Mare-Dness – Daytime Delirium

The Art Song Coterie (TASC), formerly known as The Art Song Consortium, is a Singapore-based collective dedicated to keeping the Art Song genre and its intimate form of recital (Liederabend) relevant in contemporary society. TASC achieves this through the creative programming of art songs composed over the centuries. A key aspect of their mission is discovering and presenting high-quality art songs that are rarely performed. TASC aims not only to stimulate listeners aurally and emotionally but also to engage them intellectually, thereby deepening their appreciation for the Arts and offering experiences of diverse languages and cultures that enrich the world of Art Song.

TASC is committed to engaging their audience with refined performances and exploring new repertoire to enrich the lives of people from different walks of life. They bring a non-biased and inclusive approach to each performance every time.

“They (the cast) were upstaged by soprano Joyce Lee Tung stealing the show…she nailed the role with striking aplomb.” – The Straits Times on Soprano Joyce Lee Tung in Singapore Lyric Opera’s Die Fledermaus

Soprano, Joyce Lee Tung graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) with a focus on piano. During this time, she also studied voice privately with Lim Shieh Yih. She later earned a Master of Arts in Voice under KS Joanna Borowska-Isser and a Masters in Concert Singing under Christine Whittlesey and Robert Heimann from the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria.

Joyce was finalist and winner in several international singing competitions, including placing 2nd in the International Singing Competition in Maribor, Slovenia (2018). She has been featured on European radio multiple times, performing a range of music from early to new music repertories, including the premiere of Americ Goh’s composition.

Joyce is also co-founder of The Art Song Coterie, a collective dedicated to promoting the art song and its refined performance. Her notable concert appearances include solo performances with NAFA Orchestra, Singapore Chinese Orchestra and Singapore Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed internationally at the 14th Annual Chamber Music Festival of the Central Conservatory of Music 2023 in Beijing and the 42nd Daegu International Music Festival 2023 in Korea.

Her professional operatic engagements include Tonina (Salieri’s Prima la musica), Madame Herz (Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor),  Frasquita (Bizet’s Carmen), Zerlina (Mozart’s Don Giovanni – abridged version) and Adele (J. Strauss’ Die Fledermaus) with Singapore Lyric Opera; Queen of the Night (Mozart’s The Magic Flute) with Kuala Lumpur City Opera, Marzelline (Beethoven’s Fidelio – abridged version) and Elettra (Mozart’s Idomeneo – film version) with The Opera People, Isabella (Rossini’s L’inganno felice) with Lirica Arts, Gilda (Verdi’s Rigoletto) and Foreign Princess (Dvořak’s Rusalka) with New Opera Singapore.

Currently, Joyce serves as an adjunct principal study lecturer for voice at NAFA and as an adjunct voice teacher at School of The Arts, Singapore.

Xiangning is a pianist, researcher, educator and creative curator of interdisciplinary productions. A faculty member at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YST), National University of Singapore, she teaches courses on music within the context of local, regional, and transnational history.

Active in interdisciplinary collaborations, Xiangning often explores themes of wonderment, intimacy, and nature in her work. She has been involved in the artistic direction, curation, and production of several projects, including Springing (2019) and Wanderer (2022) in collaboration with YST, and Eye-to-I: Self-guided audio tour (2021) as part of Esplanade—Theatres on the Bay’s Voices – A Festival of Song. As a pianist, she performs as a soloist and has collaborated with such local ensembles as The Opera People (TOP), The Philharmonic Orchestra (TPO) Wind Quintet, and the Orchestra of Music Makers (OMM).

An advocate for strengthening society through the arts and education, Xiangning is actively involved in international networks including the Association Européenne des Conservatoires (AEC) and Southeast Asian Directors of Music (SEADOM). Recent panel invitations include the 49th AEC Annual Congress and General Assembly: Imagining opportunities for establishing new traditions which embrace a more diverse world – Networking beyond Europe, and Association for Asia Pacific Performing Arts Centres (AAPPAC) Conference Future Forward: Notes for the Way Forward.

Xiangning has received various accolades and scholarships including the Ngee Ann Kongsi Scholarship, SEADOM ‘30 Under 30’, and Paul Abisheganaden Grant for Artistic Excellence. She is Valedictorian of Class of 2015 at the Singapore School of the Arts (SOTA), where she currently spearheads the inaugural Alumni Artist-in-Residence program. She is pursuing a PhD with the NUS History Department, with research interests in the intersections of social history, decolonialism, and music, focusing on Southeast Asia. Her research has been presented at international events such as the 2022 Orpheus Instituut Colloqium (Belgium) and the 2024 European Platform for Artistic Research in Music (Slovenia).

Nicholas is no stranger to the local music scene and is sought after as a soloist, collaborator and educator. He earned his Master's in Piano Performance from the New England Conservatory in 2014, specialising in contemporary piano repertoire under the guidance of Stephen Drury. Nicholas has also worked with other leading pianists in the field including Max Levinson, Corey Hamm and Nino Jvania. Prior to this, Nicholas obtained his Bachelor of Music from the University of Birmingham (UK) and his Post-graduate Diploma in Education from the National Institute of Education (Singapore).

Nicholas’s past solo recitals include the Singapore Piano Festival Young Virtuoso Series (2009), …and deliver us from… , presented as part of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s Spectrum series in 2015 and Don’t listen so hard as part of their Free Programmes: Cool Classics 2019 series.

Beyond his solo work, Nicholas plays a significant role in Singapore’s music scene as a collaborative pianist. He has collaborated with a diverse array of musicians including the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, The Philharmonic Orchestra (Singapore), Singapore Armed Forces Band, Singapore Lyric Opera, Woodwind Quintet EDQ, the Boston Young Composers Ensemble (BYCE) and Discovery Ensemble (Boston). His recent foray into Chinese music has seen him perform with musicians from Ding Yi Music Company and local erhu ensemble Stringwerkz, as well as guest performers and competitors from the Singapore Chinese Music Competition (2018, 2020) and the Singapore International Erhu Competition (2019).

Previously a teacher with Chung Cheng High School (Main), Nicholas is currently a vocal coach with the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and the Horn Studio pianist for the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.