PASAR SINGAPURA: A Musical Exchange of Two Cities
Talk to any musician and he or she will tell you that the best way to improve as a performer is, besides constant practice, collaborating with other musicians. New ideas about his or her own routines, fresh insight into possibilities or 180-degree change in long-held notions will usually emerge.
Last week, some of Singapore’s best and brightest musical stars broke new musical boundaries in Mexico City. They shared the stage with their peers from Mexico, who are similarly the shining lights of the local music scene.
The PASAR SINGAPURA gala performance – the grand finale of this year’s Spotlight Singapore showcase in Mexico City – was an eclectic fusion of Singaporean and Mexican music.
In its sixth edition, Spotlight Singapore is a unique initiative that leverages on Singapore’s arts and culture to open new opportunities and markets primarily for Singaporeans and Singapore companies.
The four features of its overall mission – arts and cultural events; business exploration; a learning component; and government-to-government support –are encapsulated in the tagline, “Business with a Cultural Handshake”.
Apart from Mexico City, Spotlight has now been to Hong Kong (2006), Tokyo (2006), Moscow (2008), Cape Town (2011), and Bratislava and Prague (2012), serving as a ‘bridge between countries’.
The 16-strong Mexican-Singaporean ensemble presented a 30-minute suite written by the late Cultural Medallion winner, Mr Iskandar Ismail.
The long-time Spotlight music director passed away last year after being specially commissioned to write a piece for the Mexican show. He had incorporating elements of both Singaporean and Mexican music into the piece, and Julian Wong, one of his protégés, was asked to take up the mantle and realise his mentor’s vision.
“For this particular Spotlight, we used previous work from Iskandar through the previous Spotlights and pieced them together,” said Jeremiah Choy, the event’s Artistic Director. “We have also gotten Julian Wong to arrange it in the spirit and essence of Iskandar.”
Members representing Singapore were Tan Kian Wee (Piano), Sunny Wong (Er-Hu), Natasha Liu (Cello), Rit Xu (Flute), Patrick Ang (Drums), M S Maniam (Percussion), Riduan Zalani (Drums/Percussion), and Colin Yong (Bass).
Musicians representing Mexico were Celso Duarte (Vihuela), Cecilia Becerra (Violin), Nancy Cortés (Violin), Rodrigo Duarte (Guitar), Jerzaín Vargas (Trumpet), Bernardo Castillo (Trumpet), Mario Nandayapa (Marimba), and Santiago Ojeda (Acoustic Guitar).
Behind the scenes were an equally hardworking group of artistic and technical crew, including Kelvin Chew (Multimedia Designer), Adrian Tan (Lighting Designer), Varian Tan (Tech Manager), Jean Zhuang (Stage Manager), and Daniel Tham (Production and Logistics).
Conversations through collaboration
Indeed, the entire gathering was really about inspiring collaboration between both countries’ best performers and the exchange of ideas, said Julian, who was the musical mastermind behind the Fireworks Music at the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2015 and will reprise his role for the 2016 edition.
“We shared the stage with 8 brilliant Mexican musicians…And there’s one movement where we combined Singaporean folk music with Mexican folk music, and that’s when the mini mariachi band joined us…so we were very excited,” he explained.
“I hope everyone liked the final product…Our music combining with theirs, so this thing is about collaboration. It’s been the lifeblood through this project,” he added.
While the instrumentation of Singaporean and Mexican music was always going to be different – the focus was on the “conversation” between the two types of music, and an exchange of culture, Jeremiah added.
“If we look into the kind of music there is between Singapore and Mexico, we also realize that the choice of tonality, the choice of tempo – there are real similarities,” Jeremiah said, referring to the way pitches or chords are arranged in both Singaporean and Mexican music.
The speed and pulse of the music, driven usually by the percussion instruments such as the rumba shakers and wood block in Mexican music and the Malay flat drum renbana in Singaporean music, is also comparable.
The very name of the event, PASAR SINGAPURA, is a play on the word found in both Singapore and Mexico, and celebrates the fusion of cultures.
Pasar means “market place” in Malay, and connotes the idea of getting together. In Spanish, the word means “here” or “happening”.
The Mexican musicians took the showcase as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as well. Leader of the group Celso Duarte, the world-renowned interpreter of the Mexican and Paraguayan harp, said, “It opens up opportunities to see as music is a universal language. Getting to know the structure of the pieces, we also open ourselves to know other genres, other levels of loudness, and other colours.”
There was a real sense of excitement as it was the first time I did such a project, and I think my Mexican colleagues share this view.”
Temasek, which had sponsored the Pasar Singapura showcase, hopes that more such connections can be built for different cultures to learn from each other.
“Events such as Spotlight Singapore serve as a ‘bridge between countries’ and help enrich our communities through an exchange of cultures and ideas,” said Lorenzo González, Managing Director, Mexico & Andean Region, Temasek.
“Temasek is proud to support some of the brightest musicians from Singapore and Mexico for the Pasar Singapura! Gala Show this year, as they collaborate and showcase their talent at such an international platform.”
It is also through cultural exchanges that people find common places where ideas can emerge. This is why Temasek hopes to support and nurture more young talent in sports, mathematics, science, arts and music. “We have a responsibility to exercise good stewardship through social contributions,” Lorenzo said.
Mexican violinist Nancy Cortés enjoyed learning more from the Singaporeans, describing it as a “grand experience.”
“They have other disciplines, other ways of learning very different from what we have in Mexico,” she said. “Through the process I learnt more about Singapore and its own blend of Singaporean music.”