Founded in 1997, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) is Singapore’s only full-time professional Chinese orchestra. With more than 1.5 million music lovers every year who attend its concerts or tune in to its digital streams, it is renowned for its excellence in traditional Chinese music as well as its unique Singapore flavour.

More than 80 musicians comprise the SCO, which is located at the Singapore Conference Hall in downtown Singapore. It is helmed by Principal Conductor Quek Ling Kiong, who took over the baton in 2023 from Music Director Tsung Yeh (2002-2023; named Conductor Emeritus in 2023).

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SCO has impressed a broadening audience with its blockbuster presentations and is fast establishing itself around the world.

In 2009, SCO made history by becoming the first Chinese orchestra to perform in the opening week of In 2009, SCO made history by becoming the first Chinese orchestra to perform in the opening week of the Edinburgh Festival, and in 2010, performed in Paris as part of the Singapour Festivarts.


Well-known for its high performance standards and versatility, SCO has toured various countries and cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Nanjing, Suzhou, Macau, Hungary and England. The year 2019 also saw SCO performing in Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea and completing the Europe Concert Tour in Berlin (Germany), Prague (Czech Republic), Forli (Italy) and Ioannina (Greece). In August 2022, an ensemble of 5 SCO musicians was invited to Nuremberg (Germany) by the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra to perform at the Klassik Open Air, an annual large-scale outdoor concert that was attended by over 75,000 audience. These international platforms provided SCO with the opportunities to showcase its talents and music, propelling it to the forefront of the international music arena.


With its vision to be a world-renowned people’s orchestra, SCO widens its outreach by performing regularly at various national parks, communities and schools. SCO also commissions its own compositions. It is with this vision that SCO continues to inspire, influence, educate and communicate throughits music.

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