Singaporean violinist Siow Lee Chin will be playing at the New York's Carnegie Hall on 8 February and this time it is said that the artiste will concentrate on Singaporean music. It has been 26 years since the maestro took over the century-old concert hall.
According to the report, the 50-year-old violinist will be playing tracks by Singaporean Cultural Medallion recipient Kam Kee Yong and budding composer Yao Chen, in the widest repertoire of Singaporean and Chinese music that she had ever performed. Siow said that she is "thrilled" and looking forward to premiere Kam's Kuang Xiang Qu (Chinese Rhapsody) in the United States, according to Straits Times.
"His pieces evoke lots of Impressionist colours," Siow said, while talking about Kam's work during an interview, as reported. Kam, who is now 78 years old, has also been a close friend of her late father, Siow Hee Shun, who was also a violinist in Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
When asked about his expectations from Siow, while she performs his music, Kam said: "I am truly touched by Lee Chin's keen interest in performing my work, Kuang Xiang Qu, at Carnegie Hall."
In the show, Kuang Xiang Qu will be the Asian counterpoint to French composer Maurice Ravel's Tzigane, and will help her to highlight the "yin and yang of her musical experiences". Other artists who will be performing that evening at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall are Russian pianist Svetlana Smolina and French eurythmic artist Gabrielle Armenier.
Siow will also be performing a solo work written for her by Yao, associate professor of composition at Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music, in the New York premiere of Air, which made its world debut at the 2015 City of London Festival. It takes inspiration mainly from the two musical compositions: J.S. Bach's violin for the church-tone qualities and Eugene Ysaye's solo sonatas for the romantic lines.
Classical music magazine American Record Guide describes Siow, who was the first Singaporean admitted to the world-renowned Curtis Institute at the age of 15, as "a distinguished cultural asset of international stature". Lee Chin has collaborated with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony, to name a few.
