The Singapore Chamber Music Festival — is where music lovers, students of music and top chamber musicians come together to Connect, Share, and Celebrate over the joys of chamber music.
Festival Concert I: Concordia Quartet & Friends
Synopsis
The Singapore Chamber Music Festival’s first concert brings together unique combinations of chamber ensembles in neo-classical music of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco considered his ‘melodious and serene’ Quintet for Guitar and String Quartet (1950) one of his best works of chamber music. Written a decade later, Jean-Michel Damase’s Trio for Flute, Piano and Oboe blends modern harmonies and techniques with classical forms and textures, resulting in “music that is cheerful and singing, enriched with a certain nostalgia”.
Shostakovich’s shortest string quartet, the String Quartet no. 7, was also composed in 1960. It stands in sharp contrast to Damase’s trio: the music contains rapid shifts of mood and time, alternating from playful to sorrowful.
The concert also features Eric Watson’s Concerto Arabesque for Flute, originally written for re:Sound, and reworked for flute and string quartet. The music is inspired by the ornamental designs for in ancient Islamic art.
Programme
Jean-Michel Damase Trio for Flute, Oboe and Piano
Dmitri Shostakovich String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 108
Eric Watson Concerto Arabesque for Flute and String Quartet
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Guitar Quintet, Op. 143
Duration - 90mins with 20min intermission
Musicians
Cooper Wright, oboe
Eric Lamb, flute
Kevin Loh, guitar
Leslie Tan, cello
Nicholas Loh, piano
Concordia Quartet:
Wilford Goh, violin
Kim Kyu Ri, violin
Edward Tan, viola
Festival Concert II: Focus on Flute - Eric Lamb and Friends
Synopsis
YST's newest full-time faculty member Eric Lamb fronts an eclectic programme of flute chamber music spanning one hundred and fifty years and featuring a diverse range of instrumental groupings.
Programme
Eric Lamb, flute
W.A. Mozart Flute Quartet in C major K.Anh171 / 285b
Yang Shuxiang, violin
Han Oh, viola
Leslie Tan, cello
Louise Farrenc Trio for flute, cello and piano
Leslie Tan, cello
Lim Yan, piano
Jacques Ibert Deux Interludes for flute, oboe and piano
Simon Lee, oboe
Lim Yan, piano
Max Meyer-Olbersleben Fantaisie-Sonate Op.17
Jonathan Shin, piano
Festival Concert III: Aoi Trio - Classic Trios Through the Ages
Synopsis
Spend Good Friday afternoon with the Aoi Trio as they bring you a concert of piano trios, from Beethoven's 'Ghost' Trio that Beethoven's pupil Carl Czerny commented, reminding him about "an appearance from the underworld... the first appearance of the ghost in Hamlet" to some of the last pieces the talented Lili Boulanger wrote before her untimely death in 1918 at the tragically tender age of 24. Tragedy alternates with exuberance in Dvořák's most popular trio, the Piano Trio no. 4 in E Minor 'Dumky'.
Programme
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano trio No. 5 in D major op. 70-1 “Ghost”
Lili Boulanger D'un soir triste (on a sad evening)
Lili Boulanger D'un Matin De Printemps (on a spring morning)
Antonín Dvořák Piano trio No. 4 E minor op. 90 “Dumky”
Duration - 90mins with 20min intermission
Featuring
Aoi Trio
SCMF Celebration Concert: Brahms, Schumann and Golijov
Synopsis
The Singapore Chamber Music Festival 2026 closes with an all-star celebration concert encompassing the values of the SCMF: to connect, share and celebrate!
Watch our international and local faculty come together in the passionate Schumann Quintet, Brahms' mellow String Sextet No. 1, and the Piazzolla-inspired Last Round by Golijov, borrowed from a short story on boxing by Julio Cortázar.
Programme
Robert Schumann Piano Quintet in E♭ major, Op. 44
Johannes Brahms Sextet no. 1
Osvaldo Golijov Last Round For Double Quartet And Bass
Duration - 100mins with 20min intermission
Featuring
Schumann:
Kosuke Akimoto (piano, Aoi Trio)
Concordia Quartet (Wilford Goh, Kim Kyu Ri, Edward Tan, Lin Juan)
Brahms:
Kyoko Ogawa, violin
Yang Shuxiang, violin
Kirsten Docter, viola
Jeremy Chiew, viola
Leslie Tan, cello
Yu Ito, cello
Golijov:
Jonathan Ong, violin
Kyoko Ogawa, violin
Sandy Yamamoto, violin
Yang Shuxiang, violin
Edward Tan, viola
Jeremy Chiew, viola
Lin Juan, cello
Yu Ito, cello
Connect, Share, Celebrate!
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Exciting lineup of Chamber Concerts
Held over 12 days in partnership with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, the festival brings together artists from overseas and Singapore, coming together to perform chamber works in various combinations.
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Join the Chamber Music Academy
As part of our celebration of chamber music, SCMF includes a Chamber Music Academy (CMA), providing a range of educational elements, including coaching for aspiring chamber groups, workshops and demonstration sessions.
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Be a Donor
SCMF 2026 has been made possible thanks to the support of many individuals, institutions and organisations. Please consider making a donation to help support some of the cost of running this and future festivals.