Welcome to my
world of music.
For all those 'rockers' out there...be
warned...me like CLASSICAL MUSIC!
I first picked up the flute in 1990 while I was
still in secondary 3. I have been playing it since then!
Currently I study the flute under Mr Goh Tiong Eng, who is
with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the flute forming
the practical musicianship component of my Music studies
at NIE. I have also been taught by Mr Goh's colleague,
Mr Evgueny Brokmiller, whom I thought gave me good lessons
on foundation, something which I realised that was lacking
in my playing all these years.
The piccolo is a smaller version of the flute, and sounds
an octave higher. The higher notes of the piccolo would
usually sound very shrill, and potentially deadly to one's
ears in the hands of ... a wrong person :)
This is exactly the reason that prompted a fellow
colleague on my FLUTE mailing list to refer to the
piccolo as the "deathstick".
Hence the title of my webpage!
I also play the oboe (and its relative the english horn).
I keep myself occupied with being in these instrumental
ensemble groups in Singapore. Please visit their
individual websites if you would like more information
about the groups themselves.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SYMPHONIC BAND
I have been a member of this band since 1992, since my Junior
College days. The conductor of this band is my long-time
mentor and teacher, Assoc. Prof Ho Hwee Long, whom I have
known from Junior College. The band's membership averages out
to about 70 to 80 members, and we perform two concerts
annually. I play the piccolo/flute here.
I joined this band in December 1995 after having moved to
Bukit Batok from Jurong West. The band is based at the
Bukit Batok Community Club and meets there to rehearse
every weekend. We are a smaller group of around 40 to 50
players, mostly around late teens to early 30s in age
range (not suggesting that we don't accept any
members younger or older than that!). The conductor for
this band is Captain Philip Tng, who is also the
Senior Director of Music for the Singapore Armed Forces Bands.
Here I play mostly the piccolo, with the occasional doubling
on the flute, oboe and english horn.
BRADDELL HEIGHTS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
This group is the only symphony orchestra at community
level, and I am glad to be part of it ever since 1997. We
play an average of about four concerts per year and
rehearse once every week. The music director of this
orchestra is Mr Yan Yin Wing, who has been with the
orchestra ever since its inception. Our members come
from many parts of the world - Japan, China, United
Kingdom, etc, and are mostly expatriates working
in Singapore. I play principal flute here.
I am one of the founding members of this ensemble,
which essentially an orchestra when everyone's assembled
together. Currently the Wind Ensemble is the active
component and we have already put up two public
concerts since our inception in February 2000. The aim
of this ensemble is to play music of a more "serious"
nature with regards to standard "band music". The conductor
of this ensemble is a personal friend of mine, only a
year younger than I am, Adrian Tan. I play the flute
and piccolo here.
NEXUS WIND QUINTET
I met this group of friends through the Paradigm Ensemble -
we were assembled for a performance of the Poulenc
Sextet for Winds and Piano, and have stuck together
ever since. The members are the following:
Mohd Rasull (flute)
Frankie Toh (oboe)
Tay Kai Tze (clarinet)
Xie Xiushan (horn)
Daniel Aw Yong Tian (bassoon)
with
Albert Lin (piano)
At the time of writing, we are preparing for our
first public recital as a quintet, after having played
for a few other performances, the major one being
Albert's own piano recital at the Victoria Concert Hall,
Singapore. We seek to promote the genre of wind
quintet music, whether it be playing or appreciating it,
especially amongst the younger generation of
musicians in Singapore.
(A website will be created soon! Stay tuned.)
I've only recently been "recruited" to join this group
in recent months and have performed for quite a number
of concerts with them. They play a variety of repertoire
from serious classical transcribed works to new compositions
for symphonic band. The Wind Symphony is known to be
of a high standard, and it has won several international
awards, particularly a First Prize in Second Division at
the World Music Contest at Kekrade, Holland. The band
is preparing for the 2001 World Music Contest, where it
will participate in the First Division this time round.
I play the oboe and english horn with this group.
WHOA!
Even I've had a mouthful trying to describe all
my music-making activities.
It doesn't stop there though!
How do I find the time for all these?
Well...I manage, somehow.