Singapore Symphony Orchestra Celebrates Its Successful Australia Debut Tour
Sydney Concert February 2025
The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) made history with its three-city debut tour in Australia. Across three sold-out concerts, the orchestra performed to over 6,000 concertgoers at the Sydney Opera House, Hamer Hall at Arts Centre Melbourne, and Brisbane’s Queensland Performing Arts Centre on 12, 14, and 16 Feb respectively.
Marking its first multi-city tour after the pandemic, the overseas engagement had been in the making since 2022, and built upon the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the National Arts Council Singapore and Creative Australia in 2024. The tour was also a follow-up to the SSO’s side-by-side performance with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for choral-orchestral spectacular Carmina Burana at Singapore’s Esplanade Concert Hall in August 2024.
Violinist Chloe Chua and SSO Principal Cellist Ng Pei-Sian serenading the audience at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane. (Photo Credit: Peter Wallis)
Opening the first evening of the tour was Luciola singapura, an original composition by homegrown composer Koh Cheng Jin, commissioned by the SSO in 2022. Inspired by the discovery of the Singapore firefly, the piece featured the vibrant addition of the Yang Qin (Chinese dulcimer).
Following this, Singaporean violin sensation Chloe Chua, performing in Australia for the first time, and Sydney-born SSO Principal Cellist Ng Pei-Sian took centrestage in Brahms’ Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, which received rapturous applause across all three cities. As a special treat, the duo charmed Australian audience members with an unaccompanied duet of variations on Waltzing Matilda, a beloved piece often considered Australia’s unofficial national anthem. In Limelight’s 4.5/5-starred review, the outlet observed: “Their chemistry was immediately apparent, as was the high quality of Graf and his musicians who shone in the broad Romantic sweep of Brahms’ memorable melodies.”
Quantedge Music Director Hans Graf leading the orchestra at Hamer Hall, Melbourne. (Photo: Laura Manariti)
With Quantedge Music Director Hans Graf at the helm from the first to the last note, the orchestra brought each concert to a triumphant close with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. The concertgoers’ enthusiasm was later rewarded with two encores — Scriabin’s Rêverie, Op. 24 and Tchaikovsky’s Écossaise. “SSO certainly presented their nation to the highest standards,” Stage Whispers shared in its glowing review, “demonstrating why critics continue to acclaim them for their virtuosity.”
Beyond the concert halls, the tour also fostered meaningful musical exchanges. During the Sydney leg, SSO’s brass musicians led a masterclass for members of the Sydney Youth Orchestra, sharing their expertise to inspire and nurture the next generation of musicians.
(L-R): Mr Richard Wigley, CEO, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Mr Kenneth Kwok, CEO, Singapore Symphony Group, Mr Goh Yew Lin, Chair, Singapore Symphony Group, MSO Chairman Emeritus Dr David Li, Ms Angela Li, Australian High Commissioner to Singapore Mr Allaster Cox, Ms Susila Selvarajah, Mrs Sasha Nayar, High Commissioner of Singapore to Australia Mr Anil Kumar Nayar
The tour’s success is attributed to the strong support of our presenting partners – the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Performing Arts Centre – and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, the National Arts Council (Singapore), and the Singapore and Australia High Commissions. The tour represented both a milestone in the SSO’s expanding international presence, and a tribute to 60 years of Singapore-Australia bilateral ties. Post-concert, four SSO recordings entered the Australian Classical Music Top 20 Chart.