Republic Polytechnic Wind Symphony celebrates its 20th anniversary with the 15th edition of its concert series ‘Symphonie De Republique (SDR)‘ on Wednesday, 20 September 2023 at The Republic Cultural Centre.
“The band has grown so much since its founding,” Muhamad Yusri, resident conductor of RPWS said.
“The yearly SDR concerts have provided an amazing platform to showcase the many talented members in the band and also the opportunity for us to connect with the audience in a musical experience. Participation in the Singapore International Band Festival (SIBF) has challenged the band to play at a much higher level and provided our members with the opportunity to really push themselves towards musical excellence. I am really proud of our members, past and present, for their determination and hardwork,” he added.
In this year’s concert edition, they will be joined by special guests – the Australian Youth Band (AYB), from Melbourne, Australia, and music director Richard O’Toole, who are on their Singapore concert tour.
“I was contacted by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) Band with the possibility of hosting the AYB during their trip to Singapore. I thought the opportunity would be a wonderful experience for the members of the RP Wind Symphony. Doing a joint concert together was a no brainer!” Yusri said.
The AYB will perform their selection of music, such as ‘Symphonic Soundtracks’, with music from ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’, Babe’, and ‘Fantasia’, the ‘Halo Theme’, and ‘Pirates of the Carribbean’.
For RPWS, they will be performing ‘Hymn to the Sun with the Beat of Mother Earth’ by Satoshi Yagisawa, ‘Ross Roy’, and ‘Twilight from Central Park’ by Toshio Mashima which features Joshua Soh on the flugelhorn.
“The conductor of AYB and I agreed that we should play a selection of our own programme and come together at the end for a couple of combined pieces. For RP Wind Symphony, I wanted to showcase our talented concertmasters, soloists, and members. I wanted the band to play meaningful and challenging pieces,” Yusri explained.
“For the combined band, we will be performing ‘Hands Across The Sea’ by John Philip Sousa and ‘ABBA: A Symphonic Portrait’, arranged by the conductor of the AYB, Mr. Richard O’Toole,” he added.
“I am very grateful for the continuous support by our Alumni and friends joining us for this concert and providing great examples, and inspirations for our members to play their best. See you there!”
A contributing editor at TBP.