Sing-ing Sunday: Concerts I Wish I Attended

I'm starving for a good concert. Since the most recent one I had watched left an aftertaste in my mind.



ACJC choir's annual concert, unknown year. Although the recording quality is bad, you can tell the choir is pretty good.



World Youth Choral Festival 2008, held in Singapore. I heard the junior college choirs were very good.



Raffles Chorale (RJC) Vocal Exploits. This makes for a very unconventional and refreshing concert opening number! Clapping Music by Steve Reich (1972), by the way. Very famous minimalist composer.



Vocal Consort, unknown year. Too bad this is another badly taken video. I always liked the way Mr Kwei interprets Asian and especially Chinese songs.

Sing-ing Sunday

This is our blog's 100th post!

The following are a few clips of local polytechnic and university choirs. Enjoy...

NTU Choir.

Doesn't everybody love Sisters Act. Fast forward to 3:53 for a Sisters Act medley.



Ngee Ann Polytechnic. This is my first time listening to a polytechnic choir, actually.



And here's NP's LinkaGe.

Sing-ing Sunday

I quite like the piece, for its harmonies.

Sing-ing Sunday: Most viewed choral videos

As the title suggests, I did a quick search on youtube for "singapore choir" and found the following to be the most viewed videos of school choirs.

No. 5: Victoria Chorale (2,827 views)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfpNvijouPo (embedding was disabled, so you'll have to access the webpage)

I guess alumni choirs count? And I sang that song before (for Christmas carolling, what else).

In Dulci Jubilo.

No. 4: TKSS Bin Nam Ma (3,515 views)



I didn't hear Bin Nam Ma during this year's SYF! Haha.

No. 3: ACJC Winter Wonderland (4,632 views)



Sadly, the recording quality isn't very good for this video. The choir seems to sound pretty good, though.

No. 2: Combined Primary School choir (5,508 views)



Wow, that's a record number of people on stage.

And presenting, the most viewed Singapore school choir video on youtube...

...

No. 1: NJC Ave Verum Corpus (19,545 views!!!)



I suppose the numbers are especially high because many people would search for Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus.

I wanted to post the top 5 least viewed school choir videos too, but found that it's very hard to find the least viewed videos, because of the search engine. After page X showing videos with close to zero views, page X+1 will have videos with tens of hundreds of views again -.-

Oh well. Maybe I will save that for another week, when I figure out how to work around this glitch! Till then.

Sing-ing Sunday: Debussy

I think this is a good arrangement and rendition of Debussy's Trois Chansons (which includes Dieu qu'l la fait bon regarder! and Yver, vous n'estes qu'un villain) for trombone quartet. Very lovely brassy sounds.

While I can't find any videos of Singaporean choirs singing Dieu qu'l la fait bon regarder!, many school choirs have sung Yver.



Here is NJC choir's version of Yver, vous n'estes qu'un villain.

Sing-ing Sunday: Boy Band-ish

Nice!

Sing-ing Sunday: More Showpieces

The dramatic:



Rhythmically driven. I got a question. Do the shouts, glissando and irregular rhythms in the song require Sprechstimme (speech-level singing)?

The "bourgeois":



By Maurice Ravel (start listening from 4:30).

VERY HARD SONG.

The cinematic:



Take me away. Another very tough song.

All are very good, as the title of this post suggests, showpieces. Perfect for scoring marks for artistry and technique.

JC SYF is in nine days! All the best to the choirs...

Sing-ing Sunday: SYF

Here are some pieces which have been used for SYF competitions in the past. Thought that I'd do this, since the SYF season for choirs is about to start.

The pieces may very well be re-used this year, I'm sure...



I've shown this before in an earlier post. Catchy rhythms.



Of course, the ever-popular Pamugun by FF Feliciano. Technically hard because of its speed. I pity the Bass 1s who have to sing syncopated rhythms at more than 120 crotchet beats per minute.

I can't find a better local recording of this song for some strange reason. This one's quite out of tune at parts. But in my opinion being out of tune is more forgivable in this song. Have you heard gamelan ensembles in tune?? Hence, my point!



Bin Nam Ma by Alberto Grau. The choreography is written in the score, by the way. Again, I can't find many other school choir recordings of this song on youtube, strange.



Not a common competition song choice, I suppose, but Eric Whitacre compositions are very well-liked by Singaporean school choirs, so here's goes.

The low C# at the end of the song requires inborn talent to be produced.



Mamayog Akun. When I was still in school I thought this was a risky choice for a competition song. Too short, not much of a climax, and it's a 'so what's the point?' kind of song. The score has little annotations, if I recall correctly, no articulation marks, almost no 'hairpins' and accents, only the occasional dynamic change.

But after listening to this version (OK, I cheated. This isn't by Singaporeans), I like this song now! This song requires brilliant interpretation to pull off, else it will sound really bland.



Singaporean choirs LOVE filipino compositions. Another show piece by Feliciano. The UST singers have big voices, I like their loud songs a lot! This version is very robust and resonant!



Iddem Dem Mallida. This interpretation is very different from my personal one. This one has less nuances and more hard-hitting.



With a Lily in Your Hand, by Whitacre. I should rename this post as "Filipino and Whitacre works" already...

Sing-ing Sunday

I'm rather amused by the context of the performance.

Sing-ing Sunday: Army Cool

Nothing very fantastic here, but I guess it's different when you're wearing No. 3 while beatboxing haha.


The clip unfortunately lops off a bit of the song. Oh well.

The above are some of the very few clips I could find by the SAF MDC (Music and Drama Company). I am just curious to know what are the results of two years of National Service at MDC.

I believe the MDC Choir holds an annual public concert every year, and its a cappella groups, or Vocal Ensemble as I gather from its official website, apparently do mini performances on demand, as illustrated by the clips above, taken at Pioneer Junior College.

