The Philharmonic Winds‘ recent concert on the fifth day of Christmas in December featured three young talents, and a rising conductor, as part of its mission to promote Singaporean artists.
“This has always been our goal since our inception in 2000. Along the way, we have featured many local musicians as soloists too, but this time, we wanted to feature a few of them together as soloists to a put a bigger spotlight on them collectively,” said Adrian Cheong, president of the group.
Featuring solo works by Ralph Emmanuel Lim, Kang Chun Meng and Samuel Phua; the choir from Zhangde Primary School; and several concert surprises; the concert moves away from the “conventional” wind band concert that Philwinds used to present.
“We are constantly pushing the ideology that programme is critical. A lot of thought is needed before any programme comes together.”
“The musicians were invited to propose what they would like to play, and to be honest there were a lot of good music to choose from. In the end, difficult choices had to be made but it was always a collaborative decision to select music that would be a good showcase for the soloists, enjoyable for the audience and fits well into the overall programme of the concert,” he continued.
Through this concert, Philwinds hope that the soloists inspire the even younger audiences out there to always work hard and strive for excellence, and also to listen to a selection of music that are great pieces but rarely played in Singapore.
“But mostly, come and have fun with friends and family at our concerts, just like we do!”
A contributing editor at TBP.