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Leong Yoon Pin was one of the most important figures in classical music in Singapore. He was a composer, conductor and educator best known for his choral compositions who went on to become the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s first composer-in-residence.
Leong was born in Singapore in 1931 and was a self-taught musician until he began lessons in his 20s with Noreen Stokes. He went on to study music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London before studying with the legendary Nadia Boulanger in Paris from 1966-67.
Leong also worked as a conductor, founding the Rediffusion Youth Choir in 1953, the Metro Philharmonic Society in 1959 and the Singapore City String Orchestra in the 1970s. He became the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s first composer-in-residence in the year 2000.
His work includes the tone poem Episodes in Journey to the West, the choral work Street Calls and the concert overture Dayong Sampan which became the first work by a local composer performed by the SSO.
In 1982 he was awarded the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to music in Singapore.

Leong Yoon Pin (1931-2011)

Sunset (Leong Yoon Pin) - Consulate of the

Yoon Pin Leong (Leong Yoon Pin)

The Dick Lee phenomenon started in 1971 when he participated in various talent contests with the groups Harmony, and Dick and the Gang. His first album, Life Story, featuring his own compositions, was released in 1974. Throughout the 70s and 80s, Dick championed the inclusion of Asian elements in pop music, as in his acclaimed albums Life In The Lion City (1984) and The Mad Chinaman (1989), the latter which achieved platinum status in Singapore for three months.
Dick has collaborated with top Asian artistes like Sandy Lam and Japanese group Zoo, and written countless songs for singers in Asia including Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Sammi Cheng, Anita Mui, Miyazawa of the Boom and Stephanie Sun.
The song he is proudest of writing is ‘Home’. Composed in 1997 and popularised by the singer Kit Chan, it is widely regarded as one of the most beloved of Singapore’s national songs.

Dick Lee

Home (by DICK LEE, arr. KELLY TANG for choir &

Kelly Tang’s compositions have been performed by the Russian National Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble contemporain de Montréal, Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines (UK) and “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. His music has been presented worldwide at Berlin Konzerthaus, Musikverein Golden Hall (Vienna), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), Palais de l’Élysée (Paris), St. Paul’s Cathedral (London) and Carnegie Hall (New York).
For Singapore’s 50th anniversary celebrations, Tang’s Concerto in Three Movements was premiered by superstar pianist Lang Lang with the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra in 2015. For his contributions in the arts, Tang was conferred the Cultural Medallion in 2011 by the President of Singapore.

Kelly Tang (b.1961)

KELLY TANG: Symphonic Suite on a Set of Local

Kelly Tang

Singaporean composer Zechariah Goh is Senior Lecturer of Composition at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and writes music ranging from choral works to chamber music and large-scale orchestral works. He carefully fuses South East Asian-Chinese traditions with Western traditions.
Zechariah studied at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts as well as the University of Kansas. His music has been performed all over the world, including in Austria, Brazil, Germany, China and the US. He was conferred the Young Artist Award (Music) in 2003 by the National Arts Council, Singapore.

Zechariah Goh (b. 1970)

阴阳上去 Four Tones (World Premiere) - Zechariah Goh |

Zechariah Goh

Emily Koh is a Singaporean composer and double bassist, currently based in Atlanta, Georgia (USA). A graduate of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore, she has been described by The Straits Times as ‘the future of composing’ while The New York Times called her work ‘beautifully eerie’.
She continued her studies at the Peabody Institute, John Hopkins University and Brandeis University and is currently Assistant Professor of Composition at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia.
On her website, she is described as a composer ‘whose music is characterized by inventive explorations of the smallest details of sound’.
SSOPlayOn! Listen to emily Koh's Jia[k] as part of our digital concert season. Find out more here.
Her music includes homemade recipe: nasi ulam (2020), cis-[flux] (2015), Jia[k] (written for the SSO in 2014), memento mori (2019).
She’s been commissioned by the likes of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, Composers Conference at Wellesley College, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble. Koh has won prizes including the Copland House Residency Award, Young Artist Award, Yoshiro Irino Memorial Prize and the ASCA Morton Gould Young Composer Award.
She is a self-confessed foodie and in a programme note for her work Jia[k], she said: “Jia[k] is a portmanteau (blend of two or more words or their sounds into a single new word) of the pinyin representation of the Chinese word for ‘home’ – 家 (jiā), and the anglicization of the of the word ‘eat’ or ‘meal’ in the Teochew dialect – 食 (jiak.) When I was writing this piece, I found myself thinking of home and all the delicious foods I miss that are unique to Singapore – hokkien mee, laksa, nasi lemak, you name it!”
Find out more about Emily Koh at her <a href="https://emilykoh.net/">website</a>.

Emily Koh (1986-)

Emily Koh

Composer, conductor, and bassist Tony Makarome is an Associate Professor at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (NUS). His educational achievements include a D.M.A. (Orchestral Conducting) from USC and a B.M. (Composition) from Berklee College of Music. He is currently a mridangam student of Guru Chettiharaveetil Haridas Sreekanth (Singapore Indian Fine Art Society). He was assistant conductor of the Columbia Lyric Opera (South Carolina), and music director of the NUS Wind Symphony.
His recent premieres include Rain Konnakkol (2018) in Baltimore, What Pattern? (2016) in New York City, Scifi Lounge (2006) in Bangkok and Name with No Street in Shanghai. As a bassist, he performed with Louis Bellson, Tony Bennett, and Quartet West amongst others.

Tony Makarome (b. 1960)

Jewel of Srivijaya (for Mridangam, Tabla and

Tony Makarome

Singaporean composer Joyce Koh currently holds the position of Senior Lecturer and Vice Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies at the <a href="https://www.nafa.edu.sg/admissions/why-nafa/teaching-staff/profile/dr.-joyce-koh-bee-tuan">Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts</a>, a position she has held since 2014.
She studied at King’s College London and the University of York before completing her studies at IRCAM in France. After working in Europe for 20 years she returned to Singapore in 2007 to head the music faculty at the School of the Arts.
Her work spans concert music, dance collaborations, text-sound production and interactive sound installations. As International Piano Quartely put it: ‘[her soundworld] engages the intellect and requires a different approach’.
She has been commissioned by or performed for Singapore Arts Fission Dance Company, Hong Kong Chinese Music Virtuosi, Australia Song Company, Resonance Contemporaine, De Ereprijs of the Netherlands, BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
Her most recent work for the SSO is one point six one eight zero, a series of six short movements related to each other by the Golden Ratio.
She has received honours from, among others Foyle Foundation UK (2004), Centre Acanthes France (2002), Young Artist Award Singapore (1998), Academia Musicale Chigiana Italy (1997), Royaumont Foundation France (1997), Nadia Boulanger Foundation France (1996), Tanglewood USA (1995).

Joyce Beetuan Koh (1968- )

[ Take 5 Piano Quintet ] Joyce Beetuan Koh (3) -

Joyce Koh

Lee Jinjun is an award-winning composer, and active trumpeter and musical mentor. His music has been performed in countries such as Singapore, China, USA, Belgium, Germany and Spain. Recently, his Autumnal Fireworks clinched First Prize at the Singapore International Band Festival Composition Competition.
In 2014, What Does the Future Hold? won First Prize at the World Projects Composition Contest, and was premiered at the Walt Disney Concert Hall at the 2015 Los Angeles International Music Festival. Jinjun was commissioned by the Ministry of Education to write the concert band set pieces for the Singapore Youth Festival Arts Presentation 2019. Other commissions include works for Timothy Reynish, Royal Northern College of Music, SMRT Corporation and the Orchestra of the Music Makers.

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