Singapore, 15 December 2014 (Monday) – Renowned guzheng musicianfrom the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, Luo Xiao Xi, together with SCO’s percussionists Ngoh Kheng Seng and Xu Fan, will strum and drum up rhythms to set the scene for the new year! If you like guzheng and percussion, don’t miss Strumming & Drumming, on 16 & 17 January 2015, 8pm at SCO Concert Hall. SCO Resident Conductor Quek Ling Kiong conducts. Programme differs on both nights.
Luo Xiao Ci is a famous contemporary Chinese guzheng musician, National Class One Performer, vice president of the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra. She was the recipient of the “Top Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Shanghai” and “JESSICA Most Successful Women Award”. She began to learn guzheng at the age of 7 and embarked on her career as a professional performer after she graduated from Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 1997. She has performed numerous solo recitals in China and abroad, and released several solo albums. In her compositions, she is committed to drawing out and promoting modern sensibilities and meanings from the music of the traditional Chinese literati, coining the concept of “new literati music”, tightly integrating ethnicity, modernity and individuality to create and premiere a number of original musical works for guzheng that reflect the aesthetics of the modern Orient. In this concert, Luo Xiao Ci will present her compositions: The Rhythm – a guzheng and percussion piece with an ever-changing rhythmic juxtaposition and rich melody, in pursuit of an unbridled and uninhibited style. She will also showcase her crystal vocals and exquisite guzheng playing style with SCO dizi principal Yin Zhi Yang in Like A Dream duet (on 16 January’s concert) and perform with SCO cello principal Xu Zhong in Night Thoughts duet (on 17 January’s concert). Like A Dream was inspired by Li Qing Zhao’s popular short verse, combining the zheng solo with the performer’s own singing to portray the image of a misty spring dawn after the rain, and the sentiments of a poet who is still in the midst of intoxication. Night Thoughts combined the two distinctly independent voices of guzheng and cello, creating a seamless and touching portrayal of the theme of “longing”.
On the other hand, SCO percussionists Ngoh Kheng Sheng and Xu Fan will drum up the atmosphere with Ching Yiu-kwong’s The King of Qin in Battle and Zhang Yong Qin’s Ji Ji Feng, where you will see a fusion of Chinese and western percussion instruments, and a performance style that combines the modern and traditional, the Chinese and Western. Ngoh Kheng Seng joined SCO in 1997. He began his training at the age of 12 when he joined his secondary school marching band. In 1987, he was invited by Maestro Choo Hoey to freelance for the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Kheng Seng was the chairman of the National Youth Percussion Festival in 2001 – 2003. Xu Fan joined SCO in 2009 after graduated from China Central Conservatory of Music. He learned percussion techniques from his father since young. He joined Li Biao Percussion Group in 2005 and recorded a track for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games closing ceremony. Over the years, he has displayed his western and Chinese traditional percussion techniques skillfully in many performances.
To welcome the upcoming spring festive, SCO will also get you up in the festive atmosphere with Gu Guan Ren’s Spring Suite, Wang Chenwei’s We Sour, Lo Leong Fai’s Spring (16 Jan only) and Jiang Ying’s Impression of National Tunes, Daqu (17 Jan only).
Conductor: Guzheng: Percussion: Percussion:
Quek Ling Kiong Luo Xiao Ci Ngoh Kheng Seng Xu Fan
Xiao: Yin Zhi Yang (16 Jan) Cello: Xu Zhong (17 Jan)
Concert details:
Strumming & Drumming
Date: 16 & 17 January 2015 (Friday & Saturday)
Time: 8pm
Venue: SCO Concert Hall
Ticket Prices: $70, $60, $45/$30*, $30/$20* (exclude SISTIC fee)
Tickets from SISTIC
*Concession price
Programme differs on both nights. Purchase tickets to both nights’ concerts to enjoy 30% off!
Please contact Media Officers for more information, photographs and interviews.
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Koh Mui Leng
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