Ensemble in Residence

Since its founding in 1964, the SYC Ensemble Singers has built an international reputation as a ‘composer’s choir’, commissioning and performing the work of living composers and serving as a lab choir for new music and compositions in progress. To date, the group has commissioned over 60 works, most recently from Americ Goh (Singapore), Jacob Mühlrad (Sweden) and Saunder Choi (Philippines). Today, the SYC Ensemble Singers remains a trailblazer with its multi-modal practice combining voice, sound, theatre and movement. It regularly collaborates with artists from different disciplines to produce and stage works that transcend geography and genre.

The choir also brings choral communities together, most notably with its SYC & Friends performances as well as the THREE Choral Festival held biennially from 2006 to 2017 with the Gaia Philharmonic Choir (Japan) and the Ateneo Chamber Singers (Philippines).

Under the baton of Cultural Medallion recipient Jennifer Tham, the SYC Ensemble Singers continues to push the boundaries of choir and bring new music to audiences in Singapore and around the world.

To Apply

Please submit the following to cssycf@cssingapore.org by 27 August 2025:

• • Artistic Statement of Intent explaining candidate’s motivation for participation.
  • Up to 3 score samples in your portfolio (recordings, if available, are welcomed)
  • CV / Biodata / Composer Bio

There are no restrictions on music styles and instrumentation on scores submitted for application.

— APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED —

About the Artistic Director

Jennifer THAM has led the SYC Ensemble Singers since 1986, exploring the countless ways in which a theatre of voices may offer a word, an image, a song. Together they have built a library of choir music for our place and time, housing over 60 bespoke scores and theatre pieces. For her role in shaping Singapore’s cultural landscape, she was awarded the Cultural Medallion, the nation’s highest arts accolade, by the President, Republic of Singapore.

The music of SYC and Singapore follows Jennifer on her stints as guest conductor to choirs in Australia, Canada, France, Hungary, Japan, Philippines, South Africa, and Taiwan; and in her work as clinician at repertoire workshops, and as course tutor at the 43rd Sing Ireland International Choral Conducting Summer School, Limerick, in August this year. Malleable to the demands of new music, she conducted the premiere of Rita Ueda’s chamber opera I Have My Mother’s Eyes at the Chutzpah Festival in Vancouver in November 2023.

Under the auspices of the Young Musicians’ Society, Jennifer was Artistic Director of the Asia South Pacific Symposium on Choral Music (2001) and its offshoots, the First Aid for Choirs clinics (2002-2017) and Kodály Seminar Asia series (2009-2016), the latter in partnership with the Kodály Institute of the Liszt Academy of Music (Budapest, Hungary). She taught choral conducting and pedagogy at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, and gives short courses, masterclasses and workshops on repertoire, conducting, and rehearsal technique, equipping conductors around the world with tools for growing a choir. She most recently presented interactive sessions on Games Choirs Play at the 2023 World Symposium on Choral Music, Istanbul, Türkiye. In 2021, Jennifer graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts from the School for Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University (Vancouver), augmenting her curious multi-modal practice as conductor and composer.

(Image credit: Hannah Campbell)

About the Mentors

The sounds and practice of other cultures, especially those of Southeast Asia have long intrigued Alicia DE SILVA, and it is a large part of her compositional language. This has led to commissions that usually calls for cross-cultural elements, and/or ethnic instruments. Alicia is also an advocate of multi/ interdisciplinary collaborations, exploring the notion of multi-sensory performances that create new experiences and perspectives towards the arts.

As a composer-educator, she has also written extensively for student ensembles. These works often bear a pedagogical slant, encouraging students to develop and learn by exploring different sonorities and music making experiences. This is especially so for the angklung kulintang ensemble, an instrumental combination that generally has a scarcity of repertoire. With her unique portfolio in both the artistic and educational sectors, Alicia looks forward to collaborative multi/interdisciplinary works that also explores technology as another medium and/or platform that could also enhance creativity and education.

Alicia is currently the programme leader in the Office of Academic Affairs at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

Bertram WEE is a Singaporean composer-pianist who is active in the field of contemporary concert music both as performer and writer-of-notes. His recent music deals with violence, sonic palpability, and the notion of externalizing corporeality through the medium of sound. As a performer he performs most notably with the award-winning b-l piano duo (Royal Over-Seas League Competition 2017), and more recently with the Singaporean new music collective weird aftertaste with his esteemed colleagues.

Bertram has had his work performed at and/or has performed at events and festivals of international repute, among these the BBC Proms (London), Ultraschall (Berlin), Gaudeamus Muziekweek (Utrecht), Darmstädter Ferienkurse, Musik 21 (Hannover), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Singapore Festival of the Arts. He has won several awards for his concert music and in 2022 was an Artist-in-Residence at the Esplanade (Singapore) as part of its inaugural Contemporary Performing Arts Research Residency. In 2021 he was a recipient of the NAC Arts Scholarship.

