Singer's Biography

Catherine Loke, soprano
Marianne Tan, soprano
Thomas Manhart, alto
Shui Jiang Tian, tenor
Leslie Tay, tenor
Reuben Lai, baritone

Catherine Loke began piano lessons in Kuala Lumpur at the age of five. At eighteen, she obtained an Associate of Trinity College of Music, London (ATCL) diploma in piano performance. Subsequently, she went to Melbourne, Australia, to study architecture.

Whilst an architecture student, she studied singing with Margaret Arnold and was actively involved in both the Melbourne and Monash University Choral Societies as a chorister as well as a soloist. Apart from occasional solo engagements, she also sang with The Victoria Chamber Singers. In 1992, she served as the assistant conductor of the Monash University Choral Society.

Catherine has a particular interest in Early Music. She has participated in masterclasses by Emma Kirkby & Anthony Rooley, as well as the baroque singing course at The Innsbruck International Summer Academy for Early Music under Jessica Cash.

After graduating with an honours degree in architecture from The University of Melbourne, Catherine moved to Singapore in 1993, where she studied singing with Quek Soo Hiang from 1994-1998, and sang with The Philharmonic Chamber Choir from 1995-2005. She has been studying singing with William Lim from 2003 to the present.

In addition to her musical activities, she is a partner in an architectural practice.

Marianne Tan was active in her NUS Raffles Hall scene and awarded "Culture Person of the Year 1998" for various arts participations. She has continued to study singing under Korean Soprono Jeong Ae Ree. She has been a part of the SRT Young Co., Singapore Lyric Opera (SLO), and as a soloist with Vocal Associates.

Performances include To Freedom With Love (2000, directed by Nicholas Lee) ascast and choral trainer, Dick Lee's Re: Mix (2001 SRT) as singer and dancer, Neil Gaiman's The White Road (2001 SRT) as Main Cast, A Tribute to Sondheim (2003), Grisette in Lehar's The Merry Widow (2004 SLO), as a chorister in Puccini's Madama Butterfly (2005 SLO) and in the SLO educational touring company as Gretel in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel.

Marianne has trained formally in ballet, piano and singing. She currently holds a DipABRSM (singing) and ATCL, and sang at the Trinity College of Music High Scorer's Concert in Nov 2004.

On Sundays, she directs the Bethany Trinity Presbyterian Church Singing Group. She joined Ab Oriente in 2005 and also sings with a cappella group Upbeat.

Thomas Manhart studied Opera, Oratorio and Lied at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich and in Vienna with Hanno Blaschke and Helena Laszarska, and in masterclasses with Donald George, Martin Hummel and Paul Esswood. His main education, however, he obtained in his hometown in Bavaria from Sabine Schütz. His interest for early liturgical music led him to monasteries in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Spain for courses in Gregorian Chant, and Renaissance and Baroque singing.

After his change from bass to male alto, Thomas concentrated on vocal therapy and vocal education as well as ethnomusicology. He obtained a teacher's diploma for music, religious sciences and German language, a Master of Arts in music (vocal) education, psychology and theology from Passau University as well as recently a PhD in Southeast Asian Arts from the National University of Singapore.

Thomas is a private vocal coach and lecturer for ethnomusicology and German Vocal music at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts as well as lecturer for Indonesian music at the National University of Singapore.

His performances include solo parts as bass, later alto, in numerous masses by Haydn, Mozart and Palestrina, Händel's Messiah (bass arias) and Vivaldi's Magnificat. He sang Colas in Mozart's Bastien and Bastienne in Germany and Purcell's Fairy Queen under Charles Brett in Spain. His appearances as Gamelan player include the opening of Esplanade and regular performances at the Asian Civilisations Museum with the NUS Singha Nglaras Gamelan group.

Thomas has recently founded and registered his own music company, artyfakt, providing intercultural music education, performance, and research.

		Shui Jiang Tian is an IT analyst by profession. He began his musical education in Xi'an, China, where he studied er-hu and violin as a boy. He then learned guitar & drums by self-study, as well as singing, composing and conducting. Whilst a university student, he conducted the Northwestern Polytechnic University Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, wrote music for and led them to gold prizes in provincial competitions between 1984 and 1989. He also won the first prize in the singing category in the 1st Pop-Song Open Competition of Shaanxi Province in 1987.

