ABOUT US
The Vocal Ensemble is an all-male TTBB choral group from St. Gabriel’s Secondary School in Singapore.
The Vocal Ensemble has been active since 2002, starting out with only five members in it’s infancy. Since it’s inception however, the Vocal Ensemble has now grown to over 50 members strong, held numerous concerts, and has managed to achieve a silver in our 1st Singapore Youth Festival at 2005 and 2 consecutive gold awards at the 2007 and 2009 Singapore Youth Festival Choral Judging. We have been to countries like Malaysia, Hong Kong and Japan.
HISTORY
Formed in 2003, the St Gabriel’s Secondary School Vocal Ensemble has come a long way despite its relatively short history. Aided by Mr James Lee and Ms Flora Yee as vocal instructors and vocal tutor Mr David Charles Tay, the ensemble has since blossomed into a vibrant performing group. Among the memorable public performances include performing at the Silver Jubilee of Religious Life of Rev Brother Dominic Yeo-Koh, Provincial Superior of the Brothers of St. Gabriel’s and the official opening ceremony of Maranatha SDA Church.
Apart from guest performing at the School’s band public performances, the Ensemble has also collaborated with Holy Innocent’s High School and Presbyterian High School for their annual SingOut concert since 2005 and Crescent Girl’s School. We had also been invited to perform at the Esplanade Concourse as part of the Choral Festival in 2006. In April 2005, the Ensemble made its first appearance at the Singapore Youth Festival Choir Central Judging and attained a Silver Award. Fresh from its SYF experience, the Ensemble embarked on a Hong Kong Exchange cum Performance with the Hong Kong Children’s Choir. 2007 has been even better.
As one of the youngest participating groups in SYF Central Judging, for Choirs, the Ensemble managed to clinch the Gold Award. In December, the ensemble embarked on its Japan Concert Tour which was both a performance and cultural sightseeing tour. The ensemble had an exchange with St Mary’s International School and helped them learnt more about musicality and choral singing at Kunitachi College of Music which brought them to a whole new level and allowing them to experience the joyness of travelling overseas with friends.
2008 started off well with the ensemble continuing the trend since 2006 of breaking into smaller a cappella groups. The ensemble also had performance exchanges with ZhongHua Secondary School and performed at Plaza Singapura for the Performing Arts Festival. This year also marks the year for the Vocal Ensemble for fulfilling its dream of having their own inaugural concert: Vocal Vibes! The year ended with an exchange with a local choir from Penang, Malaysia, and intense practising for the upcoming SYF in 2009.
2009 – Once again, the Vocal Ensemble managed to uphold its reputation by bringing home a Gold award to the delightment of all. It is now embarking on new choral projects and will be part of the Guest Performance in the School Band’s July 2009 Concert.
Last Updated: 2nd June 2009
