With an aim to share their love of music with children, Singaporean conductor Kahchun Wong and Marina Mahler - the granddaughter of renowned composer Gustav Mahler - founded Project Infinitude.

Together with Child at Street 11 - a charity and pre-school for children from diverse and under-resourced backgrounds - the project provides an inclusive space for children to explore classical music.

#KahchunWong #MarinaMahler #GustavMahler #ProjectInfinitude #conductor #composer #ChildAtStreet11 #NurembergSymphonyOrchestra

For the Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear, Beethoven has been a lifelong project. Aged three, he listened to an entire 12-LP set of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in a day. At five he set to work on the symphonies.

Would this deep obsession give his Complete Beethoven Piano Concertos, with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Andrew Constantine, edge or distinction in a crowded market? Yes. The results are fleet-fingered, insightful and imaginative, capturing an essential sense of improvisation in the cadenzas (Goodyear is also a composer).

#beethoven #StewartGoodyear #composer #sonata #symphony #orchestra #concerto #AndrewConstantine #NationalOrchestraWales #improvisation

National anthem composer Zubir Said was actually commissioned by the City Council in 1958 to write a song for the reopening of the renovated Victoria Theatre.

In 1959, when the agreement on self-government was reached, the then Deputy Prime Minister, Toh Chin Chye, thought the song would be a good anthem.

But when it had to be shortened to serve that purpose, Zubir almost had his masterpiece taken from him.

“He hadn’t submitted his version yet. He found out … that someone else had done the shortening without his authority. And it wasn’t a good job,” relates emeritus professor of physics and former SSO board director Bernard Tan.

“He wrote … a very angry letter to (Minister for Culture) S Rajaratnam. And the day that he wrote the letter was the day that the bill for the national anthem was going to the Legislative Assembly. The bill was withdrawn.”

#ZubirSaid #NationalAnthem #composer #DoYouKnow

The dazzling UK-based Malaysian pianist Mei Yi Foo was recently in residence at the Conservatory, showcasing compositions by leading composers from Malaysia and Singapore, including works by YST faculty Chen Zhangyi, Adeline Wong, Chow JunYan, as well as Chung Shih Hoh, Joyce Koh, Americ Goh, Chie Tsang Lee, and Samuel Cho.

The performance was accompanied by a forum, where Foo and the composers illuminated on their work and artistic approach. Foo also shared her wisdom with our students in a chamber masterclass that proved to be both educational and enlightening.

#MeiYiFoo #yst #ystmusic #conservatory #ystconservatory #composer #masterclass #education