Violinist Chloe Chua plays two concerts with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra at the University Cultural Centre this Thursday and Friday, 8 and 9 October, before the orchestra leaves for a seven-city China tour. Both nights start at 7.30pm, are conducted by music director Hannu Lintu and end with Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, “Titan”. Tickets cost S$20 to S$40.
These are the tour programmes, played at home first. Each night has a different first half.
Thursday: Jewel and Titan
Thursday’s concert opens with The Sisters’ Islands, a tone poem by Singaporean composer Wang Chenwei that is now an established work in Singapore’s orchestral repertoire. Chua then plays Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, and Mahler’s First fills the second half.
The SSO has titled the night Jewel and Titan, after a description of the Mendelssohn as “the heart’s jewel” among the great German violin concertos. The concert runs 2 hours 10 minutes, including a 20-minute interval.
Friday: Mozart with He Ziyu
On Friday, Chua is joined by violist He Ziyu for Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in E-flat major, K.364. He, like Chua, is a Menuhin alumnus, and the pair return to the SSO three years after their first collaboration with the orchestra. Mahler’s First again takes the second half, and the concert runs two hours with a 20-minute interval.
Friday’s audience also gets a post-concert autograph session with Lintu, Chua and He. Wristbands are issued from 5.45pm at the Level 1 foyer of the University Cultural Centre, one per ticket holder who collects in person, and only 80 are available. Each participant can have one item signed and take one photo.
Tickets and discounts
Standard tickets are S$40, S$30 and S$20, before SISTIC booking fees of S$1 for tickets up to S$20 and S$3 for tickets from S$20.01 to S$40.
- Seniors aged 55 and above, full-time national servicemen and persons with disabilities get 25 per cent off Category 2 and 3 seats.
- Full-time students get the same 25 per cent off Category 2 and 3.
- Groups of 20 or more get 20 per cent off.
SSO Donor Passes and Premium Donor Passes cannot be used for these two concerts.
The China tour
The tour, presented in partnership with Temasek Foundation, runs from 13 to 25 October across seven cities:
- 13 October: Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall
- 15 October: Wuhan Qintai Concert Hall
- 18 October: China National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing
- 20 October: Changsha Concert Hall
- 21 October: Xinghai Concert Hall, Guangzhou
- 23 October: Shenzhen Concert Hall
- 25 October: Xiamen Banlam Grand Theater
Wuhan and Beijing get the Mozart programme with He Ziyu; the other five cities hear the Mendelssohn.
Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are already sold out. Tickets are still on sale for Wuhan, Changsha and Xiamen.
