Horizons
NUS Guitar Ensemble with Dr Robert Casteels feat. NUS KotoKottoN
Sat 28 Mar | 7.30pm | UCC Theatre
Public $28 | Students and Friends of CFA $15 & $25 (a pair)
Postponed to a later date
Paying homage to the complex and rich heritage of the guitar, NUS Guitar Ensemble (GENUS) presents an exciting lineup of pieces which showcases both its Western cultural origins and its contemporary transformation into a new frontier in the Japanese music landscape. From Rock of Schubert, a Japanese-inspired rock rendition of Western classics, to Three Scenes of Japan, a rhythmic celebration of a lively Japanese festival, Horizons highlights the power of music to bring our cultural appreciation of the world to greater horizons.
Featuring an unprecedented collaboration with NUS Koto Ensemble (KotoKottoN), Horizons interweaves two different stringed instruments, the guitar and the koto (a traditional Japanese zither) in a series of both juxtapositions and fusions. The concert’s centrepiece features seamless transitions between the koto classic, Rokudan no Shirabe, and the famous Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 in F Major by Bach. In stringing two ostensibly disparate cultural spaces into one cohesive soundscape, we celebrate the ability of music to bring us new ways of seeing and experiencing culture.
Profiles
Composer, conductor, pianist, educator and arts administrator, Dr Robert Casteels believes that these activities form an intertwined and kaleidoscopic part of music making.
Casteels has conducted professional orchestras in 20 countries with a repertoire of 600 works ranging from the early classics to contemporary music. He has conducted first performances of symphonic works and operas in major festivals in Europe, the USA and Australia. After graduating from the Guildhall School of Music of London and the Juilliard School in New York, Casteels was appointed staff conductor at the Brussels Royal Opera House and Head of conducting studies at the Brussels (Flemish) Royal Music Conservatory. In 2001 he was awarded the Christoffel Plantin prize, Flanders’ highest cultural award, for his cross-cultural research.
Casteels took up permanent residency in Singapore in 1996 and citizenship in 2007. He has contributed tirelessly to Singapore’s music scene, as a member of various arts related committees, as Dean of the Faculty of Performing Arts at LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, as Music Director of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra and as Artistic Director of ‘I’mPULSE’, Asia-Europe Foundation’s first music camp held in The Philippines. Casteels has premiered significant masterpieces in Singapore, such as works by Boulez, Ligeti, Takemitsu, Stockhausen and Varèse. In April 2004, Casteels was appointed the first Associate-in-Residence (Special Music Projects) by the Centre For the Arts, National University of Singapore (NUS).
A composer in his own right, Casteels has written a growing corpus of 120 musical works that cross several cultures, genres and disciplines.
Established in 1981 by Cultural Medallion recipient Mr Alex Abisheganaden, NUS Guitar Ensemble (GENUS) is the region’s first Niibori guitar ensemble. Previously comprising only classical prime guitars, GENUS was later modelled after the Niibori Orchestra in Japan, becoming the pioneering guitar ensemble in Singapore to showcase the distinctive and diverse musical possibilities of the Niibori method.
Under the directorship of our conductor Dr Robert Casteels, GENUS is proud to have performed a diverse repertoire featuring pieces from different musical cultures, ranging from major classical Western works to contemporary Japanese pieces. As a pioneer in the Singapore guitar ensemble scene, GENUS aims to uphold a strong musical standard befitting of our status, in order to set the benchmark of musical excellence for ensembles in Singapore while establishing connections with international ensembles. Moving forward, GENUS is working towards promoting a greater love for guitar ensemble music in Singapore so as to establish the guitar art form as an integral part of the local arts landscape.
In our pursuit of musical excellence and continued improvement, GENUS offers its members an environment that is both nurturing and challenging. Beginning with a structured workshop programme for newcomers, each member’s journey promises ample performance and learning opportunities — through our annual concerts, external performances and overseas exchanges. Notably, GENUS has embarked on tours to Japan and Germany, attained awards in local and international competitions, and performed for external events ranging from Esplanade’s In Youthful Company performance series to the ASEAN University Games.
KotoKottoN, the NUS Koto Ensemble, was started in February 2009 by Ms KITAI Saeko, a Japanese language instructor of the Centre for Language Studies, and also a certified koto teacher of Sawai Koto Institute, Tokyo. KotoKotton is strongly supported by the Centre for Language Studies and Department of Japanese Studies. It is also a sub-club of the Japanese Studies Society since 2013. KotoKottoN currently holds has about 30 active members, including current students and original members from when the club first started in 2009.
KotoKottoN performs at various events, both local and international. This has included the International Koto Festival, Sydney in 2013; Crossing Boarders in 2014- 2015; Super Japan in 2016; One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets in 2019 at The Esplanade; Sawai Kazue Lecture and Concert at the Japanese Association in 2016; Resonate With at National Gallery Singapore in 2017; Koto Transformation Australis and EMCC Koto Transformation Singapura in 2018, and Kizuna Concert in Rikuzentaka, Japan in 2019. This year, they join the NUS Arts Festival with NUS Guitar Ensemble in March 2020.
