Crafting and appreciating important human stories through artistic inquiry doesn’t end because we can’t perform in a shared/live space for now. I think the past few months of global turmoil and quarantine have highlighted, yet again, how important music is to us and our society, and how art is a necessity to humanity!
As a professional vocal artist, I give literal voice to important stories that help us gain a common understanding of our humanity. These pertinent stories haven’t disappeared, and neither has the unparalleled communicative miracle of music itself lost its lustre. So, I pulled together new friends and collaborators to create art in a new digital normal. Because video is a new world for me, I’m ecstatic that Shoki Lin lent his award-winning cinematographic expertise to guide me in the process of preparing this pair of videos for your eventual enjoyment.
If you’d like to know more about my projects, or if you’re interested in supporting in any way, please contact me directly!
As a professional vocal artist, I give literal voice to important stories that help us gain a common understanding of our humanity. These pertinent stories haven’t disappeared, and neither has the unparalleled communicative miracle of music itself lost its lustre. So, I pulled together new friends and collaborators to create art in a new digital normal. Because video is a new world for me, I’m ecstatic that Shoki Lin lent his award-winning cinematographic expertise to guide me in the process of preparing this pair of videos for your eventual enjoyment.
If you’d like to know more about my projects, or if you’re interested in supporting in any way, please contact me directly!
Concept
This project produces 2 music videos presenting Vivaldi’s masterful work for the human voice, showing how Vivaldi’s emotive affect is transcultural through renditions by Singaporean musicians in Singaporean spaces. I have rented the Play Den at Arts House for the filming of “Armatae face”, and the Old Supreme Court Foyer at National Gallery for the filming of “Cum dederit”.
The first piece, “Cum dederit” from Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus, is a perfect example of his cantabile style. Haunting seamless vocal legato is exploited through impossibly long phrases in this piece to emulate the intimate and unceasing devotion a parent has for their child. The Old Supreme Court Foyer provides the perfect connection between space and music for this piece. The precision of its black and white tiles, the proportions of the foyer that seek to intimidate or “impress upon”, and the notion that it was designed as a place of executive power is in line with the message of “Cum dederit”’s sacred text. The aria in context of such a space highlights the powerful idea that one’s rest and freedom is at the mercy and control of a greater power.
The second piece, “Armatae face et anguibus” is from Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans. It is arguably the most famous aria from that work because of its ear-catching harmony and legendary display of melismatic singing, another perfect example of Vivaldi’s masterful use of vocalism. This aria contrasts with “Cum dederit” because of its disjointed melody and fiery spins of melismatic singing to text-paint the unrelenting vengeance sworn upon one’s oppressors. I have decided to move this into a black box instead of an “identifiable” space because I think vengeful fury is more aptly expressed in a “featureless” venue. It represents the space in our mind that goes mad with fury when something angers us. I think in Singaporean society, we generally avoid open conflict, so the “indeterminate” location of a black box is more accurate to the mental space where wars are waged.
The first piece, “Cum dederit” from Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus, is a perfect example of his cantabile style. Haunting seamless vocal legato is exploited through impossibly long phrases in this piece to emulate the intimate and unceasing devotion a parent has for their child. The Old Supreme Court Foyer provides the perfect connection between space and music for this piece. The precision of its black and white tiles, the proportions of the foyer that seek to intimidate or “impress upon”, and the notion that it was designed as a place of executive power is in line with the message of “Cum dederit”’s sacred text. The aria in context of such a space highlights the powerful idea that one’s rest and freedom is at the mercy and control of a greater power.
The second piece, “Armatae face et anguibus” is from Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans. It is arguably the most famous aria from that work because of its ear-catching harmony and legendary display of melismatic singing, another perfect example of Vivaldi’s masterful use of vocalism. This aria contrasts with “Cum dederit” because of its disjointed melody and fiery spins of melismatic singing to text-paint the unrelenting vengeance sworn upon one’s oppressors. I have decided to move this into a black box instead of an “identifiable” space because I think vengeful fury is more aptly expressed in a “featureless” venue. It represents the space in our mind that goes mad with fury when something angers us. I think in Singaporean society, we generally avoid open conflict, so the “indeterminate” location of a black box is more accurate to the mental space where wars are waged.