KUCHING: Fans of classical music were in for a real treat on Sunday night when the T’ang Quartet, an internationally renowned string quartet, showcased their extraordinary skills during ‘An Evening at the Symphony’ at Trinity Methodist Church here.
Performing with the award-winning St Joseph Secondary (SJS) School Band, the quartet from Singapore enthralled the audience from the word-go, starting with the ‘Piano Quintet in G minor, Op.57’, a 20th century music piece from Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich followed by Jacques Offenbach’s ‘Orphee aux Enfers: Can Can’ from the German composer’s first full-length operetta ‘Orphee aux Enfers’ or ‘Orpheus in the Underworld’.
T’ang Quartet, which comprises of Ang Chek Meng (second violin), Ng Yu-Ying (first violin), Leslie Tan (cello) and Lionel Tan (viola), then performed their take on the rock version of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ‘Nutcracker Rock’ before moving on to one of English composer Edward Elgar’s best known compositions ‘Enigma Variations: Nimrod’
The evening ended on a high note as the talented musicians with their nimble fingers zipped along the neck and strings of their instruments creating the melodious ‘Nessun Dorma’ aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini’s opera Turandot as well as Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture.
T’ang Quartet started its professional career in 1999 with unanimity of purpose, which was to break new ground in sharing the sheer joy and pleasure of music to a larger audience, and set new standards of artistic achievement.
Trained in London and Moscow, the quartet found its genesis when Ang, Ng and the Tan brothers were members of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
They first formed in 1992, where they embarked on a musical journey together, exploring the frontiers of string chamber music.
Today, T’ang Quartet continues to evolve, surprising and delighting audiences with its innovative dexterity.
‘An Evening at the Symphony’, is the fourth annual fund-raising concert by St Joseph’s Schools and Old Josephian’s Association (OJA) in support of the band programme.
During the concert, OJA president Senator Prof Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian also took the opportunity to commend the SJS School Band for its first-place finish at the German Open Championships in Chemnitz, Germany last year.