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Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO), inaugurated in 1997, is Singapore’s only professional national Chinese orchestra. SCO, made up of more than 80 musicians, occupies the Singapore Conference Hall, which is a national monument. With Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as its patron, SCO takes on the twin role of preserving traditional arts and culture and establishing its unique identity through the incorporation of Southeast Asian cultural elements in its music. 

 

SCO has impressed a broadening audience with its blockbuster presentations and is fast establishing itself around the world. In 2009, SCO made history by becoming the first Chinese orchestra to perform in the opening week of the Edinburgh Festival, and in 2010, performed in Paris as part of the Singapour Festivarts. 

 

Well-known for its high performance standards and versatility, SCO has toured various countries and cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Nanjing, Suzhou, Macau, Hungary and England. The year 2019 also saw SCO performing in Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea and completing the Europe Concert Tour in Berlin (Germany), Prague (Czech Republic), Forli (Italy) and Ioannina (Greece). In August 2022, an ensemble of 5 SCO musicians was invited to Nuremberg (Germany) by the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra to perform at the Klassik Open Air, an annual large-scale outdoor concert that was attended by over 75,000 audience. These international platforms provided SCO with the opportunities to showcase its talents and music, propelling it to the forefront of the international music arena. 

 

With its vision to be a world-renowned people’s orchestra, SCO widens its outreach by performing regularly at various national parks, communities and schools. SCO also commissions its own compositions. It is with this vision that SCO continues to inspire, influence, educate and communicate through its music.

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Conductors

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Dr Tay Teow Kiat, Conductor

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Dr Tay Teow Kiat is Music Director of City Chinese Orchestra, Dunman High School Performing Arts Centre and President of the Singapore Chinese Music Federation. He is also the Music Director of the Reverberance Winds and Percussion Ensemble and Emeritus Music Director of Ding Yi Music Company. Dr Tay is also Trustee of the Academy for International Communication Chinese Culture in Beijing Normal University, as well as a member of the International Advisory Committee of the International Chinese Culture Exchange Federation. He holds a PhD from Beijing Normal University, where he has conducted research on the art and ethos of conducting traditional Chinese music.

 

For his contributions to Chinese music in Singapore, Dr Tay was awarded the National Efficiency Medal in 1989, the Commendation Plaque (by the Ministry of Education’s Co-Curricular Activities Centre) for music and dance activities in 1991. He was also awarded the Long-Term Contribution to Education Award in 1997 by the Ministry of Education. In 2017, Dr Tay  received the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore Limited (COMPASS) Meritorious Award. Dr Tay was the first practitioner of traditional Chinese music to be awarded the country’s highest award in the arts, the Cultural Medallion, in 1993.  In 2022, Dr Tay received the Singapore Chinese Cultural Contribution Award (Individual Category).  

 

Since 1985, he has accepted numerous invitations to guest conduct professional Chinese orchestras in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanxi, Shandong, Baotou, Nanjing, Singapore, and Malaysia. He is also frequently invited to speak or adjudicate at international Chinese music conferences and competitions.

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 Quek Ling Kiong, Conductor

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Quek Ling Kiong is the first Principal Conductor of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) to have been born and bred in Singapore. Hailed as the “People’s Conductor”, he joined the SCO in 1997 as Percussion Principal after graduating from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He pursued conducting studies at Zurich University of the Arts, and was promoted to Principal Conductor in 2023 after two decades of conducting the SCO.

 

Besides leading one of the world’s top Chinese orchestras, Quek has guest-conducted esteemed ensembles such as the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, Guangdong Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, as well as European symphony orchestras.

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He is also the Music Director of the Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra; former Principal Guest Conductor of Singapore’s Ding Yi Music Company (2016-2022); and Artistic Director of Singapore and Hong Kong’s largest inclusive orchestras, The Purple Symphony and True Colors Symphony respectively.

 

Quek’s accolades include the Singapore National Arts Council’s (NAC) prestigious Young Artist Award (2002), NAC Cultural Fellowship (2013), and the Meritorious Award by the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (2016). The Quek Ling Kiong Arts and Culture Scholarship was also established at the Singapore Management University in his honour.

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Soloists

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Dr Ling Hock Siang, Erhu

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Dr Ling Hock Siang holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD.) degree in art studies. He is a recipient of the 2004 Young Artist Award and Singapore Youth Award (Culture and Arts Team Category, The Huqin Quartet). In 2021, he was awarded the Commendation Award by Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) and also received an award from the China Yangtze River Delta National Orchestra Performance, for his outstanding contributions. He is currently the Erhu Associate Principal of SCO and the Vice Secretary-General of the Singapore Chinese Music Federation. 

 

Graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 1998. Under the tutelage of Professor Wang Yongde, he was the first Singaporean to achieve a Master’s degree in erhu performance in 2005. In 2012, he entered the Beijing Normal University to study a doctoral degree in arts studies (theory), under Professor Zhang Xiaomei.

 

Since 2006, Dr Ling has been invited to be an Advisory Committee member, Adjudicator for the National Arts Council’s biennial National Music Competition. In addition, he has also frequently served as a judge of various Chinese music competitions, represented Singapore at international conferences, performances, seminars workshops and arts meets in Asia.

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Prof Zhan Yongming, Dizi

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Zhan Yongming is a renowned dizi performer and educator. He is a council member of the Singapore Chinese Music Federation, Director of Singapore dizi Society, as well as Professor, PhD Tutor and Department Director at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He is also the Vice President of the Bamboo Flute Society under the China Musician Association, Honorary Director of the Zhao Song Ting Bamboo Flute Research Association and a Dizi Professor at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

 

One of China’s top musicians and well-known for his talent, Zhan Yongming has won numerous awards in China and internationally over the past decades. He has also performed and lectured in more than 20 countries worldwide, covering Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. As one of the leading Dizi musicians today, Zhan Yongming was acclaimed as the “Magic Flute” and the Washington Post has described him as “an outstanding musician of our time”. He has nurtured numerous outstanding international Dizi performers. As an educator, he has made major contributions to the academics and scientific studies of the Chinese flute. His contributions have also been recorded in at least 3 published books in China and in the international arena.