The Composers Society of Singapore (CSS) is the national representative for Singapore to the Asian Composers League (ACL). CSS exists to promote interest in Singapore’s new music scene by being a meeting point for, building awareness of and creating opportunities for professionally-trained composers. Since its founding in 2007, CSS has become a key platform in developing local composers in Singapore and overseas.
About
Composers Society of Singapore
新加坡作曲社
Persatuan Komposer Singapura
சிங்கப்பூர் இசையமைப்பாளர்கள் சங்கம்
Executive Committee
Composers Society of Singapore
新加坡作曲社
Persatuan Komposer Singapura
சிங்கப்பூர் இசையமைப்பாளர்கள் சங்கம்

Hoh Chung Shih studied at King’s College London, and completed a PhD in Composition at the University at Buffalo, where he also studied computer music at the Lejaren Hiller Computer Music Studios. For more than 10 years, he also studied the guqin (Chinese 7-string zither) with Master Ji Zhiqun.
His international presence as a composer, through works by commissions and requests from Asia, Europe and America has led him to collaborate with some of the world’s premier musicians. His interest can be described as an exploration of a double intersection: one between the avant-garde and the experimental, and the other between the international contemporary and traditional Chinese literati cultures.
Singapore-born composer Jon Lin Chua credits her versatility in traversing musical cultures and genres to her eclectic musical background.
As composer, she has also worked with groups such as the Ding Yi Music Company (Singapore) and the Toronto Chinese Orchestra as the former composer-in-residence, as well as with the MusicaNova Orchestra (Phoenix AZ) as the orchestra’s composition fellow for the 2015-2016 season. Other groups she has worked with include the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the Little Giant Chinese Chamber Ensemble (Taiwan), the Ju Percussion Group (Taiwan), Morse Percussion (Singapore), 3PeopleMusic (Taiwan), Ensemble PHASE (Seoul), EL Music Group (Seoul), the Southeastern Ensemble for Today’s and Tomorrow’s Sounds (Singapore), the Studio C Ensemble (international), The Philharmonic Winds (Singapore), the Nanyang Collective (Singapore), Orchestra Collective (Singapore), 成都天资国乐 (Chengdu, Sichuan), the Central Conservatory of China Chinese Chamber Music Ensemble (Beijing), the University of Birmingham New Music Ensemble (Birmingham, UK), Stringanza (Singapore), the Guitar Ensemble of the National University of Singapore, and has had works performed in festivals such as CrossCurrents (Birmingham, 2024), SoundBridge Contemporary Music Festival (KL, Malaysia, 2019 & 2023), the 2019 China-ASEAN New Music Festival (Nanning, Guangxi, 2019), ACL-Korea “Seoul Asia Waves” International Conference and Festival (Seoul, 2019), the inaugural Dot The Line New Music Festival (Seoul, 2019), the 35th Asian Composers League Conference and Festival (Taipei, 2018), 18th Biennial Festival of New Music organized by the Florida State University College of Music (Tallahassee FL, 2017), the Women in Music Festival (Rochester NY, 2017 & 2014), and the National University of Singapore Arts Festival (Singapore, 2012).
In 2021, she was commissioned to compose a piece in honour of the 100th year anniversary of the Eastman School of Music, her alma mater, featuring the award-winning American mezzo soprano Katherine Ciesinski as well as American violinist Renée Jolles, a concertmaster of the world-renowned, Grammy Award-winning, conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Recent composition awards also include the Outstanding Works Award on the 2021 Dunhuang Award, and the First Prize (large ensemble category) as well as the Young Singaporean Composer award on the 3rd Singapore International Composition Competition for Chinese Chamber Music, “Composium 2018,” organised by the Ding Yi Music Company (Singapore).
In addition to working with music groups, Jon Lin has also done extensive work in multidisciplinary collaboration, including with contemporary dance group Arts Fission under the leadership of Cultural Medallion recipient Angela Liong, as well as individuals such as film director Eric Wong, contemporary dancer JS Wong, performance artist Ora, and even Hokkien opera troupes Sin Sai Hong and Xiao Dong Tian.
Jon Lin is currently a Doctoral Researcher in music composition at the University of Birmingham, and also studied at the Eastman School of Music, where she graduated with highest distinction as a double major in composition and music theory, and also a recipient of numerous scholarships, including the prestigious Presser Scholar Award and the National Arts Council of Singapore Arts Scholarship. She also received composition awards such as the Wayne Brewster Barlow Award, Louis Lane Award, and the Bernard Rogers Memorial Prize. Jon Lin is a member of the national honor music society Pi Kappa Lambda in the United States, the current Vice President of the Composers Society of Singapore (CSS), and has served as committee member of the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS) Writer Members Consultative Committee.
Her teachers in composition include composers Oliver Schneller, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Robert Morris, Michael Zev Gordon, David Liptak, and Robert Casteels, and she has participated in composition masterclasses with Moritz Eggert and Louis Karchin. In Eastman, she also studied piano performance under the tutelage of classical/jazz pianist and pedagogue Tony Caramia, and has also received instruction from Vincent Lenti, piano professor at the Eastman School of Music. Apart from being a pianist, she is also an erhu player, and has obtained a performance diploma from the Central Conservatory of Music of China. In addition, Jon Lin has also taken the effort to venture into alternative styles of music, including traditional Nanyin music, various subgenres of traditional Chinese opera, and has collaborated with Flame of the Forest, a contemporary Northern Indian music trio.
Jon Lin was also invited to present her paper A Collapse of Musical Categories? : A Closer Look at Ethnic Chinese Music within the Chinese Conservatory Tradition Today at the Composition in Asia International Symposium and Festival held in the University of Florida (2015). Her recent research interests include analytical approaches to timbre-based works, as well as the music of Helmut Lachenmann. Apart from her accomplishments in music, Jon Lin also has a B.A. (Hons) in philosophy from the National University of Singapore.







