We invite submissions of original works or work proposals that reflect a bold fusion of Chinese and Western music traditions, written for The TENG Ensemble’s unique instrumentation. This is a rare opportunity to work with one of Singapore’s leading contemporary fusion music ensembles and to contribute meaningfully to its evolving artistic identity.

The winner will be awarded a $2,000 commission fee and 3 year CSS membership, and will also be added to TENG’s composer repertoire for future performances.

The first session of the CSS Young Composers Forum took place on 13 September. Our young composers were lucky to be invited to one of SYC’s weekly rehearsals. Afterwards, mentors and mentees were introduced to each other and to the singers. The session ended off with an enlightening Q&A with Jennifer Tham, SYC Artistic Director, on the intricacies and practicalities of composing for the human voice.

“Hauntingly beautiful”, “introspective” and “unapologetic” were some of the words Tan Zheng Rui, a member of the CSS writing team, used to describe this daring production by the SYC Ensemble Singers.

This concert, titled “the body electric”, is the ensemble’s legacy-memory project, celebrating the ensemble’s 60th anniversary. It featured two older works, Joyce Koh’s Nona Sensilia and Hoh Chung Shih’s Variations (on a brink), and a premiere of a new piece, the body electric by Americ Goh, Diana Soh, and SYC Artistic Director Jennifer Tham.

Dan Albertson discusses the history of Singapore’s contemporary music scene and its composers. Since 2000, Dan has worked on The Living Composers Project, an ever-growing catalogue of information on the lives and works of more than 5000 contemporary composers from 100 countries.