The SCO
 Since its inception, the SCO has constantly impressed its ever-broadening audiences by a number of blockbuster presentations. In 2002, it staged a symphonic fantasy epic Marco Polo and Princess Blue, as part of the opening festival of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. In the following year, it engaged in a musical and visual conversation with Singapore’s most eminent multi-disciplinary artist Tan Swie Hian in the Singapore Arts Festival 2003. The orchestra further celebrated Singapore’s 39th National Day with a spectacular concert – Our People, Our Music – featuring over 2,300 local music enthusiasts at the Singapore Indoor Stadium which is by far, unprecedented in this region. As part of the Singapore Arts Festival 2005 and 2006, SCO produced a mega musical production, Admiral of the Seven Seas and collaborated with the Singapore Dance Theatre in the opening gala performance Quest respectively. In 2007, the SCO was seen performing as part of the 240-strong combined orchestra, at the Singapore National Day Parade. In the Singapore Arts Festival 2008, Singapore Chinese Orchestra worked with Theatreworks to present the groundbreaking production Awaking, which brought together kunqu opera music and Elizabethan music. Touted for its high performing standards, the SCO had performed under invitation at various major occasions including the World Economic Forum and International Summit of Arts Council in 2003 and the 2006 International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meeting. On the overseas front, the orchestra toured Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen in 1998 and Taiwan in 2000. The SCO was invited to perform in The Budapest Spring Festival, London-Singapore Season and Gateshead in 2005. In October 2007, the SCO performed in Beijing and Shanghai under the invitation of the Beijing Music Festival and China Shanghai International Arts Festival, as part of the Singapore Season. It was also invited to perform in Macau under the Macau International Music Festival, as well as major concert halls in Guangzhou, Zhongshan and Shenzhen. These overseas exposures had launched the SCO further into the international music arena. Dedicated to its vision of becoming an orchestra for everyone and building new audiences, the SCO reaches out to the masses through its outreach and outdoor concerts at national parks, schools and Singapore heartlands. As part of the initiative to develop repertoire with Nanyang style and create its own distinctive music, SCO commissions new works regularly and organised its first music composition competition in 2006 that focused on incorporating music elements from Southeast Asia region. It is in this vision that the SCO continues to inspire, influence, educate and communicate with its music.
|
