Ding Yi Music Company

Ding Yi Music Company
Chamber music ensemble
Short name	DYMC
Former name	Arts Sphere Chamber Ensemble
Founded	2011 (2011)
Location	Singapore
Principal conductor	Tay Teow Kiat
Website	www.dingyimusic.com

Ding Yi Music Company (previously known as Arts Sphere Chamber Ensemble), established in 2007, is a Chinese chamber music ensemble based in Singapore. The ensemble consists of 20 musicians currently, most having attended professional training at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Their repertoire range from traditional Chinese music to contemporary avant-garde interpretations and cross-genre works, also premiering many compositions by award-winning composers like Eric James Watson and Cao Wen Gong. They have also collaborated with prominent musicians such as Min Huifen and Lu Chun Ling in various concerts. Ding Yi Music Company is under the direction of the Music Director Dr Tay Teow Kiat, and the Conductor Mr Quek Ling Kiong.

Accolades

The ensemble won First Prize in the Singapore National Arts Council Chinese Music Competition in 2008. In 2009, they came first in the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod held in Wales, United Kingdom; and in 2012, they won the Silver Award in the 28th Shanghai Spring International Music Festival.

Ding Yi Music Company is a recipient of the National Arts Council Major Grant for year 2013 to 2016.

Musicians

Music Director

Dr. Tay Teow Kiat is the Music Director of Ding Yi Music Company, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts City Chinese Orchestra, the Dunman High School Performing Arts Centre, as well as the President of the Singapore Chinese Music Federation. He has received numerous awards, including the Cultural Medallion in 1993 and the Long Service Medal (Education Service) in 1997.

Dr. Tay has presented concerts that delight local audiences and enhanced the ties between Singapore and China through music. He has been invited to conduct professional Chinese orchestras in Shanghai, Tianjin, Shanxi and Shandong. Dr. Tay was also invited to grace many international Chinese music conferences and competitions, where he was a judge for some competitions.

With 40 years of experience in presenting concerts, Dr. Tay has brought many wonderful music experiences to audiences. His passion and interest in grooming young talents has motivated him to nurture many Chinese instrumentalists, contributing to the development of Chinese music in Singapore.

Conductor

Quek Ling Kiong was recipient of the National Arts Council’s (NAC) Singapore Young Artist Award (2002) and the NAC Cultural Fellowship (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 learned Chinese percussion from renowned master Li Min Xiong and Western classical percussion from Xue Bao Lun. He also explored various Chinese percussion arts with masters such as Li Zhen Gui, An Zhi Shun and Zhu Xiao Lin. After graduating from the Conservatory in 1997, he joined the Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) and became its Percussion Principal.

Quek Ling Kiong learned conducting from Cultural Medallion recipient Tay Teow Kiat and famed Chinese conductor Xia Fei Yun. He attended the workshops and masterclasses of such luminaries as Tsung Yeh, Kirk Trevor, Colin Metters and Harold Farberman as well as Johannes Schlaefli, Marc Kissoczy, Oleg Proskumya and Leonid Korchmar.

Quek Ling Kiong’s career in professional conducting took off when he became SCO’s first Conducting Assistant in 2003. In 2004, he became SCO’s Assistant Conductor as well as the Conductor for the Singapore Youth Chinese Orchestra (SYCO). In 2005, he debuted with SCO at the opening concert of the 12th International Conference of WASBE (World Association for Symphonic Band and Ensembles). In 2006 and 2013, he led SYCO to perform at the Tainan International Arts Festival and Hsinchu Chinese Music Festival in Taiwan respectively.

Besides conducting orchestras in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, he has conducted symphony orchestras in the Europe including Westbohmisches Symphonieorchester in Marienbad, Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra and Berg Komorni Orchestra of Prague. In September 2006, he was again awarded the NAC overseas bursary and scholarship from the Hokkien Huay Kwan to pursue Conducting Studies in Zurich, Switzerland. He obtained his Diploma in Advanced Studies from Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in 2007. Upon his return to SCO in 2008, he was promoted to Associate Conductor. During his appointment as an Associate Conductor, he introduced and choreographed many well-received SCO concerts – SCO’s Mother’s Day Concert, Concerts for Children, Community Series concerts, Outdoor Rhapsody, Caring Series concerts, Lunchtime Concerts and SYCO Concerts. Quek Ling Kiong is currently an adjunct teacher at the Singapore School Of The Arts and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

Quek Ling Kiong was promoted to SCO’s Resident Conductor from 1 January 2013.

Full-Time Musicians

Instrument	Name	Position
Erhu	Chin Yen Choong	Concertmaster
Dizi	Tan Qing Lun
Pipa	Chua Yew Kok
Zhongruan	Kenny Chan
Percussion	Eugene Toh

Instrumental Musicians

Instrument	Name	Position
Erhu	Lim Kwuan Boon	Associate Strings Principal
	Heng Lena	–
	Fred Chan*	-
Zhonghu	Phang Kok Jun	–
Double Bass	Li Yongrui	–
Yangqin	Yick Jueru	–
Guzheng	Tay Yvonne	–
Zhongruan/Liuqin	Jonathan Ngeow	–
	Loi Ee Vian*	–
Dizi	Heng Xiangle
	Ng Hsien Han*
Soprano Sheng	Soh Swee Kiat*	–
Soprano/Alto Sheng	Teo Kah Chin	–
Alto Sheng/Suona	Wong De Li	–
Percussion	Derek Koh	Associate Percussion Principal
	Goh Ek Jun	–
	Low Yik Hang	–

• Contract Musician

Composer-in-Residence

Name	School Attended
Phang Kok Jun	Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music
Chow Jun Yi	Jacobs School of Music
Liu Chang	Central Conservatory of Music

DYMC Composium

To promote new music compositions for Chinese chamber ensembles, Ding Yi Music Company has established the Composium, a triennial composition festival which includes composition competitions, symposiums and performances that encourages new compositions from local and international composers.

Education and Outreach Programmes

The ensemble has initiated several engagements to educate and reach out to the public about their music and the genre of Chinese chamber music. Their projects include:

Title	Summary
Feed Your Imagination (F.Y.I.)	Collaboration with Esplanade that allows students to have a musical experience, featuring narration, visual animation and music of traditional Chinese instruments.
Modular Co-Curricular Activities	Ding Yi Music Company musicians will provide music programmes for primary to secondary schools, introducing students to Chinese musical instruments and Chinese music.
Joy Project	Campaign and free performances targeted towards the elderly in Singapore.
Outdoor Fantasia	Outdoor concerts to bring Chinese chamber music to the masses.
Arts Education Programmes	Programmes to cater to student needs through the National Arts Council, showcasing the versatility of Chinese chamber music to students.
Masterclasses	Sessions hosted by invited maestros to allow audiences to gain in-depth knowledge of Chinese musical instruments and music.