Celebrating joy, hope and resilience

Singapore

MIXING classical and traditional with au courant tunes, a wide range of musical talents came together to raise money for people with muscular dystrophy as well as financially disadvantaged arts students.

The inaugural Sunburst Concert last Friday was organised by The Business Times and presented by CapitaLand Hope Foundation, the philanthropic arm of CapitaLand. The 90-minute concert at the School of the Arts (Sota) Concert Hall celebrated joy, hope and resilience among members of various communities.

By the end of evening, it earned not only a rapturous standing ovation from the 400-strong audience, but also helped raise S$228,000 for its two beneficiaries - the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Singapore (MDAS) and the School of the Arts (Sota) student assistance fund. Senior Minister of State (Culture, Community and Youth, and Trade and Industry) Sim Ann, graced the event as the guest of honour.

The concert kicked off with former Nominated Member of Parliament Eunice Olsen hyping up the crowd with her promise of an "awesome, badass" concert. She proceeded to play Cyndi Lauper's inspirational anthem True Colours on the piano while Kelvin Sim Yu Xiang, who has muscular dystrophy, sang beautifully.

Subsequently five other members of MDAS wheeled out onto the stage for a joyous medley of Bob Marley's Three Little Birds and the Beatles' Hey Jude. The familiar tunes won the crowd over and got them singing and clapping along.

Other performers with disabilities similarly brought the audience together. Adelyn Koh Xin Hui, who is visually impaired, gave a touching rendition of John Lennon's love-all anthem Imagine, while Ron Tan Zi Kai, who is hearing-impaired, delivered two self-composed piano pieces with aplomb.

Not to be outdone, the talented students of Sota also delivered some sterling numbers in support of the two causes. Teenagers Iswarya Jayakumar and Shruti Nair brought the house down with their dazzling blend of bharatanatyam and hip-hop moves, performed to punchy carnatic mix of Ed Sheeran's hit Shape Of You.

Eighteen-year-old Kevin Tristan drew whoops and cheers for his cutting-edge dance piece performed to a self-penned music-less monologue about superheroes. And singer Siti Syakirah Noble broke hearts with Bob Dylan's yearning ballad Make You Feel My Love as her powerful vocals soared into the rafters.

Directed by Jeremiah Choy and produced by Global Cultural Alliance, the benefit concert represents yet another engagement by The Business Times in charity and community work. Besides CapitaLand as the presenting sponsor, other sponsors include StarHub, Standard Chartered, OCBC Bank, OSIM International, Singapore Exchange and Straco Corporation Limited.

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