Singapore, 6 January 2016 (Wednesday) – Quek Ling Kiong has been appointed the new Music Director for Singapore Youth Chinese Orchestra (SYCO) with effect from 1 January 2016. With the new appointment, Tsung Yeh will be SYCO’s advisor while Moses Gay will be the conductor.
SYCO, under the management of Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO), is a group of highly talented musicians between the ages of 11 to 26, under the National Project of Excellence (NPOE) recognised by the Ministry of Education. SYCO aims to nurture aspiring young musicians and groom them to be the future pillars of Singapore’s Chinese music industry.
As the music director of SYCO, Quek Ling Kiong will take on the responsibility to lead and groom young musicians, provide long-term artistic leadership and educational vision for the entire SYCO programme, oversee the training and artistic development of SYCO members for performances and will continue to conduct SYCO at their concerts.
With this new appointment, SCO Executive Director, Terence Ho expressed, “I am heartened to see Ling Kiong progress in his conducting career. He has shown an outstanding performance as SCO’s Resident Conductor and SYCO Conductor. Under his leadership, SYCO has grown to become an outstanding youth orchestra and has been regularly invited to participate in many local and overseas concerts. SYCO also collaborated with Singapore National Youth Orchestra last year for the first time in a joint concert titled “Symphonic Gifts” which received rave reviews. I believe SYCO will achieve greater heights under the leadership of Ling Kiong.”
Quek Ling Kiong was recipient of the National Arts Council’s (NAC) Singapore Young Artist Award in 2002 and the NAC Cultural Fellowship in 2013. He studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music under the NAC Overseas Scholarship, as well as the Lee Foundation and Singapore Hokkien Huay Kwan scholarships. He joined SCO in 1997 and became the percussion principal after his graduation.
His career in professional conducting started when he took on the role as SCO’s first Conducting Assistant in 2003. In 2004, he was appointed SCO’s Assistant Conductor as well as the conductor for SYCO. In 2006 and 2013, he led SYCO to perform at the Tainan International Arts Festival and Hsinchu Chinese Music Festival in Taiwan respectively. Quek Ling Kiong has introduced and choreographed many well-received SCO concerts including SCO’s Mother’s Day Concert, Concerts for Children, Community Series concerts, Music Oasis concerts, Caring Series concerts, Lunchtime Concerts and SYCO Concerts. He was promoted to SCO’s Associate Conductor in 2008 and subsequently as SCO’s Resident Conductor from 1 January 2013.
Conductor: Quek Ling Kiong
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