From songs waxing lyrical about the moon, to rearrangements of popular festive tunes, Singaporeans can immerse in a visual and auditory experience at our historic National Monuments through an all new Music At Monuments –National Heritage Board x Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (NHB x SCCC) digital music performance series. From now till December 2020, NHB’s Preservation of Sites and Monuments division and SCCC will be jointly rolling out a line-up of four music videos featuring Singapore talents, all produced at our National Monuments. They will allow everyone to view these icons of our built heritage in a different light, while showcasing the diverse talents of our local musicians.
Alvin Tan, Deputy Chief Executive (Policy & Community), NHB, said: “We came up with the idea of staging musical showcases at our monuments because we wanted to combine the magic of musical performances with the ambience of historical settings to create a new monumental experience for our audiences. At the same time, these digital showcases are part of NHB’s efforts to create digital content to maintain access to arts and culture, and serve as a source of revenue for our local artistes and arts groups.”
The four National Monuments that will take centre stage in this music performance series are the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), Goodwood Park Hotel, Jurong Town Hall and Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall (SYSNMH). Filmed against the backdrop of these iconic buildings, Music At Monuments will feature the vocal and musical prowess of homegrown talents The Apex Project, Derrick Hoh, MUSA and Fingerfunk as they present performances that are associated with the upcoming festivals – Mid-Autumn Festival, Chong Yang Festival, Deepavali and Christmas respectively. Members of the public can catch these digital music performances on NHB’s and SCCC’s social media platforms. The four videos will be rolled out monthly from September to December 2020.
Low Sze Wee, Chief Executive Officer, SCCC, shared “Pop culture in general, and pop music in particular, have strong appeal amongst youths. This has been reflected in the strong responses to our ongoing TGIF Music Station, annual Sing.Lang concert and SG:SW I Write the Songs festival. We are delighted to partner NHB in this meaningful collaboration to provide our local musicians with a unique platform to showcase their talents and introduce our shared heritage and culture to the public.”
The first music video of the series will be launched today, in conjunction with the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival – a well-loved festival amongst the Chinese community in Singapore and Asia. Local a cappella quintet The Apex Project will perform a medley of English and Mandarin songs associated with the moon, such as ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ and ‘月 亮代表我的心 (The Moon Represents My Heart)’, at SYSNMH. Gazetted as a National Monument in October 1994, the memorial hall sheds light on the lesser-known details of Singapore’s and Nanyang’s involvement in the 1911 Revolution, and the contributions of our
local Chinese community.
In October, the spotlight will be cast on ACM – a symbol of Singapore's history from colonial port city to independent nation state. Popular Mando-pop singer Derrick Hoh will perform the classic ‘写一首歌给你 (Write You A Song)’ composed by xinyao pioneer Liang Wern Fook. While not as widely-celebrated in Singapore, Chong Yang Festival is observed by the larger Chinese community and is associated with scaling new heights – an aspirational theme representative of, and espoused in, our local xinyao culture.
The third music video, slated for release in November, will take viewers to the Jurong Town Hall – a testament to Singapore’s rapid growth and industrialisation in our post-independence years. Popular for their instrumental compositions that reinterpret Chinese music in a contemporary style, local trio MUSA will perform their rendition of a popular Deepavali classic, ‘Unnaikkandu Naan Aada உன்னைக்கண்டு நான் ஆட (As I Dance Upon Seeing You)’, ahead of the major festival celebrated by the Indian community.
Rounding up the series in December is a Christmas music video featuring electronic and hip-hop quartet, Fingerfunk. The multi-genre group will perform an all-time favourite Christmas hit, ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’, at Goodwood Park Hotel, a prominent landmark in the Orchard area for its unique architecture.
Linda Wee, General Manager, Goodwood Park Hotel said: “Goodwood Park Hotel is honoured to be a part of Music at Monuments. Engaging the public using the language of music to commemorate icons of Singapore’s built heritage with our local talents really resonated with us. This project is additionally meaningful for us as the hotel also celebrates its 120th anniversary this year with a legacy of timeless elegance since 1900.”
Artiste Derrick Hoh shared: “I am excited to be part of Music at Monuments, where I am able to send love and joy to everyone through my music and our beautiful National Monuments. I will be singing the song “写一首歌给你”which will be released close to the Chong Yang Festival. The Chong Yang Festival is a time where Chinese people ascend themselves literally, climbing mountains and hills as a custom. The past few months have been a trying period for many artistes; I hope this music video will remind us Singaporeans of our beautiful cultural landscape, created by the same group of people whom I care about and respect so much. Lets continue to carry hope in our hearts and continue to reach new heights, together as one.”
Music At Monuments – NHB x SCCC is part of the larger #SGCultureAnywhere initiative from the arts and cultural sector, and is also a project supported by the Digitalisation Fund under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth’s Arts and Culture Resilience Package. Please refer to Annex A for more information on the series. To view the full series of digital music performances and for information on the publish dates of the individual music videos, please visit www.roots.sg or www.singaporeccc.org.sg.