Hoh Chung Shih studied at King’s College London, and completed a PhD in Composition at the University at Buffalo, where he also studied computer music at the Lejaren Hiller Computer Music Studios. For more than 10 years, he also studied the guqin (Chinese 7-string zither) with Master Ji Zhiqun.
His international presence as a composer, through works by commissions and requests from Asia, Europe and America has led him to collaborate with some of the world’s premier musicians. His interest can be described as an exploration of a double intersection: one between the avant-garde and the experimental, and the other between the international contemporary and traditional Chinese literati cultures.
Singapore-born composer Jon Lin Chua credits her versatility in traversing musical cultures and genres to her eclectic musical background.
As composer, she has also worked with groups such as the Ding Yi Music Company (Singapore) and the Toronto Chinese Orchestra as the former composer-in-residence, as well as with the MusicaNova Orchestra (Phoenix AZ) as the orchestra’s composition fellow for the 2015-2016 season. Other groups she has worked with include the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the Little Giant Chinese Chamber Ensemble (Taiwan), the Ju Percussion Group (Taiwan), Morse Percussion (Singapore), 3PeopleMusic (Taiwan), Ensemble PHASE (Seoul), EL Music Group (Seoul), the Southeastern Ensemble for Today’s and Tomorrow’s Sounds (Singapore), the Studio C Ensemble (international), The Philharmonic Winds (Singapore), the Nanyang Collective (Singapore), Orchestra Collective (Singapore), 成都天资国乐 (Chengdu, Sichuan), the Central Conservatory of China Chinese Chamber Music Ensemble (Beijing), the University of Birmingham New Music Ensemble (Birmingham, UK), Stringanza (Singapore), the Guitar Ensemble of the National University of Singapore, and has had works performed in festivals such as CrossCurrents (Birmingham, 2024), SoundBridge Contemporary Music Festival (KL, Malaysia, 2019 & 2023), the 2019 China-ASEAN New Music Festival (Nanning, Guangxi, 2019), ACL-Korea “Seoul Asia Waves” International Conference and Festival (Seoul, 2019), the inaugural Dot The Line New Music Festival (Seoul, 2019), the 35th Asian Composers League Conference and Festival (Taipei, 2018), 18th Biennial Festival of New Music organized by the Florida State University College of Music (Tallahassee FL, 2017), the Women in Music Festival (Rochester NY, 2017 & 2014), and the National University of Singapore Arts Festival (Singapore, 2012).
In 2021, she was commissioned to compose a piece in honour of the 100th year anniversary of the Eastman School of Music, her alma mater, featuring the award-winning American mezzo soprano Katherine Ciesinski as well as American violinist Renée Jolles, a concertmaster of the world-renowned, Grammy Award-winning, conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Recent composition awards also include the Outstanding Works Award on the 2021 Dunhuang Award, and the First Prize (large ensemble category) as well as the Young Singaporean Composer award on the 3rd Singapore International Composition Competition for Chinese Chamber Music, “Composium 2018,” organised by the Ding Yi Music Company (Singapore).
In addition to working with music groups, Jon Lin has also done extensive work in multidisciplinary collaboration, including with contemporary dance group Arts Fission under the leadership of Cultural Medallion recipient Angela Liong, as well as individuals such as film director Eric Wong, contemporary dancer JS Wong, performance artist Ora, and even Hokkien opera troupes Sin Sai Hong and Xiao Dong Tian.
Jon Lin is currently a Doctoral Researcher in music composition at the University of Birmingham, and also studied at the Eastman School of Music, where she graduated with highest distinction as a double major in composition and music theory, and also a recipient of numerous scholarships, including the prestigious Presser Scholar Award and the National Arts Council of Singapore Arts Scholarship. She also received composition awards such as the Wayne Brewster Barlow Award, Louis Lane Award, and the Bernard Rogers Memorial Prize. Jon Lin is a member of the national honor music society Pi Kappa Lambda in the United States, the current Vice President of the Composers Society of Singapore (CSS), and has served as committee member of the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS) Writer Members Consultative Committee.
Her teachers in composition include composers Oliver Schneller, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Robert Morris, Michael Zev Gordon, David Liptak, and Robert Casteels, and she has participated in composition masterclasses with Moritz Eggert and Louis Karchin. In Eastman, she also studied piano performance under the tutelage of classical/jazz pianist and pedagogue Tony Caramia, and has also received instruction from Vincent Lenti, piano professor at the Eastman School of Music. Apart from being a pianist, she is also an erhu player, and has obtained a performance diploma from the Central Conservatory of Music of China. In addition, Jon Lin has also taken the effort to venture into alternative styles of music, including traditional Nanyin music, various subgenres of traditional Chinese opera, and has collaborated with Flame of the Forest, a contemporary Northern Indian music trio.
Jon Lin was also invited to present her paper A Collapse of Musical Categories? : A Closer Look at Ethnic Chinese Music within the Chinese Conservatory Tradition Today at the Composition in Asia International Symposium and Festival held in the University of Florida (2015). Her recent research interests include analytical approaches to timbre-based works, as well as the music of Helmut Lachenmann. Apart from her accomplishments in music, Jon Lin also has a B.A. (Hons) in philosophy from the National University of Singapore.
Board of Advisors
Composers Society of Singapore
新加坡作曲社
Persatuan Komposer Singapura
சிங்கப்பூர் இசையமைப்பாளர்கள் சங்கம்
Mission & Vision
Uphold Singapore composers interests

