BIOGRAPHIES



The Philharmonic Orchestra (Singapore)

Lim Yau | Music Director and Conductor

Lim Yau's status as Singapore’s preeminent conductor is underpinned by a distinguished and enduring career.  In addition to a long association with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra since its founding, Lim Yau's work in choral music, opera, ballet, and contemporary music remains unparalleled. He is a Cultural Medallion recipient and in 2011 was conferred the COMPASS Lifetime Achievement Award. As opera and ballet conductor, Lim Yau remains Singapore's most prolific conductor of the genre, having conducted more than 20 opera and ballet productions with the Singapore Lyric Opera, Singapore Dance Theatre, among others.



Currently Head of Music at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Lim Yau is devoted to the nurturing and development of young musicians. Simultaneously he continues his association with the Singapore Symphony Chorus as its Choral Director.

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​The Philharmonic Orchestra (Singapore)

The Philharmonic Orchestra (Singapore), formerly the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra is a project initiated by Maestro Lim Yau in 1998. The orchestra comprises young adults who are committed to training and developing as ensemble musicians, through the study and performance of seminal orchestral literature.



With a questing spirit, the orchestra has placed unique and innovative combinations at the forefront of its programming. Since its inaugural concert in 2002, the orchestra has undertaken the challenging and exciting task of staging several symphony cycles. These include the cycles of Beethoven based on Jonathan Del Mar’s edition (2003), Schumann (2004), Schubert (2005) and Singapore's first Sibelius cycle (2007/8). Joined by NAC Young Artist Lim Yan, TPO most recently presented Beethoven's Piano Concerto cycle (2012)-- the first in Singapore to feature a Singaporean pianist.



An avid advocator of outreach, TPO's recent seasons include its Papa Haydn and You series, narrated performances of Stravinsky's 100 Years Later series (Firebird in 2010 and Petrushka in 2011), as well as a full scale production of Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale. Through its collaborations with actors and presenters, such explorations of orchestral repertoire through theatrical elements have created an accessible concert format for TPO's audiences.



Born of its early activities as a pit orchestra, TPO has also received good reviews for its work in productions by the Singapore Dance Theatre and Singapore Lyric Opera in over 15 productions between 1999 and 2008. On the invitation of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, TPO has also accompanied Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light (music set to the 1928 silent film, Joan of Arc), and other artistes such as K.D. Lang, Omara Portuondo, Aska and David Foster. More recently, the orchestra has also accompanied world-renowned tenor, Andrea Bocelli at YTL's Concert of Celebration 2010.



Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, TPO aims to continue to flourish as both a performing entity and a meeting point for dedicated musicians and to serve Singapore's orchestra scene for many years to come.

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The ARTS FISSION Company

Angela Liong | Choreographer & Stage Director

A Cultural Medallion winner in 2009, Angela is an active contemporary dance advocate and artist. She was invited to set up and head Singapore’s first professional full‐time dance diploma programme at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1989. She was the Dean of the School of Performing Arts at LASALLE‐SIA College of the Arts in 1998 and implemented Singapore’s first dance degree programme in affiliation with Queensland University of Technology (QUT).



The pioneering spirit of Angela remains strong as she now sets new goals in sustaining professional dance practice in Singapore by maintaining ARTS FISSION as one of a few local fulltime operating dance companies. At the same time, she sets new benchmarks by raising the quality of creative expression that attracts international attention.



Angela has been continuously providing her expertise to the National Arts Council and other arts education and cultural organisations in Singapore since 1984 and was appointed a member of the Singapore sub‐committee on culture and information for UNESCO.



The ARTS FISSION Company

The ARTS FISSION COMPANY is a Singapore-based dance laboratory with the vision to rekindle the human spirit with a new genre of dance theatre informed by Asian traditions, cultures, and aesthetics.  Poised in Southeast Asia, ARTS FISSION creates its dance works in sync with the pulses of new Asia. 



Many of ARTS FISSION’s original creations are acute responses to the emerging contemporary Asian identity amidst the rapid developing urban environment.  These works aim to experiment and reinvent vernacular gesture and movement into a new dance vocabulary that cross-references between urban Asia and old Asia. The 18-year old company has presented over 65 full-length productions locally and internationally to date.

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Guided by the vision of artistic director Angela Liong, the company is also engaged in a wide range of diverse community outreach projects that connects everyday life to the arts.  In 2009, a series of specially designed movement for elderly was initiated with the support of the Community Participatory Grant from National Arts Council (NAC).  The programme, now third year in its running, focuses on rekindling the individual spirits of the elderly through creative dance movement.  Through these sessions, the elderly have the opportunity to perform familiar daily actions/gestures in the dance context that would require them to move with intent and acute kinetic awareness.