SINGAPORE – Past Asia's Got Talent semi-finalists, National Day song singers, jazz pianists and hip-hop dancers are to perform in this year's ChildAid 2020 – Virtually Yours fund-raising concert.
The annual concert, organised by The Straits Times and The Business Times to support financially disadvantaged children, has decided to go online this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among the performers is 13-year-old Heema Izzati Zainudin, a School of the Arts student who performed in the ChildAid concert in 2018 and last year and was featured in last year's National Day song video, a remake of the beloved Our Singapore.
She says her solo performance at ChildAid this year will be a mash-up of a classical song, Czardas by Italian composer Vittorio Monti, and a pop song, Myself by American singer Bazzi, which she will be singing and playing the cello to.
Heema says she missed going to rehearsals of the concert and seeing her fellow performers and friends. "But I am glad that I don't have to worry about messing up on stage," she adds with a laugh.
Another seasoned ChildAid performer, Syah Riszuan, is back for his fourth year at the concert. The 15-year-old singer, a student at Assumption English School, gained prominence in 2017 when he became one of the semi-finalists in Asia's Got Talent. He was also featured singing alongside Heema in the NDP 2019 music video.
"My brother Shahfiq and I will be performing an original song at the ChildAid concert, called Kuharap (I Hope). Originally a Malay song, we had to translate the lyrics into English for the concert, and it was challenging fitting the English lyrics to the melody," he says.
Other music performances in the 45-minute concert include a jazz piece by Singaporean jazz maestro Jeremy Monteiro's group. Among the young faces in his group is 23-year-old Lee Ann Gie, a fresh graduate from the National University of Singapore.
On practising an ensemble piece on her own at home, Ms Lee says: "It is hard to practise a piano piece virtually. We still have to figure out the logistics of how we are going to record the performance and how we make the sounds of each instrument sound harmonious together."
Viewers of the ChildAid concert will also be treated to an energetic dance piece choreographed by Mr Ahmad Kamil, 28, a teacher in dance school O School and creative director of Six.5 Urban Dance Company.
He said the dance, an urban choreography piece called A Part Together, aims to convey the message of supporting one another during the Covid-19 period and building a stronger community despite staying apart.
The ChildAid concert aligns with O School's mission of engaging the youth and contributing to children's development, he notes.
The concert raises funds for The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, which helps about 10,000 disadvantaged students pay for their meals and transport, and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund, which supports lessons in the performing and visual arts for 1,000 financially disadvantaged children who are artistically talented.
Mr Ahmad says that directing about 20 young dancers between the ages of 17 and 20 on online video-conferencing platforms such as Zoom, is quite the hassle.
"Due to connectivity problems, it was very hard to get everyone moving together in synchrony and to direct each individual. I often had to record the steps and send them via WhatsApp, which was not very conducive.
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SINGAPORE – Past Asia's Got Talent semi-finalists, National Day song singers, jazz pianists and hip-hop dancers are to perform in this year's ChildAid 2020 – Virtually Yours fund-raising concert.
The annual concert, organised by The Straits Times and The Business Times to support financially disadvantaged children, has decided to go online this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among the performers is 13-year-old Heema Izzati Zainudin, a School of the Arts student who performed in the ChildAid concert in 2018 and last year and was featured in last year's National Day song video, a remake of the beloved Our Singapore.
She says her solo performance at ChildAid this year will be a mash-up of a classical song, Czardas by Italian composer Vittorio Monti, and a pop song, Myself by American singer Bazzi, which she will be singing and playing the cello to.
Heema says she missed going to rehearsals of the concert and seeing her fellow performers and friends. "But I am glad that I don't have to worry about messing up on stage," she adds with a laugh.
Another seasoned ChildAid performer, Syah Riszuan, is back for his fourth year at the concert. The 15-year-old singer, a student at Assumption English School, gained prominence in 2017 when he became one of the semi-finalists in Asia's Got Talent. He was also featured singing alongside Heema in the NDP 2019 music video.
"My brother Shahfiq and I will be performing an original song at the ChildAid concert, called Kuharap (I Hope). Originally a Malay song, we had to translate the lyrics into English for the concert, and it was challenging fitting the English lyrics to the melody," he says.
Other music performances in the 45-minute concert include a jazz piece by Singaporean jazz maestro Jeremy Monteiro's group. Among the young faces in his group is 23-year-old Lee Ann Gie, a fresh graduate from the National University of Singapore.
On practising an ensemble piece on her own at home, Ms Lee says: "It is hard to practise a piano piece virtually. We still have to figure out the logistics of how we are going to record the performance and how we make the sounds of each instrument sound harmonious together."
Viewers of the ChildAid concert will also be treated to an energetic dance piece choreographed by Mr Ahmad Kamil, 28, a teacher in dance school O School and creative director of Six.5 Urban Dance Company.
He said the dance, an urban choreography piece called A Part Together, aims to convey the message of supporting one another during the Covid-19 period and building a stronger community despite staying apart.
The ChildAid concert aligns with O School's mission of engaging the youth and contributing to children's development, he notes.
The concert raises funds for The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, which helps about 10,000 disadvantaged students pay for their meals and transport, and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund, which supports lessons in the performing and visual arts for 1,000 financially disadvantaged children who are artistically talented.
Mr Ahmad says that directing about 20 young dancers between the ages of 17 and 20 on online video-conferencing platforms such as Zoom, is quite the hassle.
"Due to connectivity problems, it was very hard to get everyone moving together in synchrony and to direct each individual. I often had to record the steps and send them via WhatsApp, which was not very conducive.
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