Orchestra of the Music Makers

Orchestra of the Music Makers
Orchestra

Performing during the Singapore Arts Festival in June 2012
Founded 2008
Location Singapore
Principal conductor Chan Tze Law
Website www.orchestra.sg

The Orchestra of the Music Makers is a Singaporean symphony orchestra composed of both volunteer and professional young musicians. It performed its first concert in August 2008 in the Victoria Concert Hall and has been hailed as one of "Singapore's greatest musical glories"[1] and was the recipient of the 2009 HSBC Youth Excellence Award.[2] It has since performed at the Singapore Arts Festival,[3] Lichfield Music Festival[4] and the Cheltenham Music Festival in the United Kingdom.[5]

History

The OMM's first concert.
The orchestra performing at its inaugural concert.

The Orchestra was formed after a period of discussion in early 2008 and was established as the Orchestra of the Music Makers in August 2008. Its first performance was a major benefit concert held in Singapore's Victoria Concert Hall and supported by the Singapore branch of HSBC,[6] a considerable accomplishment for an orchestra without a proven track record. In this inaugural concert it accompanied Gabriel Ng, Clare Yeo, and Janani Sridhar, three of Singapore's young talented soloists[7][8][9][10] in concerti and arias. Among other high-profile guests at the event was the President of Singapore. However, the Orchestra's first concert on its own was in January 2009, when it performed at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music Concert Hall.

During these initial months and throughout most of its first year it faced considerable monetary challenges relating to its operating costs, in particular, concerning the rental of performance venues. rehearsal spaces, and instruments. In August 2009, the month of the first anniversary of its inaugural concert, the Orchestra was guerdoned with the prestigious HSBC Youth Excellence Award, carrying a cash value of S$200,000, a very significant achievement given that the group had been in existence for only slightly over one year.[11] The award was received shortly after the highly praised (and sold out) third concert of that year, Rach2. The cost problems, and the 'tough' financial 'balancing act',[12] however, were not alleviated due to the money being held in trust for the Orchestra by the National Arts Council. Its landmark performance of Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony in its second year of existence was considered to be "one that marked a definitive coming of age of classical music in Singapore."[13]

The Orchestra has also released a recording of its live performance of Gustav Mahler's First Symphony on its own 'OMMLive' Label, it received a rating of 4 and a half stars (out of five) by the Straits Times, and was lauded for "homogeneous unity in string passages, lovingly crafted woodwind solos and a brass section any orchestra should be proud of".[14]

The subsequent release of its ground-breaking performance of Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony was regarded as "[having] virtually everything going for it: technical perfection, unstinting energy, assured musicians not afraid of dynamic extremes, a percussion section that gives new meaning to the word “awesome”"[15] and this was also the first recording by a non-professional Orchestra to be featured on the Singapore Airlines KrisWorld Entertainment System.[16]

Future releases featuring Holst's Planets and Mahler's Eighth Symphony are anticipated.

The Orchestra is composed of approximately 140 members,[17] most of whom are students in tertiary education, conscripts (as an avocation), and working professionals,[18] and it is led by its Music Director, the prominent conductor Chan Tze Law, who is also an Associate Director at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, National University of Singapore. It was also the first orchestra of its kind in Singapore to introduce a comprehensive leader-mentor system allowing for the tutelage of its musicians by reputable professionals in the industry. The Orchestra, in collaboration with the School of the Arts, has also revived the previously dormant Combined Schools String Camp, with its Members, Leader-Mentors and Music Director contributing to nurture and develop the musical abilities of String Musicians in Secondary Schools.