Danny IMSON is a Singapore-based Filipino composer who is currently teaching composition and music technology at the School of the Arts Singapore. Danny has presented his works in various music festivals and competitions such as the Impuls Academy in Graz, Austria, Cheltenham Music Festival in UK, Donaueschinger Musiktage in Germany, and the Synthetis International Summer Music Course in Poland. Among the masterclasses he attended include mentorship with Bernhard Lang, Chaya Czernowin, Chen Yi and Beat Furrer. He was awarded the highest prize by the Goethe-Institut at the Young Composers in Southeast Asia Competition and Festival.

Danny earned his honours degree in composition under the studio of Dr. Peter Ivan Edwards at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore, his science degree in commerce major in Management from Saint Louis University and pursued his Master’s in Business Administration at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. He is currently pursuing his MA/PhD research in composition under the guidance of Dr. Scott Wilson at the University of Birmingham. Additionally, Danny is an active member of the Sari-sari Philippine Kulintang ensemble in Singapore and the choral conductor of a Singapore-based Filipino choir, the PsalmiDeo Chorale.

About the Participants

Anvay Mathur (b. 2008) is a Singapore-based composer, pianist, and violinist whose musical journey began at the age of four. A classically trained pianist, Anvay is currently pursuing an Associate of the Royal Schools of Music Diploma in Music Performance and studying composition with Dr. John Sharpley.

His works have been performed internationally, including A Grain of Sand, which premiered at the Juilliard Summer Music Composition Student Recital (2025), Persistence of Being, performed at the Jacobs Composition Academy at Indiana University (2024), and Advaitam for solo alto sax performed at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM).

Anvay’s achievements include selection as one of seven students nationally for the Young Composers’ Academy 2025 at YST Conservatory, participation in the Juilliard School’s Summer Composition Program 2025, and recognition as a National Finalist in The American Prize for Composition (Charles Ives Award). He has also won prizes at the Young Maestro International Competition and the Città di Barletta Young Musician International Competition.

His passion for composition extends to arrangements, with commissions including a full-orchestra arrangement of Silent Night and Still, Still, Still, and an arrangement of Over the Rainbow for chamber orchestra.

Junsoo Bae (b. 2007) is an aspiring Singapore-based Korean composer and a Media, Arts and Design student at Singapore Polytechnic. His musical journey began in childhood, when he first studied piano and later took up the trombone, experiences that sparked his interest in both performance and composition.

Junsoo’s compositional voice is shaped by his desire to move listeners through expressive melodic lines, while also exploring rhythm, texture, and atmosphere. He draws inspiration from both the depth of classical traditions and the innovation of modern music, aiming to balance lyricism with spirit of innovation in his work.

As a developing composer, Junsoo has written across a variety of genres, including solo piano, chamber ensembles, orchestral music, and even lighter styles such as pop and jazz. His curiosity drives him to experiment across sound worlds while maintaining a strong sense of melodic clarity.

Largely self-taught until recently, Junsoo is eager to further his studies in composition and to collaborate with other musicians. He looks forward to developing his craft and gaining new perspectives through his participation in the upcoming Young Composers Forum (YCF).

Estene Cheong (b.2002) is a Singaporean composer and Yangqin musician whose works explore the infinite sonic possibilities of music through intimate listening and cross-cultural sensibilities. Drawing influences from both Eastern and Western music, she creates music that invites audiences on a journey through carefully decorated time.

Her compositions have been played by various artists and ensembles, Martin Jaggi, SPECTRA Ensemble, weird aftertaste, Singapore Philharmonic Winds, SOTA Wind Ensemble, The Straits Ensemble, Pipa Society Singapore and Chao Feng Chinese Orchestra to highlight a few. Her electroacoustic work, Transcending (2023) was featured at MUSLAB’s 10th Anniversary Festival, MUSLAB AFTER 2024. 

Estene graduated from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in 2025 under a full scholarship and was under the tutelage of Professor Peter Ivan Edwards and Professor Chen Zhangyi. 

Thomas Kai-ren Rettig is currently pursuing A-Level Music at Eunoia Junior College, where his studies in opera, jazz, and contemporary performance practices deepen his craft and artistic outlook. Passionate about sharing the joy of music, he has designed and executed two community-based workshops this year, and continues to seek new ways of amplifying his knowledge and love for music.

With a performance background spanning multiple instruments, Thomas holds an ARSM Diploma (Distinction) in piano, an ABRSM Grade Six in recorder, and performs as a percussionist in the EJC Symphonic Band. These experiences have heightened his awareness of the unique challenges and opportunities each instrument presents, sharpening his sensitivity to idiomatic writing and orchestration.

At the heart of Thomas’ musical identity lies composition. Drawing from his German and Chinese heritage, as well as his passion for jazz and all things avant-garde, his voice is distinctively syncretic—balancing familiar traditions with contemporary flair. Highlights include Radiance (2023) for chamber ensemble, premiered at a fundraiser concert; The Circle Line (2025) for string quartet; and One-Hundred and Seven Days (2025) for two pianos.