Vocalise brought our music to the heartlands of Singapore in a 2-Sunday act aptly titled Classicism X Modernity this November! As part of the Arts In Your Neighbourhood* initiative, we presented one our most unique ensembles – VOX Fusion – to the good folks of Jurong and Yew Tee. Comprising the edgy musicians of VOX along with the graceful Yuan Ting of QIN on the guzheng, a one-of-its-kind listening experience was crafted for our audiences.
Jurong
VOX Fusion kicked things off with their performance at Canopy @ J Link – a great sheltered space providing pedestrians with a comfortable viewing experience.
VOX Fusion created a melodic mash-up of genres – something we like to term a musical “rojak”. Audience members were treated to a unique blend of nostalgic yet modern arrangements of tunes such as Mediacorp Medley (featuring soundtracks from classic TV dramas), Rolling with Mozart and 小人物的心声.
Members of Volunteer Welfare Organisations were also invited to catch VOX Fusion’s performance and we were glad to see that we managed to stir up some fond memories of the past for our audience too.
Yew Tee
We next brought VOX Fusion to the heart of Yew Tee to perform another set of Classicism X Modernity right outside Yew Tee Point and Yew Tee MRT Station.
This time, we presented a slightly different repertoire from that of the previous Sunday just to keep things fresh. Keeping in mind the diversity of our audience members, VOX Fusion made sure to have something to keep everyone engaged. One Night in Beijing AKA 北京一夜 was a favourite with those familiar with 信乐团, but by the sheer amount of phones recording VOX Fusion’s performance, the clear winner of that evening was our musicians take on Michael Jackson’s cult classic – Smooth Criminal.
Hearing words of satisfaction and praise from our audience members put a smile on all our faces, and the knowledge of performing shows that made our listeners’ Sundays even better was motivation to create more of such acts.
It isn’t everyday that we get to share our love for music with the general masses, but we sure hope that this will be the start of more opportunities like this.
*An initiative of the National Arts Council, the Arts in Your Neighbourhood programme comprises of a suite of quality arts programmes – performed and facilitated by established artists and arts groups – at various locations across the island. The month-long series of engaging and fun arts activities aims to provide enriching arts experiences right to your doorstep.