A focus on philanthropy has also been one of the Orchestra's founding principles and defining features, enunciated as a vision to 'pursue philanthropy through the medium of music'.[19] Nicknamed the 'charity' orchestra in the press, its eleemosynary efforts have already benefited Habitat for Humanity, the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, and the Children's Cancer Foundation.[20]

In May 2011, the Orchestra achieved Institution of Public Character (IPC) status, which allows all donations made to it to be eligible for 250% tax-exemption.[21]

Name

The Orchestra of the Music Makers' (OMM) name is derived from the poem Ode by Arthur O'Shaughnessy,[19] which reads, in part:

We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;—

The poem was chosen because of its inspiring message, expressing well the group's 'ambition and desires', and it implicitly identified itself with the goals of a new orchestra composed of youthful musicians in support of others like them.

Critical reception

The critical reception of the new Orchestra by the press was warm and largely positive. A Straits Times review of the August 2008 HSBC concert praised the Orchestra for its 'instrumental prowess' and 'infectious zeal', as well as for having a 'unanimity of purpose' in its performance of Dvořák's Carnival Overture.[22] A separate critical article in the January 2009 concert commended the Orchestra's interpretation of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade as 'impressive', and also remarked on the quality of its soloists:

The pace also flexed ever so supplely, allowing wonderful solos by guest concertmaster Chan Yoong Han (violin) and Laura Peh (harp) - depicting the seductive storyteller - to shine through.

Chang Tou Liang, 'New Orchestra Living its Dream', The Straits Times, 5 January 2009

The maturing Orchestra's stature has been further confirmed by its receipt of the 2009 HSBC Youth Excellence Award, an honor created to recognize and support 'outstanding young Singaporeans' and 'serve as a catalyst to promote the pursuit of excellence'.[23] The HSBC Awards Ceremony Gala concert in which the Orchestra performed next was noted for its high level of technical precision by a reviewer from the Times, the national newspaper: '[a]gain, it was the precision of execution and sheer passion that impressed.'[24][25] Concurrently, Chwee Seng Lim, a director at the National Arts Council of Singapore, has also approbated the Orchestra for having 'plug[ged] the leakage of music [sic] talent by providing a platform to sustain the passion of young musicians',[26] demonstrating its success in achieving one of its major goals.

The Orchestra has also received critical acclaim from international classical music reviewers. An article written by Dr. Marc Rochester, one of the co-authors of the annual Good CD Guide and has long been associated with the Gramophone magazine as a music critic lauded the Orchestra's performance of Mahler's 2nd Symphony:

I don’t recall ever having heard those great percussion crescendos so vividly delivered, the “Last Trump” and the “Nightingale” so potently evoked or, indeed, that one final magnificent chord so sublimely sustained. And as for the off-stage brass and the various players dotted around the hall, that was a moment of pure, unadulterated magic. This was, truly, an epic performance.

Dr. Marc Rochester, Mahler Mania, 11 July 2010

More recently, continuing a trend of critically acclaimed performances of Mahler's symphonies, the performance of the 5th Symphony was regarded as "being characterised by force of will and an overall sweep that was totally captivating"[27] and "a totally absorbing and at times electrifying performance...the famous Adagietto floated along ethereally, completely devoid of excess pathos...and among the more memorable live performances I have attended in my time have been those from Horenstein and Bernstein, neither of which, I can honestly say, quite matched what Chan produced with his dedicated bunch of amateurs."[1]

The Orchestra's debut CD release of Mahler's 1st Symphony was praised in the international press,

With somewhere around a hundred recordings of Mahler’s First Symphony on the market ...this Mahler First can stand up to nearly any of them in brilliance, enthusiasm, and sheer visceral excitement.

...One senses this is going to be a performance worthy of attention right from the opening bar, played truly softly (seldom the case in other performances). The first three movements are very well done, but it is the finale that really glows with excellence, unfolding in a seamless arc of controlled intensity. Seldom have I heard an orchestra tear into that finale with the fierce determination of the OMM. It truly roars and rages, yet also brings all the consoling sweetness and tenderness one could wish for in the ensuing Sehr gesangvoll passage.

...Singaporean conductor Tze Law Chan obviously has the pulse of the Mahler idiom and is fully in control at all times, demanding and obtaining from his forces every sforzando, dynamic bulge, and subito forte and piano. One would need to search hard to find an orchestra that gives more.

