NDP 2022 to include virtual choir for first time in parade and ceremony segment
A virtual choir comprising 95 singers will perform this year's National Day Parade (NDP) theme song Stronger Together as part of the parade and ceremony segment.
The performance will be pre-recorded for the show, said the NDP 2022 organising committee.
President Halimah Yacob, who visited the choir during a recording session at Nee Soon Camp on Tuesday (June 7), said the group embraces inclusivity.
Participants are from all walks of life and of different abilities.
The choir includes students from special education schools.
"We include them so that they are seen by all Singaporeans. That is how we generate support for persons with disabilities," said Madam Halimah.
She added that having the virtual choir involved in the parade and ceremony segment integrates the physical and virtual elements of NDP.
It is the first time a virtual choir is being included in that segment of the show.
"This year's NDP will be a very exciting one, one that we're having after two years of very muted celebrations... we are grateful to be able to continue living peacefully and celebrate our National Day on such a scale," said Madam Halimah.
The choir includes volunteers with disabilities Tan Whee Boon and Adelyn Koh from SG Enable, which provides services for people with disabilities, deaf arts and music practitioner Lily Goh, and the Voices of Singapore Children’s Choir.
It also include performers from the Combined Special Education Choir, which consists of students from the Association for Persons with Special Needs (APSN) Chaoyang School, APSN Katong School and Pathlight School.
Students from Boon Lay Secondary School and Manjusri Secondary School are also in the choir, as well as members of The Graduate Singers, a semi-professional choir which has represented Singapore at international events.
Stronger Together was composed by songwriter Don Richmond and will be sung by Singapore Idol winner Taufik Batisah, who last performed the National Day theme song in 2005.
The NDP 2022 organising committee had earlier said that after two years of smaller-scale celebrations, the aim this year is to fill almost every seat at the Marina Bay floating platform.
The venue can accommodate up to 26,000 people in the stands.
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