Resound at 10: Dennis Lee Piano Series (DLPS) Inaugural Concert & 10th Anniversary Gala Concert
Resound Collective: Dennis Lee Piano Series (DLPS) Inaugural Concert & 10th Anniversary Gala Concert
DLPS Inaugural Concert
Saturday, 11 July 2026 | 7:30pm
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music Concert Hall
Abigail Sin, Piano
Lin Xiangning, Piano
re:Sound
10th Anniversary Gala Concert
Saturday, 29 August 2026 | 7:30pm
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music Concert Hall
Chua Suen Ern, Violin
Jonathan Ong, Guest Leader
re:Sound
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Resound Collective, our homegrown musicians’ collective that manages the chamber orchestra re:Sound and the Concordia Quartet.
Known for its fresh approach to innovative programming, Resound Collective will be launching a new piano series that spotlights local pianists: the Resound Collective Dennis Lee Piano Series. Named in honour of the late Penang-born pianist, teacher, and chamber music advocate Dennis Lee (1946-2023), the series kickstarts its inaugural concert with Abigail Sin and Lin Xiangning performing Beethoven’s Third and Fourth Piano Concertos.
August then sees Resound Collective’s 10th Anniversary Gala Concert with a programme that reflects the collective’s commitment to nurturing Singaporean musicians, featuring 12-year-old violinist Chua Suan Ern and the World Premiere of Singaporean composer Germaine Goh’s new work “Sleepless in Singapore”.
Aileen Tang catches up with Abigail, Xiangning, Germaine, and Founder and Chairman of Resound Collective. Mervin Beng.
TFI: Could you share with us your impression of Dennis Lee and his impact on you in your journey as a musician?
Abigail Sin: I first met Uncle Dennis and Auntie Chee Hung (Ed: Dennis Lee’s wife, pianist and pedagogueToh Chee Hung) when I was ten years old. We were performing in the same charity concert and they knew my teacher at the time, Mr Benjamin Loh. I also remember watching their performances as a piano duo, one of my first encounters with that genre of music making. They were very supportive and encouraging to me at that young age and I will always be grateful for their kindness.
Lin Xiangning: I wish I had the chance to meet Uncle Dennis. His musicianship, artistry and charm left a mark on those who knew him, and his name has always come up as an early trailblazer from our side of the world who mark on the international stage. I’m so grateful for the ways he’s inspired, and for a chance to feel connected to his world, his legacy through preparations for this concert.
TFI: We’ve often heard of Singaporean parents hothousing their children and this apparently extends to the number of children that have piano lessons from a young age. What are your thoughts on this? What’s the best way to nurture young musicians?
August then sees Resound Collective’s 10th Anniversary Gala Concert with a programme that reflects the collective’s commitment to nurturing Singaporean musicians, featuring 12-year-old violinist Chua Suan Ern and the World Premiere of Singaporean composer Germaine Goh’s new work “Sleepless in Singapore”.
AS: Parents and young students today have access to much more information and options than ever before, and we are fortunate to have a very good standard of piano teaching in Singapore. I think that the best thing to instil in young musicians is curiosity and a love for music, which will truly enrich their lives whether or not they continue to play an instrument at a serious level.
XN: I think there are so many ways to nurture and encourage the love for music. It should depend on what resonates with the child. Playing any instrument well takes heaps of discipline, but also curiosity, freedom and time to figure out one’s way of relating to it. In the early days of learning, it is sometimes hard to tell where the passion would lead, how it might eventually fit into one’s life. I think it is important to have a chance to live and love these questions as part of the exploration – it’s part of keeping the love for music and piano alive!
TFI: The piano has been described as a “lonely instrument” because pianists often perform solo, unlike orchestral instruments, but Resound Collective seeks to paint the piano as a collaborative partner in its new concert series. For the typical pianist though, such opportunities are hard to come by. How important is collaborative music-making for a pianist who may argue that they can do perfectly well as a soloist?
AS: I love collaborative music-making: it’s all about inspiring each other to become better musicians. Making music with other people is what keeps me going, and I owe much of my musical growth to my chamber music partners. I’ve worked with Resound leader Yang Shuxiang several times under the banner of my own chamber music series, More Than Music, including our Beethoven Violin Sonatas recording project. But this will be our first time collaborating in an orchestral setting. There is a personal and musical trust that we have already established, and I’m very much looking forward to it.
XN: It’s natural to reach out for company and collaboration, just like we do in so many aspects of life. Collaborating with musicians and arts practitioners – dancers, theatre makers etc – is something I love doing. It stimulates and inspires in a way that solo work cannot possibly achieve. This is my first time working with Resound Collective, and it’s the same spirit of learning, staying porous to ideas, and building trust with fellow musicians that I wish to bring into the collaboration.
TFI: Germaine, the title of your work Sleepless in Singapore brings to mind the 1993 movie “Sleepless in Seattle”! Was that part of your inspiration? Why “Sleepless”?
Germaine Goh:I actually had no idea there was a film called Sleepless in Seattle when I came up with the title, so what a coincidence! The inspiration for the work came from a desire to capture the experience of living in Singapore — the sights and sounds of the city and the quiet moments that emerge when everything finally slows down.
