It's been ages since I was last invited to a Singapore Symphony Orchestra fundraising gala dinner. All thanks to musical philanthropist and serial Patron of The Arts award winner Kris Tan, I made a long-awaited appearance on Saturday 26 April 2025 at the grand ballroom of the Ritz Carlton.
Having had to miss an all-Ravel piano recital which took place at the same time, this had to be something special. And it was. You don't often get to have dinner with celebrities like TwoSet Violin, Brett Yang and Eddie Chen. And they are as amusing in person as they are on YouTube. Over 1.4 million dollars was raised for the SSO this evening. And here are the incriminating photos.
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| Cultural diplomacy at work. TwoSet Violin meet with the Chinese ambassador to Singapore. China promises not to invade Taiwan. |
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| Lianhe Zaobao journalist Zhang Heyang has a pic taken with TwoSet Violin. |
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| And here's our table 29. |
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| Main course: Fish or Beef? |
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| Hobnobbing with more celebs: Cellist Ng Pei-Sian, Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani, Dr Geh Min, Geoffrey Yu & conductor Dedric Wong. |
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| Kris Tan makes a bid for the expensive booze, while TwoSet Violin ponder how much of their budget they can afford to blow. |
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| And the music started, with Associate Conductor Rodolfo Barraez conducting the SSO. |
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| Lau Wen Rong performed the finale of Haydn's Trumpet Concerto. |
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| TwoKong Violin: Concertmaster Kong Zhaohui and his son Kong Xianlong, who performed Nigel Hess. |
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| The Singapore Symphony Children's Choir sang Dick Lee's Home. |
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| They also performed Why We Sing. |
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| The dessert, complete with an edible chocolate Merlion. |
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| Here's a final photo with Ong Shu Chen (Mrs David Loke), TwoSet Violin, Kris Tan and Olga Isserlis (Steven's cousin). |