Robert Markow, Review of MAHLER Symphony No. 1 • Tze Law Chan, cond; Orchestra of the Music Makers • OMM Live!, Fanfare Magazine Issue 34:2 (Nov/Dec 2010)

Furthermore, its landmark release of Mahler's 2nd Symphony garnered the following comments,

The very first bars serve notice that this is going to be a performance radiating fierce energy and laser-like intensity. Those opening salvos from the cellos and basses, tossed off with technical bravado, strike a note of sheer terror that does not abate until the sublime second theme arrives. Throughout, conductor Chan paces the climaxes so adroitly that, when they arrive, the listener is nearly swept out of the room on tidal waves of sound. The percussion section, though never out of control, is so powerful that I can recall no other, even from the greatest orchestras, that makes a more magnificent contribution to this symphony. Never, in half a century listening to dozens of performances of this work, have I heard that long, agonizing crescendo from the percussion in the finale build to such a deafening roar.

...there is nothing to suggest that OMM is not a full-time professional orchestra. Ensemble is tight, balances are well judged, rhythms are precise.

This “Resurrection” can stack up to any other on disc you care to name. It has virtually everything going for it: technical perfection, unstinting energy, assured musicians not afraid of dynamic extremes, a percussion section that gives new meaning to the word “awesome,” a conductor with the full measure of the Mahlerian idiom securely in hand and, above all, the thrill of a live performance brought vividly to life.

Robert Markow, Review of MAHLER Symphony No. 2 • Tze Law Chan, cond; Orchestra of the Music Makers • OMM Live!, Fanfare Magazine Issue 34:5 (May/June 2011)

Repertoire

OMM's Rach2 poster.
A poster for the Orchestra's August 2009 Rach2 concert.

During its history, the Orchestra has performed the following pieces at its concerts:

August 2016 : Concerto I Solisti (V) conducted by Seow Yibin

July 2016 : Sibelius 1 conducted by Christopher Adey

March 2016 : Beethoven 9

January 2016 : OMMProm: Phantasia

August 2015 : Concerto I Solisti (IV) conducted by Seow Yibin

July 2015 : Mahler 8 : A Gift to the Entire Nation

March 2015 : OMMProm: Jazz

January 2015 : OMM Goes to the Movies II conducted by Joshua Kangming Tan with the Vocal Associates Festival & Children's Chorus

December 2014 : ChildAid - The All Stars Edition

August 2014 : The Planets conducted by Joshua Kangming Tan with the Vocal Associates Festival & Children's Chorus

July 2014 : Concerto I Solisti (III) conducted by Seow Yibin

March 2014 : OMMProm: Rhythms & Rhapsodies

January 2014 : Brahms Violin Concerto conducted by Christopher Adey

December 2013 : ChildAid - The Carnival Edition conducted by Edward Tan

August 2013 : OMM Turns 5

July 2013 : Concerto I Solisti (II)

June 2013 : Tchaikovsky's 4th conducted by Christopher Adey

January 2013 : All-American

December 2012 : ChildAid 2012: The Electric Edition

October 2012 : The 2nd Performer's Voice Symposium

September 2012 : Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Audi Young Persons’ Choral Academy

August 2012 : HSBC Youth Excellence Awards 2012

July 2012 : Orchestra of the Music Makers part of the Lichfield Music Festival

July 2012 : M19 Sinbad the Sailor and Scheherazade part of the Cheltenham Music Festival

July 2012 : M15 Orchestra of the Music Makers part of the Cheltenham Music Festival

