Deviants Defiant by re: mix July 11, 2010

An alternative voice to the meaning and definition of composed works, re: mix is a petit ensemble of young and fine Singapore musicians. re: mix mixes beats and rhythms in a totally new flavour, resulting in a fresh, new and intriguing form of expression, but at the same time maintaining the high performing standards of the classical performing ensemble.

In Deviants Defiant, re: mix will perform the adapted versions of three soundtracks from Your Smiling Face, a 1979 Taiwanese movie that shares the same storyline as the poem Transfigured Night. Written by Richard Dehmel, a German poet, Transfigured Night inspired American composer Arnold Schoenberg to compose one of his most important works, a string sextet of the same name, in 1899. This composition will be played during the concert as well.

The poem is about the dread of a woman’s confession to her new lover that she is pregnant with another man’s child and how the lover accepts this fact, portraying the deviance from sexual norms as well as the self-censorship of a sexually active society.

Similarly, through Your Smiling Face, the reticence about the democratisation of sex in Chinese cinema is broken. With reference to the poem and the movie, both stories end with the men accepting their loves and acting in defiance to societal norms.

In previous performances, re: mix has experimented with a wide variety of genres of music, from classical music to movie soundtracks and even to Chinese evergreen tunes.

Under the baton of Music Director cum Violin soloist Mr Foo Say Ming, critics have hailed re: mix’s music as “gorgeous as it meandered from one climax to another.” (Straits Times Life! Jun 2008). If “to say the full-house audience enjoyed […] re: mix would be an understatement.” (Straits Times Life! Dec 2006), then Deviants Defiant would definitely be no exception.

Date: 12 July 2010, Monday

Time: 7.30 pm
(60 mins, no intermission)

Venue: Esplanade Recital Studio

Program:

Arnold SCHOENBERG:
Transfigured Night (Verklärte Nacht) arranged for string orchestra
Music by: LI Taixiang
Arranged for re: mix by: CHEN Zhangyi
Your Smiling Face (欢颜)
Olive Tree (橄榄树)
Walking in the Rain (走在雨中)

Tickets:
$20, free seating.
15% discount for Passion Card holders.
50% subsidy for limited tickets under the Keppel Nights scheme.
Call Charmayn at 97709131 or email 2006remix@gmail.com for tickets.