THE ORCHESTRA
SINGAPORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Since its founding in 1979, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has been Singapore’s flagship orchestra, touching lives through classical music and providing the heartbeat of the cultural scene with its 44-week calendar of events. The SSO is led by Quantedge Music Director Hans Graf (2022-2026) after Lan Shui (1997-2019) and Choo Hoey (1979-1996). Hans Graf will be succeeded by Hannu Lintu who begins his tenure from the 2026/27 season.
In addition to its subscription series concerts, the orchestra is well-loved for its outdoor and community appearances, and its significant role educating the young people of Singapore. The SSO has also earned an international reputation for its orchestral virtuosity, having garnered sterling reviews for its overseas tours and over 50 recordings, culminating in its 3rd place win in the prestigious Gramophone Orchestra of the Year Award 2021. In 2022, BBC Music Magazine named the SSO as one of the 23 best orchestras in the world.
The SSO performs over 60 concerts a year at such venues as the Esplanade Concert Hall and Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore. Bridging the musical traditions of East and West, Singaporean and Asian musicians and composers are regularly showcased in its concert seasons. Its versatile repertoire spans all-time favourites and orchestral masterpieces to exciting cutting-edge premieres.
The SSO is part of the Singapore Symphony Group, which also manages the Singapore Symphony Choruses, the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, the Singapore International Piano Festival, as well as the SSO Organ and Chamber Series and the biennial National Piano & Violin Competition.
JOSHUA TAN, CONDUCTOR
2nd Prize winner of the 2008 Dimitri Mitropoulos International Competition, Singaporean conductor Joshua Tan’s rise to prominence on the international scene has been marked by successful debuts in Carnegie Hall, Philharmonie Berlin, Mariinsky Hall and Bunkamura.
A graduate of The Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music (High Distinction), he is an awardee of numerous scholarships and awards, such as the Young Artist Award, Singapore, Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation Award, NAC-Shell Scholarship, and the SSO/MOE Scholarship.
Joshua has conducted orchestras all around the world. These orchestras include the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, Beethoven Bonn Orchestra, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Urals Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, Okayama Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Julliard Orchestra, Toho Orchestra Academy amongst others. He has studied with various eminent conductors—James DePreist, Charles Dutoit, David Zinman and Kurt Masur—and worked with many others, such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Ingo Metzmacher and George Manahan.
Known as a versatile conductor, Joshua is at home with symphonic, operatic and ballet works. His substantial repertoire for opera includes La Traviata, Rigoletto, Das Rheingold, Der Fliegende Holländer, Lohengrin, Carmen, Don Giovanni, Madama Butterfly, Così fan tutte, Turandot, among others. He has also served as cover conductor for Christoph Eschenbach and Lorin Maazel. He is also equally adept with music for ballet, film and multimedia. For the latter, his extensive work includes Disney’s Fantasia and Pixar, all of BBC’s Blue Planet Series, West Side Story, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, James Bond, the world premiere of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and more. The Singapore premiere of Bernstein’s Mass, conducted by Joshua, was voted the best classical concert of the year 2018 by the Straits Times. For an unprecedented second year, his performance of the opera Don Pasquale was also voted the best classical concert of the year 2019 by the Straits Times.
Joshua is presently Music Director of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra and the Asia Virtuosi. He has served successful stints as Associate Conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Resident Conductor of the National Center for the Performing Arts (China) Orchestra and as Principal Conductor of the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of this season include debuts with Orchestre National de Bretagne, Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra, Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra as well as return engagements to Hong Kong Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra and with the Singapore Ballet for Romeo & Juliet, Cinderella, Coppelia and Nutcracker, as well as the operas Carmen and The Magic Flute.