Page 21 - NAFA Annual Report 2017/2018

Stabat Mater

Under the direction of Maestro
Lim Yau, the NAFA Orchestra and
Chorus presented Gioachino Rossini’s
Stabat Mater which was described by
music critic Richard Osborne as
“a work with a complex provenance and
an unusual aesthetic.” Violinist Nattawat
Luantampol, Grand Prize Winner of the
NAFA-Kris Foundation Fund Concerto
Competition 2017, was the soloist for
Béla Bartók’s Violin Rhapsody No. 1.
The concert opened with Rossini’s
exuberant William Tell Overture.

Nanyang International
Music Competition 2017

Co-organised by the NAFA School of Music and Rave
Group Int’l, and supported by the Singapore Chinese
Orchestra, the inaugural Nanyang International Music
Competition (NIMC) took place over two weeks in July
2017. Featuring Western instruments in the first week and
Chinese instruments in the second, NIMC 2017 attracted
more than 800 musicians from around the Asia Pacific
region. NIMC 2017 sought to inculcate creative attitudes
and a spirit of curiosity and responsibility in young musicians
around the world. It provided a platform for these musicians
to challenge themselves to reach higher standards of
performance; fostered musical exchange within a supportive
community; and inspired participants to find a meaningful
sense of belonging in a community of like-minded people.

Workshops and masterclass sessions, presented by
the Artistic Panel or adjudicators, were also held for
the participants.

Singapore Saxophone

Symposium 2017

The Singapore Saxophone Symposium 2017 featured
concerts and masterclasses by international artistes such as
Chi Him Chik (Hong Kong), Alain Crepin (Belgium),
Joseph Lallo (Australia), Shyen Lee (Taiwan/Thailand),
Lars Mlekusch (Switzerland), Leslie Wong (Singapore),
Wong Tak Chiu (Hong Kong), Ding Zhang (China) and
Nikita Zimin (Russia). The Symposium seeks to foster and
encourage interest and passion for music, and in particular
the saxophone. The featured ensembles included the
Keuris Quartet, NAFA Saxophone Octet and the Singapore
Saxophone Symposium Ensemble. In conjunction with the
Symposium, NAFA organised a composition workshop
to guide young composers from the region to write
idiomatically and skilfully for the saxophone. The workshop
was conducted by composers Dr Chihchun Chi-sun Lee and
Michael Sidney Timpson, as well as Senior Music Lecturer HIGHLIGHTS
and Head of Composition Studies at NAFA, Dr Goh Toh Chai.

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