Annex 1
PROFILES
Cultural Medallion 2006
SEAH MEI TSING, LYNNETTE (佘美幸) 48
MUSIC
A key member of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) since its inception in 1979, Lynnette Seah Mei Tsing is one of two remaining pioneer musicians who have witnessed the growth of the SSO through the past 27 years.
Currently the Co-Leader of the SSO, Lynnette is widely recognised by her colleagues for her professionalism and musicality. She is also looked upon as a mentor and role model.
Through the years, Lynnette has won international acclaim as an outstanding violinist. Despite such success, Lynnette chose to remain in Singapore and be part of the development of the local music scene.
Lynnette has performed as a soloist with numerous famous orchestras, including the Zurich Symphony (Switzerland), Orebro Chamber (Sweden), Teplice Symphony and Janacek Philharmonic (Czechoslovakia). In 1995, Lynnette was invited to perform at the Bergen International Music Festival (Norway). A year later, she represented Singapore as Assistant Leader of the World Philharmonic Orchestra, which consisted of accomplished musicians from top orchestras all over the world. In June this year, she again represented Singapore in the World Philharmonic Orchestra in Paris.
In 1997, the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore conferred on Lynette the Excellence Award in recognition of her contribution to Singapore’s classical music scene.
Lynnette is the first Singapore violinist to have a concerto specially written for her. The work, composed by Singaporean physicist-composer Professor Bernard Tan, received its world premiere this year at the Esplanade Concert Hall. Lynette herself performed this concerto with the SSO.
Outside her work with the SSO, Lynnette is an active recitalist and chamber music promoter. She founded the Jade Quartet and led the group in numerous successful performances in Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
As an educator, Lynnette has shared her experience generously with young local talents. She is a member of the Ministry of Education’s Arts Education Committee, which oversees various arts institutions such as the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory and LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts. She also served as a member of the National Arts Council’s 2005 National Piano and Violin Competition advisory committee.
Whether as mentor, role model or performer, Lynnette is unanimously recognised by her colleagues for her integrity, musicality and professionalism.
TAN CHOH TEE (陈楚智), 64
VISUAL ARTS
For the past 30 years, Tan Choh Tee has made a name for himself as one of Singapore’s foremost artists capturing fleeting images of nostalgic beauty.
A second-generation artist, Choh Tee received his early childhood art education in China. When he migrated to Singapore in the 50s, he studied under the tutelage of pioneer artists such as Cheong Soo Pieng, Georgette Chen, Liu Kang and Chen Wen-Hsi. After his graduation from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1962, Choh Tee continued painting and became a full-time artist in 1976. He was also a graduate of the Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts and has done study tours all over Europe, USA and China including the Dun-Huang caves.
To date, Choh Tee has held nine solo exhibitions and more than 50 group exhibitions internationally in Russia, Germany, the UK, France, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia. Just last year, he joined the Tsunami 2005 Charity Fund Painting Expedition in Phuket.
Choh Tee specialises in oil painting, preferring to paint on the spot, tempered by his own responses and sensitivity to the subject. He cultivates his path passionately. His artistic acumen has won him many collectors from far & wide. Auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s have accepted his works regularly since 1994.
For his achievements in visual arts, Choh Tee has received numerous awards, including the Creative Visual Art Award 2005 from his alma mater, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.
As an artist, Choh Tee lives only for his passion to paint, to indulge in his own conversation with his brushes, colours and canvases. Art is his hobby as well as his greatest pleasure.
YOUNG ARTIST AWARD 2006
KELVIN TONG (唐永健), 33
FILM
Be it arthouse or mainstream cinema, Kelvin Tong is one of the few Singaporean film-makers who has managed to traverse different genres, possessing an exceptional gift in balancing his artistic sensibility with market demands.
Kelvin graduated from the National University of Singapore with a law degree in 1998. He started his film career in 1995 with a short film, Moveable Feast. It garnered a Special Mention at France’s 1996 Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival and became the first and, to date, the only made-in-Singapore film to be showcased at the prestigious Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Subsequently, Kelvin released his first feature film, Eating Air, in 1999. The film immediately won accolades worldwide, beginning with The Young Cinema Award at the 2000 Singapore International Film Festival and the FIPRESCI prize at the 2000 Stockholm International Film Festival.
In addition, the quirky film about rebellious biker teens competed in the 2000 Golden Horse Awards and was acclaimed by Variety magazine after a screening at the Hollywood American Cinematheque in Los Angeles in 2001. It was also named as the best Singaporean movie in 2003 by Lianhe Zaobao. Eating Air has since travelled the international festival circuit.
In 2005, Kelvin released his second feature, The Maid. It turned out to be the highest-grossing locally-made horror movie to date and was acquired by Fortissimo Films for worldwide distribution.
This year, Kelvin showed that he’s still in touch with the arthouse crowd by releasing Love Story. Financed by Hong Kong’s Focus Films, Love Story won the Best Director Award at the 2006 Singapore International Film Festival and was chosen as the closing film for the 2006 Locarno International Film Festival. Kelvin is currently working on the sequel to The Maid with Singapore’s Raintree Pictures.
LIM YAN (林岩), 26
MUSIC
Lim Yan belongs to a new generation of Singaporean musicians, whose transcendental technique is matched by thoughtful study and a thirst for extending his repertoire.
After winning the 1st prize in the Piano Open Category at the National Piano and Violin Competition in 1997, Lim Yan went on to pursue a full-time education at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK. He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in piano performance in 2003.
Lim Yan has so far performed with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) on three occasions. In 2002, he was the soloist performing Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. In 2004, he performed Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor under the baton of SSO Principal Guest Conductor, Okko Kamu. A year later, he helped commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Singapore Symphony Chorus by playing the highly-demanding piano solo part in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia.
