On 22 November 2020, the SSO held its first live community concert at Our Tampines Hub (OTH) as part of the SSO In Your Community concert series. This marks the first SSO community concert performance since 15 March 2020, the day SSO dedicated a concert to frontline workers at Gardens by the Bay.
It was a cosy Sunday for a little evening music as residents and guests from Tampines streamed into the Festive Arts Theatre at OTH. They were treated to a repertoire of list of classical favourites by Mozart, Beethoven and Dvořák, plus a work by veteran Singapore composer Phoon Yew Tien. The programme was hosted by emcee Jeremy Lee, who introduced each of the pieces performed by the SSO quartet – violinists Chen Da Wei and Nikolai Koval, violist Marietta Ku and cellist Wang Zihao.
Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law and Mr Baey Yam Keng, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Transport and Adviser to Tampines Grassroots Organisation were in attendance as Special Guests at the performance.
The audiences sat enthralled by the hour-long programme, and clapped enthusiastically at the end each piece. The appreciative audience also stayed in their seats for a photo with our Special Guests at the end of the concert.
It’s so nice to have these concerts closer to my home, I enjoyed the music very much. Despite the rain, we all came to watch the SSO and I really hope to attend more concerts like this. Even with safe distancing, the process of getting tickets and being seated was very smooth.
Following the performance, Minister Edwin Tong shared his thoughts on his Facebook and Instagram pages.
Our community concerts are only possible with public donations that can go towards production costs. To find out more about giving to the SSO, visit www.sso.org.sg/support-us.