Opening Ceremony
PROGRAMME
Opening Speeches:
DR ADELINE WONG
Symposium Convenor
PROF TAN ENG CHYE
President, National University of Singapore
PROF PETER TORNQUIST
Dean, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music
STEVE REICH
Music for 18 Musicians
WILLIAM OVERCASH, violin
NATHAN WATTS, cello
STEPHANIE TAN and CHUA JAY ROON, clarinets
JONATHAN SHIN, KARST DE JONG, FRANCES LEE and NG KYE LIE pianos
AKIKO OTAO, ALISON WONG, HUNG RUO-CHING and ZHOU WENYUE, voices
JUNE HAHN, TANASIT SIRIPANICHWATTANA, DEREK KOH, CHEONG KAH YIONG, JOACHIM LIM, KUO YAN-SHIN, ISABEL CHIN and HSU ZIH-CIAO, percussion
PAUL COLEMAN, sound engineer
Installation: was wahr bleibt (what truth remains)
Everyone leaves behind traces. These traces need not be physical; they also reside in our memories, translating into our thoughts, behaviours, and future interactions with ourselves, others, and the world around us. Does what remain, remain true? Memories are deceptive. They change, fade, and are reshaped by time, emotions, and our own perception. What we believe to be true can be fragile, and what remains is often not what we expected.
was wahr bleibt | what truth remains explores the fallibility of memories and the traces one leaves behind. As visitors pass through the space, their silhouettes are captured and layered onto a looping video projection, distorting its original narrative. With each repetition, residual images of previous viewers accumulate, merging with those of the present. Over time, this continuous layering distorts the visual memory, raising a central question: Can what remains still be considered true?
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Joan Tan Jing Wen
(Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln)
Joan Tan Jing Wen is a Singaporean composer based in Cologne, Germany. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and a Master’s in Instrumental Composition from the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.
In a world where much sensory input is tuned out for the sake of everyday functioning, Joan seeks to create sonic experiences that encourage focused listening, guiding listeners through crafted auditory experiences that reflect upon and respond to their environments. She is fascinated by how attention constructs and distorts perception, shaping our experiences. Her music blends sound design, foley, and new music composition, occupying a liminal space between narrative-driven and material-driven listening. Recognisable sound sources are often distorted in her works, leaving behind crafted gestures and faint traces of what they once were.
Irene Tanuwidjaja
(Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln)
Irene Tanuwidjaja is an Indonesian composer who holds a Master of Music in Electronic Composition from the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, where she studied with Michael Beil as a DAAD scholar. She previously completed her bachelor’s degree at UPH Conservatory of Music, Indonesia, studying with Antonius Priyanto and Renardi Effendi.
Her work often begins with small gestural motions or fleeting visual moments drawn from subtle details in everyday life, sound and the cultural environments that have shaped her experience. These gestures transform into materials through which sensory experiences unfold, revealing the inner textures of sonic and visual materials.
Irene is also Artistic Director of Radarsuara, an Indonesian composer collective focused on sonic experimentation through creative practice and research rooted in local Indonesian landscapes. Her works have been presented by organisations and ensembles including Ensemble Mosaik, ZKM, Tacet(i) Ensemble, and at festivals across Indonesia and internationally.
Presentation Session 1
-
Venue: Ensemble Room 1
Moderator: Assoc Prof Ho Chee Kong15:30–16:15
In Betweenness
Dr Patrick Hartono
RMIT Vietnam16:15–17:00
"Why don't you just write an article?":
Reflecting on Composing Complex Music with Socially Engaged Texts
Prof Henrik Hellstenius
Norwegian Academy of Music -
Venue: Ensemble Room 2
Moderator: Assoc Prof Chen Zhangyi15:30–16:00
Interweaving Music Styles: Does Anyone Have A Guide?
Prof Talia Bachir-Loopuyt
Haute école de musique de Genève16:00–16:30
Interweaving Nusantara Identity and Avant-Garde Prepared Piano:
Timbre and Graphic Notation in Opal
Elliana Zakaria
Universiti Malaya16:30–17:00
Devotions (Lieb ohn alle Maße)
Wong Yong En
National University of Singapore
and
Leia Devadason
University of California, Berkeley
Pre-Concert Talk: Living Threads
Join conductor Lien Boon Hua and composer Dai Fujikura in a pre-concert conversation exploring Fujikura’s Green Tea Concerto and the wider concert programme, including the musical ideas, traditions and influences connecting the works.
SPEAKERS
DAI FUJIKURA
Composer
LIEN BOON HUA
Conductor, OpusNovus
Artist Faculty, YST Conservatory of Music
Opening Concert: Living Threads
Two works ask how music can move between cultures, technologies and the natural world. Dai Fujikura’s Green Tea Concerto brings the traverso into a contemporary setting of strings and harpsichord, allowing old instruments and new sensibilities to breathe together. Lou Harrison’s Piano Concerto brings the solo instrument into vivid dialogue with low brass, percussion, harp and strings, reflecting his singular synthesis of musical traditions.
Across the programme, sound becomes a current connecting past and present, human craft and the living environment.
PROGRAMME
DAI FUJIKURA
Green Tea Concerto
ERIC LAMB, solo flute
LIEN BOON HUA, conductor
CHIU PIN-HSIN, harpsichord
AUREITSEVICH NATALLIA and LIN YI-HSUAN, violins
KUNG YU-NING, viola
LIU YIDUO, cello
HUANG YUNG-TING, double bass
INTERLUDE
WAYAN RACHMAN, gender wayang
LOU HARRISON
Piano Concerto with Selected Orchestra
ALBERT TIU, solo piano
LIEN BOON HUA, conductor
ZHANG HANZHI, AUREITSEVICH NATALLIA, CHEN YI-TIEN, GAO WEI TINA, XU ZHUORUI and ZHAO TONGZHOU, violin I
LIN YI-HSUAN, NG EE-JUN, YIN CHEN ZIYUE, ANDREA LIN and JORIM SIM, violin II
KUNG YU-NING, LIU XUANYU, CLAUDIA KHANG LOO AN and CAITLIN CHIN KAI LI, violas
ASSENBAY ALAN, ZHU RUONING, LIU YIDUO and SHERZOD BAKHTIYOROV, cellos
HUANG YUNG-TING and LOEWE LIM LI TONG, double basses
LIU XIAOWEI, DON KOW and HENDRIK KWEK, trombones
CHRISTIAN DANIEL RAGAY BORRES, KUO YAN-SHIN, ISABEL CHIN CHUN EN and CAI JIAYING, percussion
ZENG YAN and CHARITY KIEW, harp
Late Night Sessions: Uncharted (I)
Uncharted brings improvisers together for two late-night sessions of spontaneous music-making, collaboration and unexpected encounters.
PROGRAMME
FRANZISKA SCHROEDER and ROBERT BURKE, saxophones
CHRIS STOVER, trombone
VANESSA TOMLINSON, percussion
KARST DE JONG, piano