Last Sunday, I received, for the fourth year running, the Top Local Instrumental Contemporary award from COMPASS. This year's winning song is "Love You Forever".
The highlight of my evening, apart from receiving the award, is sharing a table with some of my idols whom I have admired for decades!
Corrinne May! She won the Top Local English Pop Song award. I enjoyed her albums especially her title track, "Fly Away".
Kavin Hoo! Corrinne's husband (above photo) and an awesome music producer who is responsible for almost all of Corrinne's album productions. I got his first solo instrumental album "A Moment In Time".
Terence Teo! He won the Artistic Excellence Award for his contribution as a sound master engineer. His music arrangement on F.I.R. first album left a deep impression on me and I have loved his works since.
Kenn C! Another brilliant music producer that has worked with the A-list Asian stars for over a decade.
I am truly humbled by their presence.
Other friends and acquaintances I've met at the awards:
Bevlyn Khoo and Angmodan (Daniel)
We started as an acquaintance in 2008 and eventually got together in recent years to collaborate some music. She contributed 10 tracks to my upcoming Piano Spa 7 album. Daniel is her husband with a great sense of humour - you can tell from his moniker.
Tat Tong
Globe-trotting producer with 18 #1 international hits (and counting). I'm proud to be his friend and same-apartment neighbour. He produced half of Piano Spa 6 which we launched in 2012.
Peng Chi Sheng
Prolific musician and InTune Music School Director whom I was introduced to by Bevlyn in 2013, I admired his contribution to the local music scene. Fell in love with his pop composition 守护 "To Protect" sung by...
Aaron Matthew Lim (林伟强)
Met him in person for the first time. A humble guy with great vocals, he co-founded InTune Music School and has been teaching music until this year when he finally breaks out and records his solo album.
Joel Tan
Lead singer of Gentle Bones, currently one of the hottest names in Singapore music scene.
Derrick Tham
A young songwriter who writes lots of Mandarin pop songs, thus earning the COMPASS Young Songwriter of the Year in 2012.
Dr. Kenneth Lyen
Worked with him for "Five Foot Broadway", a musical incubation project in 2006. He's wrote dozens of musicals over the decades.
Silver Ang
Project Superstar Season 1 finalist in 2005, she appears frequently on TV/online/blog/events and is one of the resident ladies in Lady First Singapore edition. While we share a common close friend, we only get to meet once a year, at this same event.
Sarah Cheng-De Winne
We knew each other online and met for the first time this evening. A bubbly songwriter-singer with a passion for music.
To be honest, I am humbled by my extraordinary achievements despite not being very active in the music industry compared to other award winners. With a busy day job and a committed family man, spending time on music, photography and product reviews are pure luxury which I hold on dearly because they are my important avenues of social interaction.
I thank my wife for her understanding and appreciate for who I am. I thank my daughter for bringing joy to my life and allowing me to understand myself better because I see a lot of me in her. I thank my parents for the opportunity to develop my music interests, so that I can express myself through the language of music.
Labels: Award, feature, Life, Music
