In the month of Red Dot August, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay celebrates Singapore nation's birthday with a difference.

Besides presenting a slice of Singapore's unique diversity and immense talent through music, film, literature and our oral traditions, Esplanade also acknowledge the challenges and sacrifices of the many communities living and working in Singapore, and celebrate their courage and contributions.

This month, Esplanade are proud to feature a tribute to the father of our National Anthem, Zubir Said; put the spotlight on Singapore filmmakers and composers in SG Film Screenings and SG Inspirations: Music and Poetry that reflect our evolving identity and many aspirations; and celebrate the urban legends Esplanade continue to pass down in Late Night Ghost Stories: SEVEN. Esplanade also collaborate with Dialogue in the Dark Singapore and our migrant worker community to present experiences of Singapore that are different from the lives most of us lead daily.

Here's a taster of just some of the music highlights happening from now:

Fym Summer. 4 Aug, Fri. Fym Summer's musical works are notable for her dreamy intimate vocals, rueful narrative songwriting and her recordings taken in bold single takes or with minimal embellishments.

Vivienne's Verdict. 4 Aug, Fri. Moving on from the release of their debut album Depiction, Singapore based metalcore and hard rock band Vivienne's Verdict is back with a brand new single Hurricane.

Police Quintet. 5 Aug, Sat - 6 Aug, Sun. Catch our Singapore police officers, together with special guests, former police NSmen Hady Mirza and Abdul Thaqif Bani, in a slightly different light as they entertain you with their renditions of National Day songs and popular chart-toppers.

Cadence. 5 Aug, Sat. Cadence is a Singapore alternative rock band. A quintet mix of musicians who have played in the Singapore indie scene for years and three who are diving into it for the first time, the line- up merges experience with fresh eyes and ears to create an energetic rock outfit with a strong emphasis on melodies and concise arrangements.

Tammy Ying. 6 Aug, Sun - 7 Aug, Mon. Tammy Ying is a Singapore singer-songwriter and music educator based in New York City. If you can't find her teaching her students, she's probably up to some harmless mischief in the music realm—like writing a song or filming a short video!

General Lee. 6 Aug, Sun. General Lee is a Singapore-based rock and roll band. Hard-driving bass-lines and authoritative drumming provide the backdrop for swaggering vocals and raucous guitar, covering the musical ground from slashing slide riffs and swampy blues to greasy funk and rockabilly train beats.

Creating a Home Away from Home. 5 Aug – 3 Sep. An exhibition of objects from Singapore's migrant worker community. How do you make a foreign place your home? This is an exhibition of personal objects contributed by members of the migrant community, who call Singapore home for now.

Leon Markcus. 10 Aug, Thu. Apart from turning out chart-toppers, Leon Markcus' EP was also featured on Apple International's A-List Playlist for Singapore Music, as well as The Strait Times' Gig Pick and Teenage Magazine's Artist to look out for in the Month of November 2016. Back in May 2017, Markcus released a stand-alone music collaboration with THIEVVES and Sherlyn Veronica (from Disco Hue), a remix of his debut single Circles.

A Zubir Said Tribute. 11 Aug, Fri - 12 Aug, Sat. Zubir Said is best known as the composer of the Singapore National Anthem, Majulah Singapura.

Hafizah Naser feat. Pink Saturday. 13 Aug, Sun. Hafizah Naser and Pink Saturday takes you down memory lane with familiar tunes by the legendary P Ramlee and Singapore diva Anita Sarawak.

HAI Definition. 13 Aug, Sun. HAI Definition is, simply put, the way Ismahairie (also fondly known as Hai by his family and friends) sees and defines his musical style.

Hillary Francis. 15 & 16 Aug, Tue & Wed. In 1975, he made his international debut representing Singapore as a finalist at the prestigious World Popular Song Festival in Budokan, Tokyo. Francis has released three charity albums to date and is still active in the Singapore music scene.

Jayden Chia. 17 & 18 Aug, Thu & Fri. Jayden Chia presents an up-close and personal acoustic performance of his original compositions, based on real-life experiences and inspired by the thing people face in life, and a selection of iconic Singapore National Day songs.

The Mashed Ups. 18 Aug, Fri. A night filled with delicious mix of Cantonese and Hokkien Hits, with songs mainly from Singapore composers, including songs from your favourite local TV serials and homegrown singers.

