What are talents for ?

"What are our talents for ? Yes, to bring God His due glory for what He created. But what truly gives God His glory, is when we reflect His character in what we do...to others. There are people all over the world who have yet to hear of His Name, who are right this minute living under desperate circumstances.People who would give their right arm for what we completely take for granted. People who don't have the liberty or luxury to simple everyday things such as eating when they want or however much they want; or going to sleep without the fear of death around the corner in a warzone. Or going to school. Or perhaps they cannot take a walk because they simply do not have any legs to walk with or maybe a disease has overtaken their lives so they are bedridden. These things that can so easily be preventable in our society just seem to these less fortunate like insurmountable obstacles"

adapted from Violinist Kam Ning's official website


This has greatly encouraged me to even run faster to get the crown that will last forever.

To find out more about Kam Ning, check out her official website at
http://www.ningkam.com/





The following article is adapted from http://food.asia1.com.sg/revamp/news/news_20051014_001.shtml


Ambitious offerings from Kam Ning, MPO MATTHEW PHAN looks at what's in store when the S'pore violinist and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra perform next week
By Matthew Phan, 14 October 2005The Business Times

Kam Ning will play Jean Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D Minor while The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra will perform under the baton of Swiss conductor Mathias BamertWHEN Singaporean violinist Kam Ning is done playing Finnish composer Jean Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D Minor on the 22nd of this month, she wants people to say, 'There is a God.'

She won't be the only ambitious musician at the Esplanade that evening - the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Swiss conductor Mathias Bamert, will perform two extremely difficult symphonies the same night, Paul Hindemith's Mathis de Maler and Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra.

Ms Kam catapulted onto the international stage after winning second prize for the violin at the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium in 2001 and has played extensively in Europe and the US.

Asked how she feels about playing Sibelius' only violin concerto - a work that fuses the stern, brooding nature of the composer's earlier work with the flashy exhibitionism of the solo violin - Ms Kam responds with seeming surprise that the question is even asked: 'Sibelius? I am completely honoured to be able to play such a concerto. Completely honoured.

'A good performance is one that rises above merely impressing one's listener with skill, one that can make one think of perhaps greater things than just enjoying music, one that points to music's Creator,' she says in an email interview.

Sibelius, a central figure in Finnish music in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, wrote his concerto in three movements - the first with the violin rising plaintively on a background of sparse orchestral accompaniment, the second more serene, and the last, vigorous.
'It is very melodious. You can feel the vast country of Finland, its forests and its lakes, how it is eerie at night, the long winters...in a nostalgic way. It is absolutely beautiful, one of the best violin concertos,' says Mr Bamert, who chose the works to be performed.

Of Hindemith's symphony, the MPO's opening piece, Mr Bamert said it is emotional, but introvert and 'does not grab you directly', unlike the others. 'The sounds are new and the contrapuntal figures are sophisticated; it is not just melody and complement,' he says.
Hindemith is known as one of the innovators of modern music, and developed in opposition to but overshadowed by Arnold Schoenberg, who spread the use of dissonant, atonal music.
Composed in 1934, the opera Mathis de Maler centers around a 15th century painter who resigns from the service of archbishop to join a Peasant's War, but following a series of events and visions is convicted that he can best serve mankind through his art.
Despite public support, the opera was lambasted by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and retracted. However, the difficulty in staging it led Hindemith to write a three-movement symphony from sections of the original.

The third work the MPO will perform is the magnificent Also Sprach Zarathustra.
The symphony is Strauss's homage to German philosopher Fredrich Nietzsche's poem, about a prophet who leaves his family and goes into the mountains to find the truth, but as the sun is rising one day, realises that knowledge is worthless if not shared with others, says Mr Bamert.
It begins as Zarathustra sees the sun and decides: 'I am weary of my wisdom, like the bee that hath gathered too much honey...Like thee must I go down, as men say, to whom I descend' - words from Nietzsche that Strauss placed above his printed score.

And so, adds Mr Bamert, the prophet goes down and meets various people, described in the music by a waltz, a fugue or a song. 'It has the most glorious beginning of any piece in the world, and kind of a quiet ending,' he says.

Mr Bamert is currently chief conductor of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and associate guest conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, in addition to his work with the MPO.

Describing himself as a 'curious' conductor willing to try new and unusual music, he was well known for his innovative programming when he was director of the Glasgow contemporary music festival from 1985 to 1990. He has recorded over 60 discs as a conductor, many of which have won international prizes.

Describing the MPO as 'fantastic', he said 'all the musicians are young and in their prime. It is one of the best orchestras in Asia.'
Matthias Bamert and Ning Kam with the Malaysian Philharmonic OrchestraEsplanade Concert Hall, Saturday, Oct 22nd, at 7.30 pm.Tickets at $30, $45, $65 and $80; available from Sistic.


I have not heard of her music yet but i think it is worth finding out.


Win Nie