For a group that is supposed to practise every weekday (albeit in camp), they have astonishingly few public appearances, if its official website's calendar of events is fully accurate. I wonder why...

Sing-ing Sunday

Dunman Secondary School Choir Tour 2007

For a choir this young - members are only 13 to 16 years old - the sound is really solid and vibrant (although I suppose the acoustics of the room helped, too).

Of particular interest to some will probably be the final piece performed in this video: Sarba Dance On A Chair by Alexandru Pascanu. Many nice harmonic progressions there.

Sing-ing Sunday: A Few Student A Cappella Groups

I suppose the group is from Sheares Hall, NUS? A lighthearted cover version of a popular song by The Corrs, if slightly pitchy.



Also from Sheares Hall.



Now, we have Kent Ridge Hall. "Hitori" was originally by The Gospellers, an a cappella pop group from Japan.

Extra:



By... some Temasek Secondary School students! Their energy and tight sound (coming from youths 13-17 years old) put many other a cappella groups to shame! :O



More from Temasek A Cappella Group (TAG). Visually simple yet good! The two tall chaps frame the three shorter girls in the background. I digress, but isn't visuals an essential part of live performances :)

TAG is an optional CCA in Temasek Secondary School. Cool...

Sing-ing Sunday: Studio Ghibli Magic

I am partial towards anything by Studio Ghibli, which produced much loved and acclaimed animation films such as Spirited Away (won Best Animation Film award at the Academy's), Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and very recently, Ponyo On the Cliff By The Sea (LOL). Hence, I immediately loved this song! This choral arrangement, sung by St. Nicks Choir, is very simple and stays true to the feel to the original song.

The song's composed by Joe Hisaishi, by the way. He's a very good film score composer.



Itsumo Nando Demo. Composed and originally sung by Yumi Kimura. This is the end credits song to Spirited Away. I remember watching Victoria Junior College Choir perform this and a Final Fantasy X medley with very nice video footage to accompany each piece way back in 2004. Magical.

The above is by VS Choir. For their SYF Presentation in 2005.

Sing-ing Sunday 4

This week, we present Victoria Chorale, singing Stabat Mater by Alberto Grau.

I like the composition for it kept me interested all the way from the start to the end. A simple rhythmic motif heard at the beginning of the piece develops organically into what may sound like a succession of unrelated melodies and textures, but all of these are actually derived from the motif.

Dissonances, or clashing notes that don't sound 'in tune', so to speak, are reference to "sad and afflicted" Mary who watched Him be crucified.

The choreography is written out in the score. I suppose, correct me if I am wrong, it is a visually abstract reference to the crucification and to some extent Mary's emotions as well.

Interesting, how the meanings contained in the text are conveyed through sounds and visuals.

Sing-ing Sunday 3

Hi guys!

We actually attended the NUS choir concert yesterday night. We'll post about it pretty soon :)

Anyway, here's today's feature!

Here's the a cappella group, Equinox, singing a Hokkien piece, Jit Lang Jit Pua, inspired by the popular Singaporean movie, 881. It's not pitch perfect, but the arrangement and style's pretty interesting to listen to! My only qualm is the balance, but enjoy! :)

'Sing'-ing Sunday 2

Hi guys,

Ok, with the NUS choir having their concert next week, here's a good time to feature them!

They did really well at the Grand Prix in St Petersburg last year, and here's a recording of Eric Whitacre's "With a Lily in your Hand" performed at the said competition.




It may be a little too much of Mr Whitacre, but the concert on 21 Feb will primarily feature his works! Most of us will be going so... See you there!

'Sing'-ing Sunday 1

Hi guys,

We're starting this new section of our blog called 'Sing'-ing Sunday, showing you guys clips of our 'Sing'-apore a cappella groups or choirs doing what they do best - singing!

This week we've got 3 vids, all of them choirs haha, we'll try to add some a cappella groups next week (hint to cheej to send me some links)

First off, admittedly one of the best choirs in Singapore and internationally acclaimed at various competitions, including the prestigious Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod - the Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) Choir. Here, they sing one of their hallmarks in the local choral scene, Soleram arr. by Fabian Obispo. A slow Malay folk-song, simple but rife of emotion. They sang this piece in the Cathedral of Bratislava at far-away Slovakia. The recording isn't very clear so I can't really comment on the singing.. =S



Next up, is a piece i truly enjoy. Most choristers in Singapore would have had the chance to at least sing one of American composer, Eric Whitacre's pieces. Be it the wintry "Sleep" or the crazy "Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine", Mr Whitacre's works are vastly popular amongst Singapore's conductors. Here, Raffles Chorale (Raffles Institution Junior College/RIJC), which has been very successful in overseas competitions, most recently, the Festival of Songs in Olomouc 2008, perform Lux Aurumque, a latin translation of a poem by Edward Esch at the said Festival:

Light,
warm and heavy
as pure gold,
and the angels
sing softly to the
newborn babe.

- Edward Esch

They started off a little flat, and the basses were a little flat (and too loud imo). They recovered and the chords glistened. Towards the end, the upper voices were gradually getting flatter @ the final section (slow & soft). Chords didn't quite lock in there too, but overall, very beautiful interpretation with glittering sounds.




Lastly, we have a piece called "Salve Regina" performed by Tampines Junior College (TPJC) choir. The blend is not too bad, they went slightly off-tune at some parts but not a bad attempt. The male voices aren't fully developed, which kinda let to the slightly flat start but they recovered. Enjoyed the fugal bit in the middle.

Do comment!



---UPDATE: Updated the name of the sch for Salve Regina as contributed by Anonymous, whom I assume knows Han Rui haha. Thanks again!