practice in light of the themes Beyond the Score; Towards Performance; My Instrument – My Voice; and Asian Voices.