Ken Loh. 19 Aug, Sat. A raw and intimate showcase, singer-songwriter Ken Loh tells stories and performs songs off his upcoming EP Songs About Them, as well as songs that have deeply influenced his EP.

Dawn Ho & ASTRAL + CO. 19 Aug, Sat. Dawn Ho, a jazz, bossa nova and samba vocalist hailing from Singapore, began her informal training in singing at the age of eight with The Amazing Grace Presbyterian church choir. Her vocal timbre makes her a natural in jazz and bossa nova, and her style has been described as sophisticated and vibrant with a tinge of sexiness.

Singapore Pocket Opera Theatre. 20 Aug, Sun. S.P.O.T celebrates the works of Singapore composers.

LOCAL TIDBEATS by SHISHA. 20 Aug, Sun. Enjoy the evening with drummer and multi-instrumentalist Shamroz Khan and vocalist Sivaranjini Das, together known as SHISHA.

Glen Wee. 21 Aug, Mon. Glen Wee first saw his music career take flight when he joined and made it to top four of the nationwide singing competition The Final 1.

Lincoln Lim. 22 Aug, Tue - 23 Aug, Wed (Featuring Benjamin Jacob & Shak'thiya Subramaniamm). Lincoln Lim recently released his very first single Her and is currently recording his second with plans to release a full-length EP by mid-2018.

Umar Sirhan. 24 Aug, Thu. At the age of just 19, Umar Sirhan is one of the youngest upcoming artists in the Singapore music scene. He is best known for his soulful vocals and his expressive guitar playing. His influences include John Mayer, John Legend, Ray LaMontagne and James Morrison.

Kevin Loh. 25 Aug, Fri. Loh returns to the Esplanade Concourse for his 10th year in music, and shares with us more music on the classical guitar. He presents classic Singapore tunes specially arranged for the guitar as we celebrate our National Day this August!

NELSON. 25 Aug, Fri. Singer-Songwriter NELSON, aka “Bird”, plays bass for Singapore indie bands In Each Hand A Cutlass , Tujuhband and features for Kevin Mathews & The Groovy People. As a solo artist, he has released three Chinese albums, two English albums and his latest single Clover was recently released on 4 July 2017.

Tujuhband. 25 Aug, Fri. Tujuhband performed at the Singapore Expo, Esplanade Outdoor Theatre, as well as opening for Indonesian band Ungu when they held their first-ever concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 24 Apr 2010.

Leslie Low. 26 Aug, Sat. Leslie Low writes songs, sings and plays guitar. He just released two demo albums, Currents and To my shadow, together with two new albums that were recorded live, Nature and Child of the Island.

Ronald Goh. 27 Aug, Sun. Ronald Goh is a funk-soul singer-songwriter with a knack for penning groovy hooks, melodic rhymes and introspective lyrics. Inspired by R&B, jazz and folk-pop music, Goh aspires to create a soundscape of emotions with an emphasis on feel-good tunes and the occasional confessional ballad.

Sugie and Vanessa. 27 Aug, Sun. Sugie and Vanessa presents wonderful songs from pop culture and musical theatre that you might have heard but never expected to have been made in Singapore.

Joyce x Kelly Raphaelle. With Kelly's ethereal vocals and Joyce's down-to-earth songwriting style they channel their similar experiences into music and in spite of differences in their personalities, they find common ground during songwriting sessions and performances.

Anthem of Hearts. 29 Aug, Tue. Since its sounding in 2008 by Ganesh Murusamy, the band (then known as Sharnaz) has grown from a small acoustic band trio to a 13-member musical experience amalgamating the various talents of band members. With musical influences from the hindustanic, carnatic, jazz, Middle Eastern and rock, the band produces and reproduces popular songs.

Lorraine Tan. 30 Aug, Wed. Lorraine Tan performs her original songs, sharing the stories behind each of her compositions and her journey as a singer, songwriter, performer and educator. Enjoy an evening of romantic, heartwarming and patriotic songs with Tan and her talented team of Singapore musicians choir. She is accompanied by Dr SM Yuen (piano), Rizal Sanip (percussion) and Daniel Chai (guitar).

OpusNovus. 31 Aug, Thu. OpusNovus, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory's new music ensemble, presents a selection of works by Singapore student composers.

Ramona. 31 Aug, Thu. Ramona is a German-Slovenian singer and songwriter. Since early 2015, she has been part of big music productions, performing along with world-famous singer/actor James Edward Robert Sampson from the group The Platters across Asia. After working on various music projects in London, Brazil and Indonesia, she moved back to Singapore where she had the opportunity to sing along Singapore's most-known names in the music industry. She is currently working on releasing her album.

