Sunday, March 19, 2006

Nan Yin 南音 at Tian Hock Keng

On Saturday night of 18 March, 2006, Tian Hock Keng (Guan Fu Gong 天福宫) opened its door to one of the rare concerts on Nan Yin 南音 - Southern Music. Once popular with the Emperor's Court from Tang Dynasty through Qing Dynasty, today, it is heartening to know that there are still groups of young people and old involved in practising and keeping this arts alive.

Organised by the Xiang Lin Music Society 湘灵音乐社, with the participation of the Fu Hai Monastery Choir 福海禅寺 and the support of Hokkien Huay Kuan, we got to listen to a very elegant and ancient music. Apart from the VIPs, the audience's median age must be 70! (^^) Ah, the music will remind them of their young days in the villages in and around Quan Zhou, China, where the Minnan Hua (Hokkien as known here) is spoken.

I think Tian Hock Keng is the appropriate place to perform such concerts as it also remind us of our ancestors who came to this temple upon touching the shores of Singapore. They brought along the cultural heritage to Singapore. Last night, some of the younger members, probably in the 12-16s, were also singing and playing in the Chinese Orchestra for Nan Yin. We know that Nan Yin will survive in Singapore. (^^)

4 comments:

fr said...

I also think the Temple is the appropriate place to perform such concert. I only watched the first part of the show as I had bought ticket for another concert.

One of the performers has posted a video of an item in her blog:
http://liyuanxi.blogspot.com/

chinatownboy said...

Thanks for the lead. Wow, hope to see more of the shows. (^^) By the way, Food-from-the-Heart on 12 & 13 May 2006 is staging a Shanghai Yue Opera Charity Night at Victoria Theatre. 2 Opera stars will be flown all the way from Shanghai exclusively for the Charity Nights.

Miko said...

Can't wait to see the Yue Ju! And thanks for coming to our little concert. This is the first time we are doing a full Nanyin concert at Tian Hock Keng. Normally, we do Liyuanxi excerpts and Nanyin together.

I hope that you will come again on our next performance and say 'Hi' to me!

chinatownboy said...

Sure! Let me know OK? Will try to spot you then. (^^)