No new NDP theme song this year? There's still a new song: "It's Here, I'll Stay" was written by local conductor/composer Kah Chun Wong and singer Jeremy Teng, and performed by the Asian Contemporary Ensemble and sung by Jeremy. The unique instrumentation (accordion, indian percussion, chinese flute, cello, guitar and piano) symbolises Singapore's diverse cultures, and the video, filmed in various locations in Singapore, features cute stuffed toys!
The second takes the form of a FREE CONCERT(!!!) at the
Esplanade Concert Hall on the 1
0th of August at
3pm featuring works by local composers Zechariah Goh, Kelly Tang, Ho Chee Kong and Tsao Chieh, performed by Orchestra Collective, an independent musical ensemble presenting classical and wind band repertoire. Listen out for melodies from popular folk tunes and patriotic songs in this concert celebrating our country, directed by their music director, Lien Boon Hua.
The third and fourth are also free concerts by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. One of them is a lunchtime concert happening TOMORROW at 12:30pm at the newly refurbished Victoria Concert Hall (details found
here), and the other is also on the 10th of August, 6pm at the Botanic Gardens Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage (details
here). Works featured are popular classics such as Glinka's Russlan and Ludmilla overture and the Simpsons theme, and also on the programme are Kelly Tang's works Sketches of Singapore and an arrangement of Dick Lee's Home.
Long weekend and don't know what to do? Do a concert-hop from the Esplanade (3pm) to the Botanic Gardens (6pm) to end off celebrations with a bang!
Happy birthday, Singapore!!