Composition Workshop
Held for the fifth time in the history of the Singapore Saxophone Symposium, the Composition Workshop aims to guide composers to write idiomatically and skilfully for the saxophone!
Participants will be able to consult saxophonists from the Keuris Quartet (1st Prize Winner of the 1st Strasbourg International Saxophone Quartet Competition 2015) and be entitled to two lessons with one of the following composers:
- Americ Goh (Singapore)
- Zechariah Goh (Singapore)
- ChihChun Chi-sun Lee (Taiwan/USA/Korea)
- Michael Sidney Timpson (USA/Korea)
The workshop will culminate in a reading session by members of the Keuris Quartet.
The composition workshop is priced at $600 and includes the two-day pass to the Singapore Saxophone Symposium from 3 to 4 August 2019 (priced at $150).
Limited to 10 participants only! Register now at http://sgsax2019.peatix.com/. For more information, please email info@singaporesaxophonesymposium.com.
About the composers
Americ Goh
Americ Goh studied composition at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts under John Sharpley, Goh Toh Chai, and Leong Yoon Pin. He later furthered his composition studies under Gerd Kühr, Pierluigi Billone, and Peter Ablinger at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, where he received his M.A. with distinction. He has attended composition masterclasses under Zygmunt Krauze, Georges Aperghis, and Beat Furrer. He is a humble recipient of the National Arts Council Arts Bursary (Overseas) from Singapore and the Musikförderungspreis der Stadt Graz.
Goh’s compositions are performed worldwide and were also broadcasted under the Austrian Radio Ö1 Zeit-Ton and Ö1 Konzert. His works are also heard in festivals such as the Musikprotokoll Graz, Loisiarte Festival, and the Jahrestagung der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Musikwissenschaft (ÖGMw). He represented Singapore in the 1st Asia-Europe Music Camp Im’PULSE and was composer-in-residence for the Singapore Wind Symphony Percussion Ensemble.
Goh is actively involved with art songs and is co-founder of The Art Song Consortium. His songs are often performed and are included in the repertoire for international art song competitions such as Franz Schubert und der Moderne and the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb. He also worked closely with choirs such as the Singapore Youth Choir and won first prize for mixed choir category and third prize for chamber choir category at the 3rd Choral Meeting of Giannitsa, Greece.
He is currently adjunct lecturer at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. His choral arrangements are published under Carus-Verlag and most of his other compositions are published under Edition Immlein. His Zeitpfeil Nr. 2 was performed by Ensemble Reconsil and recorded under Orlando Records.
Chihchun Chi-sun Lee
Taiwanese-American composer Chihchun Chi-sun Lee, winner of the 1st Brandenburg Biennial Composers Competition and 2015 Guggenheim Fellow, is originally from Kaohsiung, Taiwan and is the invited professor of composition and theory at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea.
She has received numerous honors; these include the Harvard Fromm Music Fellowship, commissions from the Taiwan National Culture and Arts Foundation, Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra (NTSO), National Orchestra of Korea (NOK) and Taiwan National Chinese Orchestra, Theodore Front Prize from International Alliance for Women in Music, ISCM/ League of Composers Competition, International Festival of Women Composers Composition Prize, Florida Individual Artist Fellowship, and the Golden Melody Awards nomination.
Some of her most significant performances have included Carnegie Hall and 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In addition, her music has had numerous performances and broadcasts worldwide in Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hawaii, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Ukraine, China, Hong Kong, and around the continental United States.
Michael Sidney Timpson
Michael Sidney Timpson’s musical beginnings were borne out of playing baritone saxophone and “electric” bass clarinet with a strong interest in American improvisational forms, especially Free Jazz and Fusion; this would later evolve into incorporations of American popular genres, such as Funk, Hip-Hop, and Alternative Techno. A child of the multicultural era in Northern California, he was intrigued with East and Southeast Asian traditional musics, these seeds that would eventually bear a lasting impact on his musical style. With his research on Chinese and Korean instruments, he has also become an improviser on various Asian woodwinds.
A composer in virtually every medium, many of his recent compositions are for percussion ensemble and for orchestra; he has also composed many works for Chinese and Korean instruments. A winner of multiple composition awards, recorded on major labels, and with significant publications, his works continue to be featured throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Timpson won the ASCAP Grant for Young Composers, the BMI Student Composers Award, the DownBeat Magazine award for extended composition, and was twice nominated for the American Academy of Arts and Letters composition award. He also won the Brian M. Israel Prize (The Society for New Music and the New York Federation of Music Clubs), the Lee Ettelson Composer’s Award, National Federation of Music Club’s Youse compeition, second places at the Music From China International Competition and in NACUSA’s composition competition, very highly commended in England’s Kathryn Thomas Flute Competition, and honorable mention at the National Federation of Music Club’s Beyer competition. His orchestral works have received performances and recordings by the Kiev Philharmonic, the Czech Philharmonic, the Florida Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, and the National Orchestra of Korea. Timpson’s works continually appear on radio shows throughout the U.S., Asia, and Europe and have a strong visibility on the web.
He is an Associate Professor of Music Composition at at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea. He was a Senior Fulbright Research Scholar in the Humanities in Taipei, Taiwan in 2009 for research on his forthcoming book on orchestration and compositional philosophy on Chinese instruments for western composers (for which he has already published two articles.) He has also been on the music composition and electronic music faculty at the University of South Florida, Rhodes College and the University of Kansas. A student of Samuel Adler, William Albright, William Bolcom, Donald Crockett, Morten Lauridsen, Frederick Lesemann, Milcho Leviev, Andrew Mead, and Joseph Schwantner, he earned his undergraduate composition degree at the University of Southern California, his master’s at the Eastman School of Music, and a doctorate from the University of Michigan.
Schedule
Friday 2 August 2019
| Time | Description | Venue |
| 9am-12pm | Consultation (9am-10am for students of Chihchun Lee) | C5-01 C7-08 C7-12 |
| 12pm-1pm | Lunch | |
| 1pm-4pm | Reading by Keuris Quartet | Recital Hall (C5-02) |
| 4pm-6pm | Consultation | C5-01 C7-08 C7-12 |
Saturday 3 August 2019
| Time | Description | Venue |
| 9am-12pm | Consultation (9am-10am for students of Chihchun Lee) | C5-01 C7-08 C7-12 |
| 12pm-1pm | Lunch | |
| 1pm-4pm | Reading by Keuris Quartet | Multi-Purpose Hall (C4-02) |
| 4pm-6pm | Consultation | C5-01 C7-08 C7-12 |
Sunday 4 August 2019
| Time | Description | Venue |
| 9am-12pm | Consultation (9am-10am for students of Chihchun Lee) | C5-01 C7-08 C7-12 |
| 12pm-1pm | Lunch | |
| 1pm-4pm | Recording by Keuris Quartet | Multi-Purpose Hall (C4-02) |