Ad Classica Concentus In Review

Licha Stelaus Productions is back! With Ad Classica Concentus–Back to Classics, we brought together renowned Singaporean musicians for a fantastic evening at the Esplanade Concert Hall. Around a thousand people showed up to listen to Madeline Goh, Theophilus Tan, Shaun Choo, Yang Shuxiang, the Resound Collective, and Sarah Wong perform pieces from some of history's most famous composers!

The night began with a pre-concert talk by Resound Collective's chairman, Mervin Beng, in the foyer. The talk was open to the public, and many people showed an interest, quickly filling the provided seats and standing to listen to his presentation. After finishing, everyone shuffled out and the last wait for the concert began. As the doors to the hall opened, our audience appeared, trickling in at first, then in droves as the appointed time neared. Everyone presented, picked up, or bought a ticket, glancing through the new, compact programme pamphlets we provided or checking online to see the full digital programme.

When the audience entered the hall, Sarah Wong was there to greet them with gentle music from her harp, serenading them as everyone took their seats and got settled in. Eventually, the lights dimmed and the concert began. Our wonderful musicians began with Handel's Concerti Grossi in G Major, op. 6, no.1, the stately piece acting as a warm introduction to the night. Then Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings in C Major, op. 48 followed after, finishing in an exciting finale to complete the first half of the performance. Intermission gave everyone a chance to cool off, with Sarah commanding the stage once more with her soothing harp before the emotional rollercoaster ride of Beethoven's Triple Concerto in C Major, op. 56 ushered the crowd to the end of the concert.

The soloists walked offstage to thunderous applause, then returned to even greater applause for the night's encores. Piazzolla's Primavera Porteña in G Minor drew out the audience's excitement for just a little longer before an orchestral arrangement of James E. Moore Jr.'s An Irish Blessing, commissioned by Chenter Foundation from Gordon Thornett, wound everyone down for the night. We hope everyone enjoyed our first concert back, and for those who were unable to attend, please look forward to the recordings of the concert which will be published to our Youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@LichaStelausProductions.

As with all our inclusive concerts, we wanted to make sure people from all walks of life had the chance to come to our concert; Music is a basic right, after all. With the proud support of Chenter Foundation, we welcomed the following four charities to join us that evening:

Faith Music Centre, who seek to share the joy of music in old age and children's homes as well as impart music skills to Persons With Disabilities.

Singapore's Breast Cancer Foundation, who advocate for early breast cancer detection and provide support for patients & caregivers in addition to raising public awareness.

Beautiful Mind Charity, who aim to discover and nurture the classical music talents of children aged 7-16 years old with special needs and develop as financially independent professional musicians.

CaringSG, who connect, enable, and empower fellow special needs caregivers.

The Resound Collective also invited the Singapore Association for Visually Handicapped as well, who help the visually handicapped by acquiring new skills and gaining self-reliance. Seeing smiles on all these people's faces was a reward in and of itself, and we're glad they enjoyed themselves.

Lastly, we want to thank Hydy Singapore for providing quality water bottles for the first 20 people to grab a seat at the pre-concert talk and as gifts for the attending charity members.

Thank you for reading! If you'd like to hear about our future concerts or listen to our past concerts, subscribe on our website and check out our Youtube channel.