Not long after moving to Singapore, Andrew Beer found himself cycling with Acting Associate Concertmaster Chan Yoong-Han, from Changi Airport to Marina Bay Sands. What struck him was not the distance, but how easy the journey felt. Along almost the entire route, Andrew remembers encountering just one traffic light. Coming from Auckland, he noticed something else too: Singapore was wonderfully flat, making cycling here considerably less tiring.
I’m still marvelling at the brilliant urban planning here. You read about it in advance but seeing it in person is still remarkable.
For Andrew, these discoveries have accompanied a much bigger transition. This season, he joins the Singapore Symphony Orchestra as its new GK Goh Concertmaster, moving to Singapore with his wife and two young children after 12 years in Auckland. It is one of the orchestra’s most visible roles. Yet much of what a concertmaster does, Andrew explains, is less immediately apparent: helping an orchestra listen, respond and play as one.
A New Orchestra, A New Home
Singapore had been somewhere in Andrew’s mind long before the SSO opportunity came about. One of his high school friends was a great admirer of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and would often speak enthusiastically about the country. Years later, when Andrew came across an advertisement for the SSO Concertmaster position, the possibility immediately caught his attention.
I didn’t hesitate to apply.
The search process gave him plenty of time to get to know both the SSO and Singapore. Across three visits, which included interviews, two trial weeks and an audition, Andrew performed concertmaster solos with the orchestra before eventually being offered the position. Those visits left a strong impression. He describes the SSO as an organisation “full of extremely talented musicians and supportive and ambitious staff, with clear visions for the future.” Moving continents with young children was “a bit daunting”, but after experiencing the SSO first-hand and getting a glimpse of life in Singapore, Andrew and his wife felt the move was too compelling to turn down. His first weeks with the orchestra offered an immediate taste of the range of activity ahead. He began with the light-hearted energy of the SSO’s concerts with TwoSet Violin, which brought the duo’s signature musical humour to the concert hall.
“Then things got intense.” He describes the programmes in the Hannu Lintu Inaugural Series as a “massive and riveting” start to an energising season ahead, and shares that joining the SSO as Hannu begins his tenure as Quantedge Music Director has also given him the chance to be part of a new artistic chapter from its very beginning.
Leading From Within
For audiences, the concertmaster is easy to spot: at the front of the first violins, immediately to the conductor’s side, and often the last orchestra member to walk onstage before a performance begins. Explaining everything that comes with the role takes a little longer. “How much time have you got?” Andrew joked when first asked. His shorter answer goes to the heart of how he approaches the position:
A concertmaster should inspire colleagues musically and, through consistency and example, help make it easier for the orchestra to perform cohesively.
Part of this involves helping the conductor realise an artistic vision while communicating from within the orchestra itself. During rehearsals, the concertmaster might reinforce a conductor’s stylistic ideas by demonstrating how a phrase can be shaped, clarifying an instruction, or acting as an “intermediary” when musicians have questions. Andrew is quick to add that the relationship works both ways.
With the SSO, I am constantly inspired by the musicians around me!
Some of the concertmaster’s most substantial work also takes place away from the audience’s view. One major responsibility is “doing the bowings” for the string sections – determining where players move their bows “down” or “up” through a passage. These decisions help the strings articulate and phrase together while taking into account both practical and stylistic considerations. The concertmaster also participates in the orchestra’s audition process and plays a part in representing and advocating for the SSO beyond the concert stage, both across Singapore and overseas.
Taken together, these responsibilities make the role an unusual combination of performer, collaborator and leader, with an influence that extends well beyond the notes on the page.
Many Ways of Making Music
Andrew’s own musical life has rarely been confined to one form of music-making. His journey began in Vancouver, where he studied for eight years with his first violin teacher, Lawrie Hill, at the Vancouver Academy of Music.
I wouldn’t be here without her!
His training later took him to McGill University, Stony Brook University and New England Conservatory, as well as a fellowship at Carnegie Hall and Juilliard School. Andrew then spent five years with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal as Assistant Principal Second Violin before moving to New Zealand for his first concertmaster position with the Auckland Philharmonia, where he remained for 12 years.
Alongside orchestral playing, he has performed as a soloist and chamber musician, worked with leading contemporary composers, taught, and recently served as a judge at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition. He is also a member of the tango and world music quintet Aotango and the Levansa Piano Trio. And then there is improvisation through tango: Andrew readily admits that it can be “a scary thing for classical musicians” but sees it as “a good growth opportunity”.
That breadth of musical experience is something he hopes to continue exploring in Singapore. He has already been struck by the vibrancy of the arts scene here, from concerts and music schools to competitions, and is keen not only to experience more of it but also to find ways of contributing to it.
Finding His Rhythm in Singapore
For now, much of Andrew’s life outside the concert hall is still that of someone discovering a new home. Singapore’s public transport and everyday conveniences made an immediate impression. The heat has required a little more adjustment, although air conditioning and swimming have helped.
Food has proved easier. Andrew had never considered himself particularly enthusiastic about seafood or spicy food, and Singapore is changing that. “Chilli crab is irresistible!” he says, adding that his wife (who already loved both) is especially pleased by this development.
Chicken rice has become another favourite, particularly when discovered at a hawker stall with a queue: “The one at the local hawker centre with the line is the best, of course!” Kopi c kosong has also entered his Singapore repertoire. And there is still much to discover.
A Season of Firsts
Andrew’s first SSO season has already brought some of the musical experiences he was hoping for. Among them was the chance to make chamber music with Marc-André Hamelin – something Andrew had described as a “bucket list” item. At the SSO National Day Concert, he also had the opportunity to perform works by local composers.
Learning the music of local composers and working with them is really important to me.
In August, Andrew also led the Strings of the SSO in a programme of Grieg and Tchaikovsky, taking on a different kind of musical leadership in a performance without a conductor.
The Singapore Symphony Choruses are another part of the wider SSO musical family he is eager to work with. “It’s always fun for an orchestra to get to work with a choir,” he says, adding that having three choruses as part of the “family” means those collaborations can happen regularly.
Andrew is also anticipating the return to music he has not performed in some time, including works by John Adams and Scriabin, both composers he loves. There are new collaborations too, including first encounters with violinist Augustin Hadelich and conductor Marin Alsop.
But there is something more fundamental that appeals to him as well: the chance to work with the same gifted musicians over months and years, building something together through that continuity and looking ahead to an exciting artistic future.
As Andrew begins his own chapter with the SSO, he hopes audiences will hear both a commitment to bringing a composer’s music fully to life and the joy he finds in making music alongside colleagues who continually inspire him.
He may be one of the orchestra’s most visible musicians on stage, but for Andrew, leadership is not simply about being at the front. It is about listening closely, leading by example, and helping the musicians around him come together as one.