SINGAPORE, 27 April 2005 - Media group Singapore Press Holdings today announced its Gift of Music to the nation - a year-long series of outdoor concerts to share the joy of music with the community and to celebrate Singapore's 40th Anniversary.

SPH says the concert series, with diverse genres, promises to be wholesome and entertaining, and will appeal to a wide spectrum of the community, with something for everyone.

The inaugural SPH Gift of Music concert will open this Sunday, 1 May 2005, at the newly-rebuilt Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage in the sprawling Palm Valley of the Botanic Gardens, a popular picnic ground for families on weekends.

The Minister for National Development, Mr Mah Bow Tan, will officiate at the launch of both the SPH Gift of Music Series and the opening of the Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage, which has just undergone a $2 million facelift.

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra will perform at the inaugural concert, and its repertoire will include light classical favourites and celebratory pieces, along with some elements of pop, children’s and Chinese music.

This Sunday concert will set the tone for the year-long series, which will feature 20 concerts traversing different genres of music, from pop, Latin and R&B, to jazz, Asian percussion and Western classical. Chinese opera and children’s puppets will also feature in the series, which ends in April 2006.

Audiences can expect surprising collaborations, interaction with the performers and fresh Singapore talent performing alongside established acts.

The key partners collaborating with SPH in this Gift of Music series are the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra and a host of individuals and groups representing some of the most recognised names in Singapore music, as well as carefully-selected overseas acts.

Said Mr Alan Chan, Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Press Holdings: "As a media company with wide reach, we feel that music, which connects people of all ages, from different cultures and races, is a very appropriate and meaningful gift to the community.

"The Botanic Gardens provides the ideal setting for the SPH Gift of Music concerts as it's easily accessible to all, and many of us have fond and nostalgic memories of outings there with our families and dear ones. SPH welcomes everyone to join in this celebration of music, which is our gift to the community and the nation."

The SPH Gift of Music series is one of many outreach events which Singapore Press Holdings supports as part of its broadening corporate social responsibility to foster community spirit. Each year, the media group contributes to a diverse range of education, arts and culture, community, conservation, sports and charitable projects. SPH was named the top corporate giver in Singapore in a recent survey carried out by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre, and it has been given the Distinguished Patron of the Arts award every year since 1993.

The SPH concerts at the Botanic Gardens will fall on the first Sunday of every month. In addition to these, SPH will also bring concerts to the community with performances in the heartlands, public areas and parks as part of its outreach efforts to connect with the community.

38KB		List of SPH Gift of Music concerts please click here.
53KB		Joint press release issued by National Parks, Shaw Foundation and Singapore Press Holdings please click here.

Issued by Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Co. Regn. No: 198402868E

For further information, please contact:

Irene Ngoo
Vice President
Corporate Relations
Singapore Press Holdings
DID: 6319 1216
Email: ingoo@sph.com.sg

About SPH
Main board listed Singapore Press Holdings Limited is the leading media company in Singapore, in the print, Internet and broadcasting platforms. It publishes 13 newspapers in the four official languages and more than 70 magazine titles. Everyday, 2.78 million individuals, or 90 per cent of people above 15 years old, read one of the SPH publications. Its Internet Business Unit manages the online editions of SPH's major newspapers and magazines, which together enjoy over 250 million pageviews a month. SPH also owns a 20% stake in MediaCorp TV Holdings Pte Ltd, which operates free-to-air channels 5, 8, U and TV Mobile, and a 40% stake in MediaCorp Press Pte Ltd, which publishes free newspaper Today. It also operates two entertainment radio channels, UFM 100.3 FM in Chinese and WKRZ 91.3 FM in English, under a joint venture company UnionWorks with NTUC Media.