Band of the Bukit Batok Community Club, West Winds, takes on an exciting repertoire of spectacular works on Sunday, under the batons of its music director ME6 Philip Tng Liat Peng, and guest conductor Col. Prateep Suphanrojn.
Hailing from Thailand, Col. Prateep is no stranger to West Winds, having worked with them for several projects over the past 15 years.
“I am very glad and excited for this opportunity once again – it feels like I am coming back home. This band is so special as they are able to switch between the timbres of symphonic band and orchestral styles professionally,” said Col. Prateep.
The first half of the concert will be led by music director ME6 Philip Tng, featuring Rossano Galante‘s ‘Transcendent Journey’, Masanori Taruya‘s ‘Tears Of The Princess Kushinada Flowing In Hii’, Ryan George‘s ‘Firefly’ and the classic Alfred Reed‘s ‘Armenian Dances Part 1’.
Col. Prateep will take the stage with West Winds in the second half, opening with Dmitri Shostakovich‘s Festive Overture. The band will also be performing two of his pieces, namely ‘Katen Korn’ with soloist Mr. Tontrakul Kaewyong, and ‘The Majesty’.
“Katen Korn is a piece that features the Thai folk musical instrument which is known as the PongLang. The PongLang contains 12 notes from the Pentatonic scale (E, G, A, C, D), and this work will show how 5 notes with minor key character can variate into various moods,” Col. Prateep said.
“The Majesty is a hymn tune that my friend Mr. Gary Kwang commissioned to write for the Bethany Church Ensemble. I feel that this music is a blessing to people, and also that the tune can be transcribed for symphonic band. I hope that this piece will bring the joy to the listeners,” he added.
Under the lead of Col. Prateep once again, West Winds will then close the musical extravaganza with Tchiakovsky‘s Symphony No. 4 – Finale.
A contributing editor at TBP.