baroque violin / artistic director

Goh Soon Tioe Artistic Director’s Chair

Violinist Alan Choo, whose performances have been described by The Straits Times Singapore as “an intoxicating brew of poetry and dare-devilry,” performs on the global stage as a leading soloist, chamber musician and historical specialist. He is Concertmaster and Assistant Artistic Director of Apollo’s Fire, the Grammy Award-winning baroque orchestra in the United States, and made his solo debut with them at the Tanglewood and Ravinia Music Festivals in 2017. He is also Founder and Artistic Director of Red Dot Baroque, Singapore’s first professional period ensemble and Ensemble-in-Residence at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. In May 2019, he was invited as guest concertmaster and soloist with the Shanghai-based baroque ensemble, Shanghai Camerata.

As a modern violinist, Alan has appeared as a soloist with the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Orchestra of the Music Makers and more. A proponent of contemporary music, Alan is co-founder of SG Inspirations, a project dedicated to performing works by Singaporean composers. In 2015, he recorded the SG Inspirations commemorative CD album with pianist Lin Hengyue as a gift to their nation on Singapore's 50th anniversary. His piano trio Trio Phoenix combines both worlds of early and contemporary music by performing works by living composers and exploring the wealth of baroque repertoire performed with stylistic awareness on modern instruments. The trio completed their Asia Summer Tour in 2015 to critical acclaim, with repertoire ranging from Jean-Philippe Rameau to Alfred Schnittke, and were guest artists at the Lexington Bach Festival 2017.

Alan's achievements in all areas of performance have earned him awards such as the Early Music Award 2016 from Peabody Conservatory, the Paul Abisheganaden Grant for Artistic Excellence 2015, the Goh Soon Tioe Centenary Award 2014, the Grace Clagett Ranney Prize in Chamber Music 2014 and 1st prize in the National Piano and Violin Competition 2011, Artist Category. He has also given masterclasses and lectures in violin performance, performance practice and stage presence to college students at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Michigan State University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Bowling Green State University, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

Alan holds a Doctorate in Historical Performance from Case Western Reserve University, as well as degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. His teachers include Julie Andrijeski, Risa Browder, Victor Danchenko and Alexander Souptel. He is currently recording an album of the complete Rosary Sonatas by Heinrich Biber with Apollo’s Fire.

baroque violin

Singaporean violinist Gabriel Lee enjoys a multi-faceted career: he performs in diverse sound worlds with his baroque and modern violins, and builds new frontiers in the Southeast Asian musical landscape as a music educator and entrepreneur. His playing has been described as having a “breathtaking intensity, grabbing listeners by the lapels without letting go”, and “a passion and concentration that was hard to surpass” (The Straits Times).

Gabriel has performed solo recitals in the United States, Singapore, Malaysia and Myanmar, and has been featured as a soloist with the Baltimore Baroque Band, Red Dot Baroque, Resound Collective, Asian Cultural Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Music Makers, Malaysia Bach Festival, Jakarta Festival Orchestra, PSPA International Ensemble, Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra and the Peabody Conductor’s Orchestra.

As a baroque violinist, Gabriel has performed solo with Enrico Onofri and the Resound Collective, Baltimore Baroque Band, Red Dot Baroque, Malaysia Bach Festival and the Jakarta Festival Orchestra. He has also performed in the Wilmington Bach Festival, Amherst Early Music Festival, Music at St. Bartholomew’s series, and collaborated with UMBC’s Camerata Chamber Choir. He studied with Risa Browder and played in masterclasses with Lucy van Dael, Ryo Terakado, Julie Andrijeski and Emlyn Ngai.

Constantly seeking to innovate and incorporate technology in his teaching, Gabriel has published and presented research in the Australian and New Zealand Viola Society Journal, ABRSM Music Teacher Conference and the Performer’s Present International Artistic Research Symposium. He is currently Managing Director of the SEA Music Academy Online, Artist Faculty at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Adjunct Faculty at the School of the Arts, Founder and Director of the Music Society of Myanmar and has conducted masterclasses and coached various ensembles in Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar and Cambodia. As a competition adjudicator, Gabriel has served on the jury of the Alessandro Giuliani Violin Competition and Asia Arts Festival.