In Singapore, the National Arts Council is the highest order in terms of art. The aim of the organization is to successfully create a global community of individuals that have great appreciation of the art work done by Singapore's excellent artists. This organization focuses mainly on more traditional and futuristic art style, artist and companies. The council is funded by partnership, grants, art housing and funds facilitated by the industry. Artist and art groups are developed by NAC in their attempts to fortify the professionalism of the art industry. They have also coupled with IPOS in order to promote better understanding and awareness of the Intellectual Property and the protection in the art industry. During April, NAC host a variety of workshops for the World IP Day celebration . They will use this opportunity to spread CreaTIPs in a majority of art forms. You will get the chance to get any queries you may have answered by the IP Practitioners that will be present at the event.

CreaTIPs for NAC Music MICapella (featured in the image) is a vocal band formed in Singapore that is known for its creativity and exuberant stage performances.

MICappella is a Vocal Band that represents Singapore's next step in Contemporary A cappella music. Comprising of 4 guys and 2 girls. This band is known as the first runner up for Sing-Off China which is a Chinese reality TV singing program. They have a very unique and influential energy that has brought back an edgy spin worldwide acapella performances and performers. Being nominated for four awards has made this band a prestigious one. They were also receivers of the Capella Community Awards in 2013 making history in Singapore. The success of this band has even reached Hong Kong s they represented their country in the Asian Pop music festival. They were the first band with a Singapore nationality that has performed in the A Cappella festival in London England. They have had the luck of performing with stars such as the Single Singers,

Khalil Fong, Girls Generation, Suede, Korean superstars and many British rock bands. In the US, North Carolina to be exact, the band has shared the headline with professional showcases at the SOJAM festival. The way they perfectly combined mandarin and English music genres, ensure the band always satisfy their fans and leave them wanting more.

Benjamin Ang

This litigation lawyer pulls from a diverse pool of career experiences. These include the practices of litigation, some in house legality and tech consulting. This man has worked for one of Singapore's distinguished law firms. The firm handles the in house counseling for an international software and trans-media company. He has also done some IT consultancy work for companies in law. As a teacher, Benjamin Ang love to share his knowledge and experiences with his students and he doesn't put a limit on the knowledge he shares. Whether it is knowledge on Intellectual Property, Media Law or the Procedures for Digital Forensics, he enjoys sharing. He is a regular appearance at tech conferences and has been on many occasions, the public speaker at legal regional conferences. He is a published writer that specializes in tech law, media law and intellectual property law. Benjamin is a singed music producer and remixer of electronic music. He is signed to Afa-Matrix, an international independent recording label. He is responsible for the content and intellectual property for the Electronic Music Lab located in Singapore's

National University center for the Arts as the main tutor. He is the creator of this particular intellectual property used in the institution. This is a teacher that is not afraid to teach and in every capacity that he is capable to. He is a signed musician and a published writer that believes in sharing his knowledge with anyone that is willing to listen and learn.

Baybeats is happening in SG later this year 14 - 16 Jul 2017

The biggest music festival of its kind in Singapore and the region, Baybeats presents a fist-pumping line-up showcasing prominent Singapore and international acts, covering genres including folk, pop, metal, post-rock, emo, punk, electro and everything in between. So reach out and rock on at Singapore's very own alternative music festival.

For young individuals with a passion for music and have the chops for writing or photography, the Baybeats Budding Editorial programme is your chance to hone your skills further, join the team and be a voice for Baybeats. Learn from Writing Mentor, Eddino Abdul Hadi, or Photography Mentor, Aloysius Lim, and work as a team under the guidance of Honeycombers Editor, Kevin Ho, to provide editorial and social media coverage for Baybeats. Since 2010, the Baybeats Budding Photographers mentorship programme has been sharpening the skills of promising young shutterbugs every year. Each year, six amateur photographers are chosen to participate in photographer Aloysius Lim's specially designed structured series of workshops and critique sessions. The Baybeats Budding Writers mentorship programme has been running from 2014, building a community of writers covering the growing music scene in Singapore. Under the guidance and mentorship of Eddino Abdul Hadi, our budding writers learn more about music journalism, and become voices for the Singapore music community. The Baybeats Budding Editorial programme, brings together both Budding Writers and Budding Photographers programmes, to form teams of writers and photographers covering the behind-the-scenes activities at Baybeats. Participants may apply according to their interest and expertise in the field of Writing or Photography.

