Singapore Symphony Orchestra

There are a lot of great events that you can visit in Singapore, and music events are certainly a big part of that. The Singapore music scene offers something for everyone’s taste and that doesn’t just include the various types of modern music. Even if you are a classical aficionado, Singapore has got you covered with its world-famous Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO)!

The SSO has events throughout the entire year, on an almost weekly basis. If you’re in Singapore during a weekend, check out the SSO’s schedule – chances are very high that they’ll be entertaining an entire hall full of people – most probably the Esplanade Concert Hall – with their brilliance! Another frequent place where you can see the SSO is the Victoria Concert Hall. Overall, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra performs over 100 times per year!

The SSO was formed back in 1945 by the Scottish composer Erik Chisholm in his capacity as ENSA Music Director for South East Asia. A lot of symphony orchestras were formed during and after the colonial period in Singapore, and the SSO is the most famous of them all. And deservedly so. However, literally all of those symphony orchestras were filled with amateur musicians for several decades. It was 1970 when the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) was instituted, and Choo Hoey was established as its first Resident Conductor. Choo Hoey stepped down in 1996 and Lan Shui became the next music director of the orchestra in 1997 and he’s still at the helm.

Aside from their performances in the Esplanade Concert Hall and the Victoria Concert Hall, you can also sometimes see them give a free performance at the Botanic Gardens and Gardens by the Bay, as well as various schools and colleges around the country. The SSO has also toured the world, with some of its notable concerts including, the New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, The Proms in London, the Beijing’s Poly Theatre, and many others.

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra has a wide repertoire that can satisfy a lot of classical music fans. You can hear them perform Western classical music from the early baroque, as well as contemporary classical music or various Chinese musical works. Are you a fan of the Rossini’s Overture or Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5? Do you want to hear Charles Ives’ The Unanswered Question or the Chinese orchestral piece Dance of the Yao People? Or maybe, you’re interested in any of Alexander Tcherepnin’s six piano concertos and four symphonies? Or perhaps, Rachmaninov or Claude Debussy? The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is eager to entertain you with the best classical music in the world, so don’t hesitate to take a look at their program on https://www.sso.org.sg/ the next time you’re in Singapore – you will not be disappointed!

Of course, if you’re interested in the ton of other activities that await you in Singapore, you can also take a look here for just a sample of all the things you can do!