Gabriel has received various awards and scholarships, including the JC Van Hulsteyn Award in Violin and the Paul Abisheganaden Grant for Artistic Excellence. He graduated with two Master of Music degrees in Violin Performance and Baroque Violin Performance from the Peabody Conservatory, and a Bachelor of Music (Hons) degree from YSTCM as Valedictorian of his cohort.

baroque violin

Baroque and modern violinist Brenda Koh has performed in numerous chamber and orchestra ensembles in Singapore, Europe, and the United States. Brenda has taken up principal positions in orchestras including the Orchestra of the Music Makers and the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, and was invited to play with the Australian World Orchestra in their 2016 season as an Academy Player. She has also appeared as soloist and leader with the Baltimore Baroque Band at the Peabody Institute, and has performed with Tempesta di Mare, the Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra, the Washington Bach Consort, and the American Bach Soloist Academy. Brenda is a founding member of Singapore’s premier early music ensemble, Red Dot Baroque.

With a passionate interest in developing arts education within her community, Brenda has been actively involved in community engagement activities that aim to share the joy of music-making with the public. She has led the Community Engagement Team at the Orchestra of Music Makers, and programmed outreach concerts and workshops in Singapore and Taiwan.

Brenda earned her Joint Degree Bachelor of Music Degree from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory and the Peabody Institute, and graduated with Master of Music Degrees in both Violin Performance and Historical Performance at the Peabody Institute, studying under Keng-Yuen Tseng and Risa Browder. Currently based in Singapore as a freelance musician and educator, Brenda serves as adjunct faculty at the NAFA School of Young Talents, School of the Arts, Singapore (SOTA) and the Tanglin Trust School.

baroque violin / viola

Singaporean violinist, Placida Ho, is equally at home on both the modern and baroque violin. She has played in numerous solo recitals in the Netherlands, Singapore and the US. Her passion for chamber and orchestral music has also led her to play in diverse ensembles, from chamber recitals with her string quartet in the Hague, to orchestras such as the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and the Nationaal Jeugd Orkest. She has performed in many international festivals, such as the Utrecht Early Music Festival, Holland Festival where she was part of a Stockhausen opera, Beethoven Festival of the Hague and the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam. In Singapore, she is a member of Red Dot Baroque, Singapore’s premier baroque ensemble.

She finished her Bachelor of Early Music on Baroque violin at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague, the Netherlands. She studied with Ryo Terakado and modern violin with Liesbeth Ackermans. She studied with Alexander Souptel and Igor Yuzefovich for her Bachelor of Music with Honours (Violin Performance) in Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Singapore. She also did a minor study on the violone with Maggie Uruqhart in the Hague for 2 years. For her modern chamber music training in the Hague, her quartet auditioned and was chosen to take part in lessons with the Casals Quartet for a year.

Throughout her studies she has been deeply interested in training herself as a teacher. She studied violin didactics with Liesbeth Ackermans for 2 years, attended numerous Kodaly workshops conducted by teachers from the Liszt Academy Kodaly Institute and taught in and observed the Pi music program for young children in the Conservatoire.

baroque viola

Chen Zhangyi's music has been described by BBC Radio 3 as “music from a voice of the future” and “a breath of fresh air on our musical landscape” by The Straits Times. In his compositions ranging from chamber operas to orchestral works, Zhangyi explores the themes of nature and the musical representation of Singaporean (and Pan-Asian) culture. Zhangyi read music at YST (Bmus), and Peabody Institute (MM, DMA), and currently teaches Analysis and Composition at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory (YST).

Zhangyi often conducts his own music and has worked with Singapore Lyric Opera, L'arietta, Ensemble Ripieno PH, Tokyo Philharmonic, among other ensembles. At YST, Zhangyi had led the new music ensemble OpusNovus (2016-2018) in performances of modern repertoire, including contemporary works by international and regional composers.

As a string player, Zhangyi has performed on baroque violin and viola with Charm City Baroque, Baltimore Baroque Band (at Peabody Institute), where he has appeared as soloist alongside Wynne Fung in a performance of JS Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in 2015. Zhangyi is currently a member of Red Dot Baroque.