SSO Musicians Play To Raise Donations For The Invictus Fund

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has launched a campaign, “SSO Musicians Play for Invictus Fund” to help the Community Chest raise funds to support social service agencies through the COVID-19 situation.

Hosted on the Community Chest website, the appeal will run from 25 June to 31 August 2020. The Invictus Fund will channel donations to over 80 social service agencies to enable them to continue delivering critical services to vulnerable groups in our community.

In the campaign video, SSO musicians Jamie Hersch (Horn), Hoang Van Hoc (Horn) and Lau Wen Rong (Trumpet) are seen performing from their homes the popular Jupiter Hymn from a well-known work by Gustav Holst, The Planets. Mr Hoang chose the piece for its inspiring and rousing tune, and had worked on the brass arrangement especially for this appeal.

Speaking on behalf of the trio, SSO Associate Principal Horn Jamie Hersch says, “We very much enjoyed playing Van Hoc’s new arrangement of Holst's Jupiter Hymn for this campaign. We hope that this performance will inspire our listeners to make a donation in support of local charities which are working hard to help families who have been severely impacted by the pandemic.”

“We are very privileged to have the talented musicians from the Singapore Symphony Orchestra to give a performance to raise funds for The Invictus Fund. We hope that their efforts will not only help to lift the spirits of Singaporeans but also engage the community to care and uplift the lives of vulnerable groups amongst us,” said Ms Charmaine Leung, Managing Director of Community Chest.

SSG Chairman Goh Yew Lin explained, “The SSO has received much encouragement and support from the public. However, these are challenging times for many people and we are conscious of urgent needs elsewhere. We’re all in this together and we want to do our part to help.”

Since the cancellation of its live concerts in late March, the SSO, to help bring cheer to Singaporeans during the circuit breaker, launched a free digital concert season, SSOPlayOn!, that includes audio playlists, concert videos, music introductions for children, and guided meditation sessions with classical music. The Singapore Symphony Choruses have also partnered Gov.sg to produce a video performance of “We Will Get There”, recorded from home by 149 choristers and musicians.