Seeing. Feeling. Being. And LISTENING

Modernism: Alberto Giacometti and the music of his time

by Dr John Sharpley

Plunge into a whirlwind discussion with John Sharpley at this talk about the arts and music as the world turned upside down after the First World War. Let John, SSO Composer-in-Residence 2004, performer and teacher, take you through an exciting journey, investigating the great Swiss artist Giacometti and contemporary music of his time.

FRI, 27 JUN 2008

SINGAPORE ART MUSEUM AUDITORIUM

7.30pm

Xu Beihong in Nanyang and the Music of Southeast Asia
by Dr John Sharpley

Lose yourself in the world of Southeast Asian and Indian music as we explore the connections between art and music, Singapore and Xu Beihong. John Sharpley explores the potential interactions and connections between paintings by the well-loved and influential artist-teacher Xu Beihong (subsequent to his Southeast Asia and India visits) and the music that he might have heard on his many trips to Southeast Asia.

FRI, 25 JUL 2008

SINGAPORE ART MUSEUM AUDITORIUM

7.30pm

PING:II <<拼图>>

by Dr Gooi Tah Choe and Darren Ng

Photography stops time. Music extends it. Can these two interpretations of time be one? Inter-woven by an oxymoron, PING:II explores this "limbo" in time/space through a jigsaw of two contradicting, yet related mediums. Musicians Darren Ng and Gooi Tah Choe present a discussion with audio-visual works of a joined creative process that crosses sight and sound.

THE SPEAKERS

John Sharpley

John Sharpley, composer, performer and teacher, possesses a unique and multi-faceted career that spans geographic and cultural borders. Born in Houston, Texas, USA, he earned a Doctorate in Composition from Boston University; a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Houston; and, diplomas for piano, violin, and composition at the National Conservatory of Music in Strasbourg, France. His composition teachers include Michael Horvit, David Del Tredici, John Harbison, Betsy Jolas and Leonard Bernstein. His piano teachers include his mother Geraldine Sharpley, William Chaison, Lily Kraus, Ruth Tomfohrde and Olivier Gardon.

He has been featured as both composer and pianist in numerous concerts, institutions, conferences and festivals recently including the New Composition Festival (Bangkok, Thailand), the Texas Music Teacher’s Association Convention (Dallas, USA), the Asia Pacific Festival (Wellington, New Zealand), Singapore Piano Pedagogy Symposium, the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Symposium (Melbourne), Across Oceans International Festival (Toronto, Canada), the Autumn Artist Festival (Houston, USA) and the Hong Kong Asian Arts Festival. In September 2003, he was keynote speaker for the 4th Summit of the Alliance of Orchestras in the Asia Pacific Region held in Singapore. He has been guest artist/lecturer at various institutions including San Francisco State University, Hendrix College (Arkansas), University of Kansas, Concordia (Montreal), University of Houston, Institut Technology Mara (Malaysia) and Lake Tuggeranongs College, Canberra, Australia. In 2000, he was awarded a special citation from Stanford University (USA) in recognition of his contributions as a teacher. He has held positions as assistant professor of music at Boston University, visiting music lecturer at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Singapore) and composer-in-residence at LaSalle College of the Arts (Singapore). He was composer-in-residence for the Singapore Symphony Orchestra 2004 season. Later in 2008 he will be guest composer at Illinois Wesleyan University.

Sharpley’s honors include the Texas Music Teacher’s Association Composition Commissioning Prize for 2007, an American Cine-Eagle Award (October Garden), and the New York Film Festival Award (Silent Hope). The film Gourmet Baby (2001) scored by John that has been featured in major international film festivals including New York and Los Angeles. Datura, a Singaporean film that Sharpley scored, won the Singapore International Film Festival Award for Best Short Film (1999). His music for the CD ROM, Around the World won the Ngee Ann Creative Excellence Award for music (1995). He is listed in the Cambridge Dictionary of International Biography, the American Biographical Institute and the Who's Who in American Universities and Colleges. He is the recipient of numerous grants and awards and appears on several commercial CDs.

John Sharpley's compositions include orchestral works, opera, music for theatre, film and dance scores, chamber music, songs, and solo piano works. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Novosibirsk Philharmonic, the Sheffield Winds (Chicago), the Huqin Quartet, the T’ang String Quartet are some of the prominent ensembles which have performed Sharpley's compositions. He worked with the rock group R.E.M., composing an arrangement for the song Lotus. Most recently his work, The Wild Child, was recorded for the Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC) by the Yong Voice of Melbourne.

Gooi Tah Choe

Gooi Tah Choe graduated from University of British Columbia with a Bachelor degree in Music. He completed his Ph.D at the National Institute of Education under the supervision of Professor John Howard and Assistant Professor Eugene Dairianathan. His doctorate research concentrates on the relationship of electicism and identity in Tan Dun's music. He is actively involved in education, music arrangements and compositions for choirs and other establishments, as well music for films (the latest being Kelvin Sng's short film, Kichiro). Gooi Tah Choe is currently teaching students from the Music Elective Program at Raffles Junior College.

Darren Ng

Chance, conversation, improvisation… "sonicbrat" is the ambisonic brainchild of Darren Ng. As a believer in poetic imperfection, most of his music are performed and recorded on the fly without multi-tracking.

Ng is a Singapore-based sound artist and music composer whose electro-acoustic sound-bites have established him as one of the most sought after sound designer and music composer/arranger in the local theatre and art scene, whose works have been compared to Erik Satie, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Martin Denny by international music reviewers from U.K. (WIRE: Ken Hollings), U.S.A. (Bluesbunny) and Hong Kong (Hompy). Trained in classical piano, he has ventured into the digital realm of sampling, Musique Concrete, acousmatic music, digital and analogue synthesis; bringing a new sonic experience for his listeners.

He graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies and Philosophy. He has been active in the theatre and sound art scene for the last seven years. To date, he has had 8 nominations in total for his works and had won the coveted award of Best Sound Designer at the 6th and 8th Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards 2006 and 2008 respectively; and had an Honourable Mention for Special Achievement, for Best Sound in the 5th Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards 2005.

Darren Ng is currently an Associate Sound Designer for The Finger Players Ltd.

TICKETING INFORMATION

$20 from GATECRASH

www.GATECRASH.com.sg / 6222 5595
Tickets are also available at The Substation Box Office, all SingPost Branches & S.A.M. Kiosks.
Booking fee applies

Concession

Senior Citizens and Full Time Students - $15

Discounts

10% applicable for Friends of SSO,Friends of SLO,Friends of Hallelujah & Friends of the Museum