Lim Yan was also the first young Singaporean pianist selected to inaugurate the annual Young Virtuoso Recital series of the Singapore International Piano Festival in July 2005. In that recital, he played a demanding programme of works by Bach-Rachmaninov, Schubert, Poulenc, Samuel Barber and Ravel. Displaying an uncanny comprehension and versatility in handling different styles, his performance unveiled an artist of distinction who would not look out of place in the international concert circuit.
Early this year, Lim Yan performed the chamber music of Franck (Piano Quintet in F minor) and Ravel (Piano Trio) at the Victoria Concert Hall with the SSO.
TOH BAN SHENG (杜万胜), 36
MUSIC
Toh Ban Sheng graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics in 1992 and obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education in 1994. He further went on to earn two Master of Music degrees, in Choral Conducting (2002) and Voice (2003), both from the University of South Carolina.
Ban Sheng started out as a self-taught musician and earned his first music qualification at the age of 26. He began his first formal music lesson with Cultural Medallion winner Choo Hwee Lim. His three-year stint at the Co-Curricular Activities Branch of the Ministry of Education, where he left as Music Specialist, catapulted him into the Singapore choral scene.
Since then, Ban Sheng has carved out an impressive track record. At the national level, he has led his choirs to 14 gold awards, including the title of Best Choir of the Year in 1999 and 2000. He also conducted the 800-strong National Day Parade Combined Choir in 1999 and the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Combined Choir in 1998.
Ban Sheng has brought conducting work to England, France, Hungary, Italy and Austria, and brought fame to Singapore at prestigious competitions in the Czech Republic, Finland and Germany. To date, his choirs have brought home eight gold and three silver medals. He was also awarded the Conductor’s Prize and Repertoire Prize in 2003 at the 4th International Competition Festival of Advent and Christmas Music in Prague.
Other than conducting, Ban Sheng is equally passionate and at ease with solo singing. During his post-graduate studies, he was active as a soloist in public recitals and performances and was awarded 2nd place in the Southern Region Audition by the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) in USA.
In spite of his busy schedule, Ban Sheng makes it a point to nurture aspiring talent. In 1997, he led the first neighbourhood school choir to clinch the gold medal at the SYF Choral Competition. He repeated the feat three years later with a primary school choir. Indeed, this is one young artist who not only strives for excellence himself but also inspires the young towards greater heights.
BEATRICE CHIA-RICHMOND (谢敏), 32
THEATRE
Beatrice Chia-Richmond graduated from UK’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama with an Honours degree in Performing Arts in 1996.
Currently the Artistic Director of Toy Factory Theatre Ensemble, Beatrice is possibly Singapore’s most versatile theatre director and actress. Her work is typically a cutting-edge combination of strong text, bold designs and incisive direction.
Beatrice’s professional work began with a role in the play, Chinoiserie, staged at the Royal Court Upstairs Theatre. She went on to work on films for BBC Wales and other independent projects in UK. Returning to Singapore in 1998, she started a multi-faceted career in theatre, television and film.
Her acting credits include Toy Factory Theatre Ensemble’s Titoudao (2000), Luna-Id’s Popcorn (2003) and Escape Theatre’s Dead Curtain (2005), for which she was named Best Actress at the 2005 Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards.
Beatrice’s debut as a director came in 2001 with the controversial but critically-acclaimed play, Shopping and F***ing. It won two awards at the 2001 DBS Life! Theatre Awards, including the accolade for Best Director. She followed that up in 2003 with her acclaimed production of Bent, which went on to grab Play of the Year and Best Actor at the Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards that year.
Also in 2003, Beatrice was named Assistant Director in Prism, a multi-national, cross-cultural collaboration between six countries. In 2004, she directed Toy Factory Theatre Ensemble’s all-male production of East Side Story. Her other works include Fireface, Dangerous Liaisons and Porcelain in 2005 and more recently, the critically acclaimed big-budget musical production, Cabaret.
Eager for new challenges, Beatrice was awarded a Capability Development grant by the Media Development Authority and the Association of Singapore Actors to pursue a certificate in film-making at New York University’s Tisch School for the Arts in 2005.
CHONG TZE CHIEN (张子健), 30
THEATRE
Chong Tze Chien graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1999, majoring in Theatre Studies and English Language.
Tze Chien came to public notice in 1998 when his play, Pan Island Expressway (PIE), took the first prize in the Singapore Dramatist Award and was subsequently staged by TheatreWorks to critical and commercial success. Since then, he has consistently surprised audiences with his versatility as a playwright, director and designer.
Following the success of PIE, Tze Chien took over the helm as company playwright with The Necessary Stage (TNS) for four years. In 2004, he joined The Finger Players as its Company Director.
Tze Chien played a vital role in helping The Finger Players expand into a full-fledged adult theatre company with such critically acclaimed works as Furthest North, Deepest South, which won Best Production of the Year in the 5th Life! Theatre Awards, and Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, which took home the award for Best Director at the 6th Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards.
Tze Chien has also taken part in collaborations with fellow playwrights. 100 Years in Waiting, co-written with respected Singaporean playwrights Haresh Sharma and the late Kuo Pao Kun, was staged at the Singapore Arts Festival in 2001.
Not only has Tze Chien’s plays been seen in the local scene, they have also been read and dramatised abroad, at events such as Royal Court’s (UK) Exposure: Young Writers Dramatised Readings in 2000, and Singapore Playhouse London’s double-bill adaptation of PIE and SPOILT in 2006. In addition, Furthest North, Deepest South recently had its international premiere at the 14th Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary.