Red Dot Baroque

Inspired by the richness of Baroque music and close friendships, Red Dot Baroque (RDB) was formed by a group of Singaporean musicians dedicated to bringing out the essence and spirit of the Baroque on period instruments. Led by Alan Choo, concertmaster of the Grammy Award-winning Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra, RDB has presented numerous critically-acclaimed programmes in Singapore since 2018 and collaborated with guest soloists from The Netherlands for their first international tour to Malaysia in July 2019. Since 2021, the group has been named Ensemble-in-Residence at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the postponement of RDB’s USA concert tour in June 2020, which would have featured appearances at the Kennedy Center, the Indianapolis Early Music Festival, Apollo’s Fire and more. Nevertheless, the group stayed busy in Singapore with the production of four high-quality music videos, the commission of “A Barojak Suite” from composer Phang Kok Jun, vodcasts with the Singapore International Festival of Arts, Reflections Arts Festival and MapleTree Arts in the City, and appearances on Channel NewsAsia, zbNOW and vOilah! 2020. That same summer, RDB made their virtual debut at the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Series and the Indianapolis Early Music Festival 2021. Cross-genre collaboration is also a signature of Red Dot Baroque’s productions. Their performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons included a recitation of “The Lost Seasons” by poet Dr. Sara Florian, specially commissioned for the project. Lighting designs by Alberta Wileo featured alongside classical string quartets by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Arriaga in Child Prodigies, performed in an intimate setting with the audience around the performers. In keeping with the roots of their music, music of Lully and Purcell were presented with baroque dancing by Tan Qin Ying in The Seasons of Love and One Charming Night. Other recent highlights include a staging of Handel’s Alcina with The Opera People and Bach’s St. John’s Passion performed without a conductor in collaboration with the YST Conservatory – “a performance not lacking in conviction and passion.” (The Straits Times, 2022)