Since 2007, Baybeats Budding Programme has discovered and showcased many Singapore bands that showed they had the chops to perform in Baybeats. Your band could be amongst the budding bands this year. This isn't just a chance to show Singapore you've got what it takes to turn it up to 11. This is also an opportunity to commit to working with respected music mentors to take your band to the next level.

Bands that make it through the auditions earn the chance to hone their skills in a mentorship programme helmed by prominent Singapore music industry veterans, with special workshops on marketing, production, recording, performance techniques and more.

For more info about Baybeats head on over to the official Esplanade site.

Singapore's music history has enormous musicians and bands who presented remarkable shows to entertain people. Every artist was a bundle of qualities, which used to bring smile on audience face. The era of 1960's gain popularity for live music and events. In that scenario a band was formed by Victor Woo and Eric Tan in 1964, which was named as “The Trailers”. The band was famous for presenting original compositions even they successfully commercialized their numerous releases.

The original and best compositions of band which became famous were ‘Do It Right and Don't Laugh (You'll Cry)'. There were few top numbers, which were considered as selected Discography compositions. The list starts from “Do It Right” presented in 1966 and lasts till “I'm Ready now (Oct 1968)”. The band was reformed multiple times.

The formation of band took place in September 1964, where Victor Woo played lead guitar. The bass guitar was handled by Eric Tan and later Tony Zee and Suppiah joined the band as rhythm guitarist and drummer. The band's first line up never remained for long; it eventually changed time to time. The first change occurred with the removal of Suppiah from drums. Tony Zee took his place and the space of rhythm guitarist was filled by Edmund Tan. The band gave an invitation to Vernon Cornelius in late 1963 to become the lead vocalist of band. There again replacement occurred for betterment as Benny Koh who was introduced on the place of Cornelius became a popular name in fans. The replacements and introductions went on from Michael Teo to Jimmy Chan and Patrick Foo on Keyboard.

The band didn't remain same at all with many replacements and introductions. The style and sound of band took vibrant changes for better performance. The members of band gave a try to instrument music. The flamboyant style of Cornelius gave a professional look to band with it they added showmanship to their profile. The young audience had a craze for Koh's vocal style and the contemporary formation presented by Teo on keyboard made audience freaky. The band never stopped from experimenting and making changes to their colleagues even some also joined other famous bands of Singapore like as ‘The Quest'. The main two who joined The Quest were Cornelius and Chan. The last updation in the style of band was featuring Woo and Tan with saxophone. They got appreciation for that addition and it was the last change also.

There was no stable venue of band as their inception defines. The band performed on different events like as tea dances, night clubs, radio and even television. The popularity graph of band inclined, they were busy in performing numerous live shows. In September 1965, band formed a company named as ‘The Trailers Enterprise'. The company started offering fully woven stage acts and the name given to it was “Trailers Spectacular”. The band appeared on various special events as Singapore Badminton Hall's Pop Favorite'65 and “Shindig-T” was part of Pop Stars on Parade '66 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A presentation of regular stint was there by band at New Penangway. The band attended a Sunday Tea dance at Golden Palace also with it they gave the Early Bird Show at Odeon Theatre. Hotel Malaysia now called as Marco Polo Hotel, Goodwood Park Hotel and Barbarella at Ming Court Hotel were common places where band did their performances.

The Trailers got commercial success and recommendation in 1960s' which was available to few at that time. The record released by the band was a blockbuster and remained in music top charts for 14 consecutive weeks without any competition. The bands of that era were making regional versions of famous American and British songs. Their second release was also a chart topper; the main reason behind their successful rating was originality. They also have a plus point that they were having both music formations Western and Asian. Phoenix Theme track of band is still popular as it became Chinese New Year song.

After a decade long recognition, the band started imparting. The lead guitarist and co-founder of band Victor Woo left band in December 1970 to make career in computers. His replacement was Derrick Danker, but band left recordings till 1972. The recordings had lost its charm till that time. The band performed firmly till mid-1970s' at public places. Another co-founder of band Eric tan did work for The Straits Times and other sectors. He specifically won award for his song ‘I AM What I AM'. He played with different famous bands even at night clubs and hotels. The reunion of band occurred occasionally for nostalgia and charity concerts.