June 2012 : Pre-Tour Concert

May 2012 : Rite(s) of Spring part of the Singapore Arts Festival

February 2012 : Vive la France

January 2012 : Mahler 5

August 2011 : Rach 3 conducted by Christopher Adey

June 2011 : Gabriel Ng Plays Elgar

February 2011 : Kevin Loh@Esplanade

February 2011 : Penang Tour

January 2011 : OMM Goes to the Movies with the Victoria Chorale

December 2010 : ChildAid 2010

September 2010 : HSBC Youth Excellence Awards 2010

July 2010 : Mahler 2 - Resurrection featuring the Queensland Festival Chorus and the Singapore Festival Chorus

March 2010 : Russian Revolution

January 2010 : Mahler 1 - Memories of Youth

December 2009 : When Heavens Collide - Combined Concert with Western Australian Youth Orchestra

August 2009 : HSBC Youth Excellence Awards Ceremony

August 2009 : Rach2

March 2009 : Symphonie Espagnole

January 2009 : Tales from the Arabian Nights[28]

August 2008 : HSBC Youth Excellence Gala Concert

All concerts are conducted by Music Director Chan Tze Law unless stated otherwise.

Its future concerts include Beethoven's Symphony No. 9[29]

References

  1. 1 2 "OMM's OMG Mahler". Marc Rochester. 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  2. ↑ "Youth orchestra to get award". The Straits Times. 2009. Archived from the original on 27 August 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  3. ↑ "Rite(s) of Spring". Singapore Arts Festival. 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  4. ↑ "Elder/Hallé open Lichfield Festival (4–15 July)". The Lichfield Festival. 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  5. ↑ "HSBC Cheltenham Music Festival". Cheltenham Music Festival. 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
  6. ↑ "HSBC Youth Excellence Gala". HSBC. 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  7. ↑ "Gabriel Ng - Violinist". Gabriel Ng. 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  8. ↑ "Clare's Website". www.clareyeo.com. 2006. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  9. ↑ "Fromthetop.org: Radio". From the Top. 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  10. ↑ "Student Achievements". Ngee Ann Polytechnic. 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  11. ↑ "channelnewsasia.com - Volunteer orchestra, community leader to receive HSBC youth award". Channel Newsasia. 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  12. ↑ Junkai, W.: 'Youth-oriented orchestra lauded for 'making music happen', The Straits Times, 25 August 2009.
  13. ↑ Chang, T.L.: 'CD Reviews', The Straits Times - Life!, 19 June 2011
  14. ↑ Chang, T.L.: 'CD Reviews', The Straits Times - Life!, 9 July 2010
  15. ↑ Markow, R: 'MAHLER Symphony 2 "Resurrection"', Fanfare Magazine, May 2011
  16. ↑ "SIA News 'SilverKris - The Travel Magazine of Singapore Airlines". Singapore Airlines. 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-24.
  17. ↑ "Musicians - Orchestra of the Music Makers". OMM. 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  18. ↑ Tan, T.: 'For the Love of Music', The Straits Times - Life!, 30 December 2008.
  19. 1 2 "About us - Orchestra of the Music Makers". OMM. 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
  20. ↑ Ling Xin, S.: 'Award for 'charity' orchestra', My Paper, 26 August 2009.
  21. ↑ "give2arts.sg". Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-01.
  22. ↑ Tou Liang, C.: 'Rousing Start for Music Makers', The Straits Times - Life!, 30 August 2008.
  23. ↑ "HSBC Cultural Exchange - Singapore". HSBC. 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
  24. ↑ Tou Liang, C.: '2009 HSBC Youth Excellence Awards Concert', The Straits Times - LIFE!, 27 August 2009.
  25. ↑ "pianomania: Orchestra of the Music Makers: RACH 2 / Review". Chang Tou Liang. 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
  26. ↑ Sim, R.: '90-strong orchestra wins HSBC music excellence award', The Business Times, 25 August 2009.
  27. ↑ "pianomania: Mahler 5/Orchestra of the Music Makers/ Review". Chang Tou Liang. 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  28. ↑ "Tales from the Arabian Nights". Time Out Singapore. 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  29. ↑ "Concerts - Orchestra of the Music Makers". OMM. 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
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