Pandan Quartet
Holly Bogle ‘27, Eleanor O’Brien ‘27, Madeleine Hearn ‘27, Sébastien Tsai ‘27
April 15, 2026
Bridging Cultures Through Music, Family History, and Social Studies: A Cross-Cultural Exploration in Malaysia and Singapore
Dear Shansi Community,
The Pandan Quartet was in Singapore from January 21st until February 3rd, for the Singapore Chamber Music Festival. In less than two weeks, we managed to learn two full string quartets on our own, all while spending a lot of time exploring the city. We visited different museums, walked around the small side streets of Chinatown, and saw most of the famous Singaporean buildings, including the Marina Bay Sands & the Raffles Hotel. We also strolled around the Botanical gardens (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and saw the world-famous orchid garden. But aside from all this sightseeing, we consistently sought out the best eats in the city, taking buses, trains, and taxis to get to the best Hawker Centers all around town.
On the musical side, we played in two public master classes over the weekend of January 27th-28th. These coachings sessions were extremely insightful because we received different musical opinions and comments than the ones we were used to receiving back at Oberlin. For instance, our first coach, Professor Leslie Tan, was adamant about changing our group’s phrasing in the introduction of the Mendelssohn Quartet No.2 Op.13 in A Minor, 1st mvt. He guided us to vary our dynamics in that section, making it more exciting for audiences and easier for us to play together. Our second coaching session was equally insightful. We had the wonderful opportunity to work with the AOI trio, and they worked with us to change the way we balanced our sound between the four of us. To do this, they guided us to bring out the “middle-voices” more, which led to a better backdrop to support the melody.
On top of the tremendous musical education value of the coachings, the performance aspect was just as important for our development as a young quartet. Out of 28 chamber groups, we were one of three groups chosen to perform in the festival’s gala concert, playing to a nearly full house in a beautiful concert hall. The Straits Times, Singapore’s primary newspaper, reviewed the whole concert and gave us a very positive critique the next day.
Additionally our quartet also got to perform in a less formal setting. In fact, we had arranged to give performances at the U.S. Embassy in Singapore, and at the Canadian High Commission in Singapore. In both embassies, we met several staffers and high-ranking public officials, including the Canadian High Commissioner and the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission in Singapore. These two performances were an important step in our development as a quartet, not only because we made important contacts with officials, but also because these were our first two performances that we had arranged ourselves. The professional experience of setting up our own concerts will be invaluable as we look forward to our future projects.
All in all, our quartet had a tremendous time in Singapore, enjoying every aspect of our trip. Whether meeting other musicians, eating delicious food, or playing in concerts, we made many core memories together and bonded as a group. We are deeply grateful to Shansi for everything they did to make our project possible.
Sincerely,
The Pandan Quartet