Mr Eric WATSON reviews Project 2020 – A Contemporary Introspection to the Pandemic, The Nanyang Collective’s inaugural concert featuring the music of Dr. CHONG Kee Yong, Eric WATSON, Avik CHARI, and KONG Zhi Xuan!
On 16 Jan 2022, The Nanyang Collective organised Project 2020 – A Contemporary Introspection to the Pandemic, held at the Esplanade Recital Studio. This was the Nanyang Collective’s inaugural concert, featuring newly-commissioned works by Dr. CHONG Kee Yong, Eric WATSON, Avik CHARI, and KONG Zhi Xuan.
You may read the concert review by Mr. Eric WATSON below!
Project 2020 – The Nanyang Collective
A Contemporary Introspection to The Pandemic
Review by Mr Eric WATSON
This inaugural concert was remarkable for so many things; the subject matter, the collaborative will and commitment, the high standard and quality of the performance and production so what was it about?
The subject matter is in itself daunting but this concert was conceived as a way of reminding us of the tribulations we have all had to endure over the last year but more significantly as a tribute to our essential humanity and community spirit that has enabled us to endure it. Composers from Guillame Dufay (O Sancta Sebastienne) to Benjamin Britten (Death In Venice) and Roberto Gerhard (La Peste) have sought to communicate something of the trauma and indignity of disease and contagion and the four composers involved in this work were asked to write from their own perspective how they reacted and felt about the last two years of the pandemic. Multi-composer collaborations are rare because of the hurdles particularly of cohesion that have to be surmounted and these four have a range of style and diversity that makes an integrated piece quite a challenge, nonetheless that was what was achieved with this performance thanks in many ways to the vision and direction given by the creative team of Sherman Lee, producer, Chin Lim, stage director, Dorothy Png, lighting designer and Emilea Teo, projection design, assembled and led by music director Dedric Wong De Li.
The Nanyang Collective itself is new and who would venture to start a new performing group in these troubled times?….. but the shared vision, commitment and professionalism of these musicians and conductor is a response to the times and was a large part of the success of this experimental music. I think many of us would like to hear and see much more of this innovative music theatre.