Founded to uphold the interests of Singapore’s young and professional new music composers
Foster creation &
promotion

We aim to cultivate the local scene through the promotion and creation of new music locally and globally
Represent Singapore
internationally

National representative for Singapore to the Asian Composers League (ACL) and beyond
Milestones

2013
Hosted 31st Asian Composers League Festival (ACL) and Conference at Yong Siew Toh conservatory
2016
First edition of Young Composers Forum, a 6 month mentorship program, is launched with 14 selected participants


2017
Collaborated with Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) and Composers Association of New Zealand (CANZ) on 36th CANZ Composers Workshop hosted in Nelson, New Zealand
2017
CSS 10th Anniversary Concert commemorates 10 years since the society’s founding


2019
Jointly premiered 7 works in Korea and Singapore as part of a CSS x ACL-Korea collaboration concert, Dialogues and Reflections, under support of the National Arts Council’s Marketing and Audience Development (MAD) Grant
2019
Say Say Borak musical discussion-seminars are launched as platform for artistic exchange of ideas, and engagement of wider public


2019
Website was selected by The United States Library of Congress for inclusion in the historic collection of Internet materials related to the Professional Organizations for Performing Arts Web Archive. This collection preserves important cultural artifacts deemed to be of historical importance.
2020
Website was selected for preservation and archival in the National Library’s Web Archive Singapore collection, a collection of valuable websites reflecting various aspects of Singapore life and the building blocks of our community.


2020
Composer of the Month is launched in Musings Section, featuring monthly interviews with local composers on their musical journeys
2020
Collaboration with the National Gallery of Singapore on their Resonates With series, a monthly music showcase at the Padang Atrium


2020
CSS Showcases SG New Music Talents 2020, a digital concert programme showcasing works & ideas for new music by Singaporean composers, is produced under support of the National Arts Council’s Digital Presentation Grant (DPG) and uploaded to our YouTube channel
2021
First edition of Broadcast, an initiative featuring conversations with Singapore’s composers on music and composition, is launched on our Youtube Channel


2021
Score Follower Video Series is launched as a digital initiative on our YouTube channel, updating monthly with scores of a work by CSS members under support of the National Arts Council’s Sustain the Arts (stART) Fund
2021
Collaboration with Asian Civilizations Museum on sound design for Pedra Branca Shipwrecks exhibition


2022
Online lecture-seminar series, Composing Monumentality, is launched, chronicling major achievements of Singapore pioneer composers under support by the National Arts Council’s SEP Grant
2023
CSS Presents, a workshop series by CSS members, is launched with first workshop in July as a platform for CSS members to share their expertise with members of the public


2023
Second edition of Young Composers Forum is launched with 9 selected participants under support of the National Arts Council’s Presentation & Participation (P&P) Grant
2024
CSS organizes the first Singapore Composers Festival, a one-day festival featuring compositional workshops, and two concerts premiering 9 works by Young Composers Forum participants, and 6 works in collaboration with the Malaysian Composers Collective (MCC), under support of the National Arts Council’s Sustain the Arts (stART) Fund
