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Judges impressed by young talent at ChildAid auditions

14 August 2022

From left: Charis Teh, Jaslyn Tan and Maevya Xu, 16, performs a Kpop dance during the auditions for the 18th ChildAid concert on August 13, 2022  ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG

From left: Charis Teh, Jaslyn Tan and Maevya Xu, 16, performs a Kpop dance during the auditions for the 18th ChildAid concert on August 13, 2022 ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG

Singing Queen Of The Night from Mozart’s The Magic Flute is hard enough but 13-year-old Lim Jing Rui amazed judges by whistling the piece for about three minutes at perfect pitch.

The secondary school student was among a number of performers under 19 years old who auditioned yesterday for the ChildAid concert, which will be held on Dec 13.

Pragnya Rajapolan, nine, charmed the judges by narrating a traditional fairy tale with a Singapore twist.

Titled Little Red Dot Riding Hood, her story had characters such as Singa the Lion and Sharity the Elephant.

From more than 530 submissions, about 90 performers, including individuals and groups, were selected to audition on the weekend at 10 Square, an arts centre in Orchard Central shopping mall.

Mr Jeremiah Choy, founder of Orangedot Productions and artistic director of ChildAid 2022, said: “ChildAid is not only a platform to showcase talent and excellence for our children and youth to raise funds for the two worthy charities, it is also an opportunity for the performers to work on a large stage production, to work with professionals and to learn the right ethos and attitude as a performer.”

Mr Choy is part of the judging panel.

The ChildAid concert was created in 2005 and organised by The Straits Times (ST) and The Business Times (BT) in aid of the ST School Pocket Money Fund and the BT Budding Artists Fund.

The ST School Pocket Money Fund helps to fund the lunch and transport fees of children from low-income families, while the BT Budding Artists Fund supports artistically talented youth from less-privileged households.

ChildAid and the young virtuosos are eager to return in full force this year for the 18th iteration of the concert.

Over the last two years, the annual charity concert was held online and in a hybrid format due to pandemic regulations.

Mr Helmi Yusof, co-chairman of the ChildAid 2022 organising committee, said: “With the worst of the pandemic likely behind us, we expect our concert to be a big bash with some outstanding performers.”

The concert will follow a storyline inspired by the ballet The Nutcracker, which coincides with the festive theme of Christmas.

The concert’s main sponsors this year are UOB, Citi Singapore and Japanese restaurant Shinji.

ChildAid 2022 will be held at the University Cultural Centre at National University of Singapore with the theme “All Together Now”.

More details on ticket sales will be announced later.

Lim Jing Rui, 13, performs a whistling act during the auditions for the 18th ChildAid concert on August 13, 2022  ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG

Lim Jing Rui, 13, performs a whistling act during the auditions for the 18th ChildAid concert on August 13, 2022 ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG

 

The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reproduced with permission

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