SAF CENTRAL BAND WOWS WITH ORIGINAL SONG

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Central Band embraced its latest assignment with fervour on 26 May as a cultural ambassador of Singapore to Russia. At the opening of the 5th Amur Waves International Military Bands Festival, they thrilled the locals in Khabarovsk, a city in the far east of Russia, with their music.

The annual festival, which started in 2012, aims to promote cultural exchanges and international cooperation in the Pacific region. This was the SAF Central Band's maiden appearance at the festival.

The crowd favourite was The Lion City: A Journey Home, an original composition about the nation-building story of Singapore.

Composed by Military Expert (ME) 1 Dax Wilson, the composition contained elements of folk tunes from three ethnic groups of Singapore: Chinese, Malay and Indian.

The 2,000-strong audience caught a glimpse of Singapore's past and present from a montage that was screened during the performance. At the end of the show, the audience gave the Singaporean musicians over a minute of applause.

"Not a lot of people here have travelled to Singapore before, so with our performance, we hope to bring Singapore closer to them, and in turn build a greater friendship," said Director of Music, ME5 Steven Tan, who led the SAF Central Band for this overseas performance.

The original song, specially composed for the Russian audience, also included elements of a popular Russian folk tune Oy, to ne vecher, and Russian lyrics.

"It is important for us to perform something that is dear to their hearts... We learnt and memorised the lyrics, and presented it to the audience! I think it really brings us closer to them," ME5 Tan explained.

Ms Angelina Andrievskaya was among the Russian audience who were thoroughly impressed by the SAF Central Band's performance.

"They were excellent. All the musicians combined well; and their music was able to connect with the people," said the 19-year-old economics and law undergraduate.

The SAF Central Band also performed popular pop songs, classical pieces by Russian composers, as well as Xinyao, a genre of Singapore folk songs.

Upcoming shows

Fifteen military bands from Kazakstan, Mongolia, Russia and Singapore are participating in the festival which will last till 31 May. They are joined by an all-female band from China, and seven amateur bands from Russia. In all, about 600 performers are involved.

Over the next four days, the SAF central band will perform in five tattoo displays, one concert, and a street parade.

The street parade spans a distance of 1.6km along Muravlieu-Amursky Street. The SAF Central Band will be marching to the beats of their signature marching tunes: The Bandstand, Tentera Singapura, and Singapore Infantry Regiment (SIR) March.

For the tattoo display, which is a performance of military music and movements, eight personnel from the Military Police (MP) Command's Silent Precision Drill Squad (SPDS) will perform synchronised rifle drills to the beat of the music from the SAF Central Band.

The SPDS will be performing a new drill called Flipper Exchange. Each personnel flips his rifle to the person on his right, and at the same time receives a "new" rifle from his left.

The drill was created specially for the festival by Corporal First Class (CFC) Faizal Bin Razali, a Full-time National Serviceman.

"We want to up our game, and do something different for our Russian friends," said the 21-year-old.