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​Host: 

• Wang Chenwei 
  Composer-in-Residence, Singapore Chinese Orchestra
  Adjunct faculty, National Institute of Education (NTU)
  Head of Research and Education, The TENG Company
  Council member, Singapore Chinese Music Federation

 

Guests:

• Phang Kok Jun 
  Composer

• Dayn Ng
  Composer-in-residence, MUSA
  Adjunct lecturer, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

• Sulwyn Lok 
  Composer-in-Residence, Singapore Ruan Ensemble
  Co-founder, Poco Productions
  Co-founder, SEA Music Academy Online

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Host: Wang Chenwei

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WANG Chenwei is Composer-in-Residence of Singapore Chinese Orchestra, adjunct faculty and composition supervisor at the National Institute of Education (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), and council member of the Singapore Chinese Music Federation. As Head of Research and Education at The TENG Company, he is the main co-author of The TENG Guide to the Chinese Orchestra (2019), a 624-page book on instrumentation and orchestration.

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After graduating from Raffles Institution’s Gifted Education Programme with seven academic awards, Chenwei obtained his Magister Artium (five-year Master of Arts) with distinction and an Honorary Award (Würdigungspreis) from the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where he studied composition and audio engineering under a scholarship from the Media Development Authority of Singapore.

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At the age of 17, Chenwei composed The Sisters’ Islands, a symphonic poem which won the Singapore Composer Award at the 2006 Singapore International Competition for Chinese Orchestral Composition. This piece has been widely performed and recorded in various arrangements, most notably at Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural National Day concert in 2018. 

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Chenwei has received composition commissions by numerous organisations including the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Taipei Chinese Orchestra and the Ministry of Education of Singapore. He was commissioned by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra to compose four set pieces for the National Piano and Violin Competition 2019. Three of his compositions were commissioned as set pieces for the Singapore Youth Festival. His works have also been subjects of academic theses authored by three Taiwanese professors. 

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Additionally, Chenwei served as an adjudicator for Singapore’s National Chinese Music Competition 2020 and the Singapore Youth Festival Arts Presentation 2021 Guzheng ensemble category, as well as an external examiner for the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 2021. 

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Chenwei’s efforts in composing, conducting, playing 12 musical instruments and writing in 12 languages was featured in Extraordinary People, a half-hour documentary broadcast on Singapore television on 12 May 2009. For his contributions to the music scene, Chenwei was conferred the Young Outstanding Singaporeans Award in 2011. 

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Guest: Phang Kok Jun

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Known to be a multifaceted composer, Phang Kok Jun’s music transcends the concert halls, with a repertoire that also includes theatre, film, and other forms of media. An award-winning composer both locally and internationally, Kok Jun is influenced by a wide variety of musical styles, and has been described as a composer who “comfortably melds Chinese, Western and popular idioms to excellent effect”. 

 

Interested in the unique relationship between music and storytelling, Kok Jun is constantly working with artists of various disciplines to discover new possibilities in music-making. He has held several residencies, most notably with Ding Yi Music Company from 2011 to 2021, and has had the privilege of being featured in major productions around the world, working with orchestras, theatre companies, chamber groups, directors, conductors, designers, and soloists.

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Kok Jun read music composition at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM), National University of Singapore and as well as the Peabody Conservatory of Music, both under full scholarship from YSTCM. Principal composition teachers include Eric Watson, Ho Chee Kong, Oscar Bettison and Kevin Puts

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Guest: Dayn Ng

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 Dayn Ng Chee Yao is currently the Composer-in-Residence in MUSA. He is also an exclusive songwriter with Touch Publishing and has been actively involved in live classical and studio multi-track audio recordings. At the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts’ School of Art and Design and School of Music, Dayn is also an adjunct lecturer for music technology, music and sound design for theatre, and audio engineering at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts’School of Art and Design and School of music.

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Dayn’s latest works include compositions and arrangements for the Singapore Chinese Orchestra and commissioned works for various secondary and tertiary institutions for the Singapore Youth Festival – Arts Presentation organised by the Ministry of Education’s Arts Education Branch. His arrangements have been featured in local and international drama series such as Crescendo, Till We Meet Again and Colourful Bone. He has also composed and designed music and sound for productions at the Central Academy of Drama (China), Beijing Film Academy and Dance Ensemble Singapore.

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In 2019, his arrangement for MUSA was featured on Chinese Music Banquet Season 2, a Chinese music competition television series broadcast on China Guangdong TV.

 

Dayn graduated with a Bachelor of Music (Honours) jointly awarded by the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and Royal College of Music, London, majoring in music composition. His teachers include Dr. Zechariah Goh Toh Chai and Prof. Kenneth Hesketh.

 

Guest: Sulwyn Lok

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Singaporean composer-conductor Sulwyn Lok advocates the human connection in music and going beyond cultural boundaries. With a deep interest in global music cultures, he integrates different folk and contemporary music elements in his works, which include music composed for film and the stage. His works have been showcased at the Cannes Film Festival and Busan International Film Festival, won Best Original Music at the National Youth Film Awards (Singapore), and have been commissioned by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Asian Cultural Symphony Orchestra and Sichuan Symphony Orchestra Tianzi Ensemble.

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Sulwyn developed his music style through his extensive work across Southeast Asia promoting cultural exchange. These include teaching composition masterclasses and conducting at the Music Society of Myanmar Festival and Competition; running music workshops (sponsored by Singapore International Foundation) for asylum-seekers in Indonesia; and being a representative at Southeast Asian Directors of Music Congresses in Laos and Thailand. For him, conducting and collaborating with musicians on instruments of different cultures resulted in an invaluable vault of new musical ideas and colours.

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Sulwyn is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Music Theory and Composition at New York University, specializing in Screen Scoring, supported by the Singapore Digital Scholarship from the Infocomm Media Development Authority. Having graduated as valedictorian from the National University of Singapore YST Conservatory of Music with honours (Highest Distinction) majoring in Audio Arts and Science, Sulwyn is also lead composer and co-founder of Poco Productions, and production director and co-founder of the SEA Music Academy Online.