I wanted to create a musical world that Singaporeans could recognise and relate to. Singapore is a remarkably efficient city. We are always moving, building, achieving and getting things done. But often, that pace comes at a personal cost. The title Sleepless reflects both the city itself, which never quite seems to stop, and the experience many of us have of reaching the end of a long day only to realise we haven’t really had time for ourselves.
It’s also about the questions that surface in those quiet hours of the night. In a world shaped by uncertainty and conflict, when the distractions of the day fall away, we are left alone with our thoughts. The sleeplessness in the piece is therefore both literal and metaphorical.
TFI: Can you tell us a little more about the work?
GG: Sleepless in Singapore is a four-movement work that follows the arc of a day, moving from the first moments of morning, through the commute and bustle of city life, into the stillness of the night, and finally towards the beginning of another day.
Beyond drawing inspiration from everyday life in Singapore, the work also reflects a personal interest of mine over the past few years: exploring how compositional ideas from our local cultural traditions can inform contemporary concert music. I believe there is tremendous richness in the musical cultures around us, and many opportunities for composers to learn from and engage with them in meaningful ways.
For example, I draw inspiration from concepts such as the alap in Indian classical music — an introductory passage that gradually establishes the musical mode and atmosphere — as well as rhythmic ideas inspired by kompang interlocking patterns in the more energetic, moto perpetuo sections of the work.
What excites me is the possibility of exploring these techniques within the context of a contemporary chamber ensemble. While the piece is written for the wonderful musicians of Resound Collective, the musical ideas themselves are informed by the diverse cultural influences that are part of Singapore’s musical landscape. In that sense, the work is both a reflection of contemporary Singaporean life and an exploration of the many musical traditions that coexist within it.
TFI: What are your thought on whether there is such a thing as a “Singapore sound”?
GG: I think what makes Singapore unique is precisely the fact that there isn’t a single, definitive sound. We are a meeting point of many cultures, traditions and communities, and that diversity is naturally reflected in our music.
Singaporean musicians and composers draw inspiration from a wide range of influences, whether they come from Western classical music, Chinese, Malay or Indian traditions, jazz, popular music, or many other genres. As a result, our musical landscape is incredibly expansive.
For me personally, I have become increasingly interested in learning from the cultural music traditions that are part of Singapore’s fabric. These influences extend beyond melodies or instruments; they include rhythmic practices, structural concepts, approaches to improvisation, and ways of thinking about musical time and form. These ideas have become an important source of inspiration in my own work.
So rather than thinking of a Singapore sound as a fixed musical vocabulary, I see it as a spirit of openness and exchange. It is the result of different traditions interacting, influencing one another, and continually evolving. That diversity, to me, is what makes Singapore’s musical identity so distinctive.
TFI: Mervin, how would you say Resound Collective has evolved since its beginnings in 2016?
Mervin Beng: Resound Collective Limited began with the aim to promote chamber music-making, beginning with a professional chamber orchestra. In that sense, it has not evolved much because the core mission remains the same. However, over the years we have expanded in scope to have an active string quartet (Concordia Quartet) organise the biennial Singapore Chamber Music Festival, and have various concert series such as Prodigious/Side-by-Side for young musicians, and the Dennis Lee Piano Series for Singaporean pianists to play alongside the re:Sound chamber orchestra.
TFI: What do you hope that this new Dennis Lee Piano Series will achieve for the classical music scene in Singapore?
MB: Opportunities for pianists to collaborate with orchestral forces are hard to come by and this series seeks to address that. I believe we have many excellent, deserving pianists in Singapore. The possible repertoire is endless – Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven are obvious, but there are other works which will work marvellously. Sir Stephen Hough performed Brahms’ second piano concerto without conductor with re:Sound to great success (Ed: in September 2022)! I believe that this series will enrich the classical music scene here in a very meaningful way.
TFI: How have opportunities for Singaporean musicians changed in the last 10 years?
MB: Today there are more opportunities than ever for, with an unprecedented range of productions. This allows musicians to carve out specialised careers in music, and focus on what they like, whether it’s commercial gigs, musicals, or new music.
Our core musicians get to diversify their careers by performing in chamber orchestra and ensembles throughout the year, as well as teach.
TFI: Can you share some of the directions and plans that Resound Collective has for the next 10 years?
MB: Our more immediate plan for the next 3-6 years is to grow artistically, without expanding the collective by too much. We still firmly believe that small is beautiful. We will be pushing the musicians artistically by working with leading figures of the chamber orchestra world and adventurous collaborations. Also in the pipeline are possible recording projects and international tours.
Over the next decade, we hope to be recognised as Asia’s leading chamber music collective.
DLPS Inaugural Concert Programme:
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 (pianist: Abigail Sin)
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 (pianist: Lin Xiangning)
Beethoven Cavatina from String Quartet No. 13, Op. 130
10th Anniversary Concert Programme
J.S. Bach — Violin Concerto No. 1 (soloist: Chua Suen Ern)
Gustav Mahler — Adagietto from Symphony No. 5
Germaine Goh — Sleepless in Singapore (World Premiere, commissioned work)
Ludwig van Beethoven — Symphony No. 5 (guest leader: Jonathan Ong)
Tickets for both concerts are available via BookMyShow:
DLPS Inaugural Concert: https://resoundcollective.org/dennis-lee-piano-series-2026/
10th Anniversary Concert: https://resoundcollective.org/10th-anniversary-gala-concert/