Since moving to Singapore in 1991, Jiang Tian has taken an active role in the local music scene. He was the third prize winner (no first prize) in the Vocal Open Category of the 10th National Music Competition in 1995. His performances as tenor soloist include Mozart's Requiem with The Philharmonic Chamber Choir, From Poems To Songs with the National Theatre Club, and the Singapore Lyric Opera's production.

Jiang Tian's compositions have been performed by choirs worldwide. In particular, his arrangement of Usuli Boat Song, composed for The Philharmonic Chamber Choir under Lim Yau, was published by the American publisher Earthsongs, and has been performed by The Philharmonic Chamber Choir at a number of significant events, with himself singing the tenor solo, namely the opening and closing ceremonies of the 5th International Choral Competition, Riva del Garda, Italy (1998), the Folklore Category of the 19th Béla Bartók International Choir Competition, Debrecen, Hungary (2000), and the International Performing Arts Festival in Tokyo (2002). In 2004, the Singapore Youth Choir commissioned and premiered his arrangement of the Chinese folksong Water Flowing In The Brook in their 40th Anniversary Concert.

Leslie Tay has sung with SAF Choir, Singapore Youth Choir and B.coz. He has given recitals and participated in masterclasses with Rudolf Knoll, Kim Shin Whan and Krisztini Laki.

He was a finalist in the 2002 Young Singer of the Year Awards (SLO) and currently studies voice with Dr Thomas Manhart. He obtained a distinction for his Grade 8 ABRSM Voice examination in 2005.

His opera performances include "Plutone" in Monteverdi's Il Ballo Delle Ingrate with Musica Obscura, and the "Witch" in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel with the Singapore Lyric Opera Touring Production. With the SLO chorus, he has performed in Verdi's "La Traviata", Puccini's "Madame Butterfly", Weill's "Street Scenes" and Joseph Stein's "Fiddler on the Roof". He has also performed in the Singapore Repertory Theatre's productions, as Banquo in Shakespeare's Macbeth and in The Snow Queen in December 2005. Concert performances include the tenor solo in Saint-Saëns' Oratorio de Noel.

Leslie is a choral instructor and is on the committee of Classical Singers' Association (Singapore). Apart from Ab Oriente, Leslie sings with UpBeat, the Open Category Champion of Singapore A Cappella Championship 2004. UpBeat has been in masterclasses with A'cappella ExpreSSS, Swingle Singers and Magnets, and in 2005 sold out their first concert, "Pastime with Good Company". He is also currently acting in school assembly performances with various theatre organisations including Theatreworks, D'rama and Stagehandz.

Reuben Lai studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London under David Pollard and Paul Farrington. He has sung with the Singapore Lyric Opera in various productions as well as performing various solo song recitals both in Singapore and in Europe. In addition, he has also participated in performances of The Creation with Sir Colin Davis and Berlioz's Requiem for the BBC Proms. He has also been part of the world premiere of Going Into Shadows, a new Australian opera. He has performed excerpts from Owen Wingrave (Britten), Don Giovanni (Mozart) and "Papageno" from Die Zauberflöte (Mozart), Der Besuch Der Alte Damen (Von Einem) as well as the role of David in A hand of Bridge (Barber).

Reuben is deeply interested in the oratorio repertoire, having performed in Masses by Bruckner and Berlioz, as well as the solos in Messe in H Moll by J.S. Bach with the The Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra and Choir under Maestro Lim Yau. He is also a keen recitalist and has been involved in many concerts in Singapore since his return, having sung at Festa Canzone for 2 years as well as doing the premiere of Wolf's Italinischesliederbuch with soprano Jeong Ae Ree and baritone William Lim.

Reuben's vocal work also sees him being involved in the training and conducting of choirs. Currently, he is both working as choral director as well as teaching vocal technique classes for the National University of Singapore's choir. In his conducting work, Reuben has participated in both local and international choral festivals and has helped to secure Gold and Silver awards for his groups in competitions. He is also currently the vice president of the Classical Singer's Association (Singapore), which is actively promoting the art of singing to Singaporeans, through singing competitions and art song festivals.