The Singapore Symphony Chorus

An Interview with Shane Thio

Shane had his early music education in Singapore and was awarded an Association Board Scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He was the recipient of the 1992 National Arts Council Young Artists’ Award, which enabled him to pursue further studies at the Royal College of Music. Shane has performed numerous concerts with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Lyric Opera, Singapore Dance Theatre, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and has been resident pianist with the Singapore Symphony Chorus since 1982.

More info: Biography

So how did you become a pianist?

I started playing when I was 7 – just for the fun of it. I’m not one of those born prodigies. I enjoyed reading about music more than actually playing. I didn’t even get my diploma until I was 18. I never even intended to take it, but finally my teacher said, “why not try?” So I did.

To my surprise I did quite well. I did work for it but I’m not a very “exam conscious” person. I didn’t see myself as a pianist; I was thinking of going to the U to study history!

I guess the examiners saw some talent in my playing because on the basis of my exams, I won a performing scholarship to the Royal Academy in London! But I didn’t want to be a performer. I thought about turning it down. Everyone said I was mad but performing just didn’t interest me. I said I’d consider doing musicology. They said OK but we’ll have to wait for your A levels.

So I went into the army (NS) for 6 months while waiting. Then my A levels came back and I was off to London.

I still wasn’t taking a performance course. I was crazy about music of course but not performing. But then something happened. I guess after being in that environment, with all that music and exposed to such a wide repertoire, I realised I enjoyed it. I thought, “Yeah – why not?!”

So then you became a performer?

Well first I had to complete 2 more years of NS. Then I went to the National Institute of Education and got my graduate diploma in teaching. After that I was a teacher at Raffles Junior College for 5 years.

The whole time I taught I was performing. Then one day the “Head of Aesthetics” called me to her office and said there had been complaints that I’d been moonlighting, “We know you play for the SSO, that you give concerts outside and you have even played on the radio! You have to stop!” It was all true – but it was also all outside school hours. I refused to stop. They could fire me – I didn’t care. I wanted to perform. They couldn’t believe it.

They didn’t fire me but eventually I left. I guess once you know exactly what you want to do, nothing can keep you from it. Saying that, I really enjoyed teaching. The kids were great. But I had another calling.

Do you still teach?

I still have some students but I don’t teach young kids – my youngest student is 17. My schedule is very ad hoc. One week it’s a Tuesday then two weeks later maybe it’s a Friday. People don’t come to me to learn piano; they already know how to play. They come when they need coaching on a particular aspect. I prefer it that way – it makes it more interesting for me.

How long have you been with the SSC?

Actually the SSC was my first professional engagement when I returned from London. That was 23 years ago! The chorus master was Lim Yau. He asked me around for an audition and well… I thought it would be a short term thing but here I am! I did have a break of about 18 months around 1999 but then Lim Yau asked me back.

So after all these years, is it true you can read Lim Yau’s mind?!

Well… not all of it! Just the musical parts!

I have tremendous respect for Lim Yau as an all round musician. He is interested in every aspect of music. I believe talent like his is really very rare. Many musicians are myopic – they only know their instrument and nothing else about music . Not Lim Yau. The attention and detail he brings to his work is amazing. He is absolutely involved in every aspect of the music. I have immense respect for him.

So what does it take to be a good repetiteur?

Well first and foremost you have to be a good pianist. You can’t be a strong repetiteur if you’re a weak pianist.

I both perform and work with choirs and the opera and I can tell you that being a repetiteur takes a lot of hard work. You have the score in front of you, there’s the choir (which may not be in time!) and there’s the conductor. You can’t be focused solely on the notes. You have to read vertically but you also need to read quite a few bars ahead in order to be aware of everything going on around you. You have to be very alert.

The music can be quite difficult too. Some of the reductions are just ridiculous. The orchestral reduction for Mahler’s 8th would have required 15 fingers. So you need to be able to get a sense of how to compress the chords. Eventually you get a feel for the harmonies. It becomes intuitive.

People seem to think I sight read everything but I do prepare for SSC rehearsals – a bit more or less depending on the piece. Mahler’s 8th was a lot of work. Most pieces aren’t that bad.

So what’s the most challenging work you’ve done?

Surprisingly, all the toughest pieces have come from working with the Malaysian Philharmonic. They have a great modern music programme. Of course they have their own keyboard player – she’s really a wonderful pianist. But sometimes if they need to double or if she’s not available they’ll ask me.

I’ve done quite a few of these – like Ligeti and Boulez. Usually they’ll give me the name of the piece and if I agree the next thing I know there’s a guy from DHL standing at my door with a package. As soon as I see him my pulse starts to race because I’m terrified to see what the score contains! Then I open the package and my heart collapses. It’s a LOT of work! I can practice 4-5 hours a day for a few weeks just for a 15 minute piece. I have to really clear my schedule for those because if I have anything else on I’ll just die.

Some of this stuff is complicated – it’s mathematical. Like the Ligeti: You have your own part as do 12 others. You’re playing along with the conductor and then you break up. Now the stage has 13 soloists and you have to keep your pulse because when bar 100-105 arrives, everyone comes back together and you have to be on time. It’s very challenging.

So what are you listening to lately?

Some chamber works by Takemitsu. He’s a new music composer who died 10 years ago. He’s the only composer that I find can really fuse Asian aesthetics with western music. He’s fantastic.

Generally speaking I like new music. I really like some of the very complicated stuff I play – Thomas Ades, Ligeti, Boulez, Messiaen. People think I’m crazy. They don’t understand how anyone would want to listen to that. But I find the music has a lot to offer and you keep hearing new things in it.

What kind of work really excites you?

I work with a lot of local Singaporean composers – in fact probably all of them. It’s thrilling to prepare a piece and perform it for the first time.

I’ve also worked with a number of choreographers. For instance recently Haresh Sharma from The Necessary Stage contacted me and said, “Can you do something with music and… well something else?” So I asked, “Can you get me a choreographer?”

“I can get you a choreographer”

Next thing I’m sitting with Kuo Jing Hong. She is a wonderful and intelligent woman. She’d heard of me, I’d heard of her but this was our first time working together. So Haresh said, “OK now go create.”

I showed her a few different works and she picked Schoenberg’s “Six Little Pieces.” Then she got a stage designer and we put together the whole thing at the Art House. It was entitled “SCHOENBERG……Prismed.”

The designer (Lim Wei Ling) carved pieces of wood, each one representing a note. Then she plotted the notes of the six pieces on the floor. There was a different area for each piece. As the dancer would move from one area to the other, I would have to react and play the appropriate music. But sometimes I would choose and the dancer would have to move. In the end all the notes – the blocks – were messed up and the entire installation was destroyed. The piece was deconstructed so to speak. I loved that. I love working with choreographers.

Besides that I love accompanying song – by this I don’t mean opera. I mean song: like chanson and lieder. Not many people tend to show up for performances of lieder in Singapore but that’s OK! I’ll happily play even if there were only 10 people in the audience.

So what would you be if you weren’t a musician?

I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. I really love this. If you must have an answer: I’d be a bum or if lucky a kept man with someone very rich letting me do nothing!

Sistic: Upcoming Perfromances with Shane

The interview with Shane was conducted by Robin Rheaume on October 10th, 2005. Please do not reprint, copy or extract without the author’s permission.