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Singaporean composer Wang Chenwei on the musical dreams of his past, present, future, and showcasing his works with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra

Singaporean composer Wang Chenwei on the musical dreams of his past, present, future, and showcasing his works with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra

Estimated: 5 mins  reading

What do you want to be when you grow up?

It’s a question we’ve all heard and been asked before, one that opened up a whole world of possibilities and that prompted answers like “a doctor”, “president”, or “an astronaut” from the hearts of excited little kids. For a curious mind like Wang Chenwei, he wanted to be an inventor.

Building his own wicked gizmos and contraptions using LEGOs, Chenwei started tinkering his own little creations at a young age. As the years went by, his innate curiosity for inventing still lives on—now, just in the form of notes and melodies. 

“When I was a kid, I liked to play with LEGO bricks. I built various LEGO contraptions, including a vending machine which pushes out a drink can when you insert a coin. I'm not inventing in that manner now, but through music instead,” Chenwei tells Bandwagon

The Singaporean musician and composer has always been “inventing” his own melodies, dating back to when he was messing around with a toy keyboard he got for his 6th birthday. With training and upgraded keyboards, Chenwei started piecing together more grand and refined compositions all throughout his teenage years. 

While music has always seemed like a hobby to him, everything changed when he composed ‘The Sisters' Islands’ at 17 years old. The symphonic piece won the Singapore Composer Award at the 2006 Singapore International Competition for Chinese Orchestral Composition and inspired Chenwei to fully pursue music. 

Taking inspiration from many musical greats like Bach, Chenwei’s compositions bring together so many styles and influences that not only are a delight to listen to but are also an intellectual wonder.

“What I listen to generally depends on what am I researching at the moment. Most of my compositions are research-based,” he explains. “I would set myself a research topic—for example, one piece might be based on Arab music, and another might be based on Carnatic music. In the months leading up to the composition, I would listen to a lot of Arab or Carnatic music as the case might be. My listening is very seasonal and dependent on the work I'm doing.”

In his career spanning almost two decades since he was a teenager, Chenwei has achieved amazing feats, composing globally-renowned Chinese orchestra pieces that were performed all over the world. And to think, this is not what the multi-instrumentalist trained for in university. 

Chenwei studied music composition for film and media, but life had different plans for him. “I would say that some things are not how you planned it to be,” he shares. 

“When I was in university, my major was composition for media, meaning film, theatre, or dance. After I graduated, I never landed a job in those areas because I'm not in those communities. Instead, I kept on getting commissions for concert music. 

“Eventually, I did get commissions for theatre and dance, but by the time—that was several years later, I preferred to focus on a narrow range of things and do them really well. Life does not always turn out the way you planned, but I think it's okay and you just have to go with the flow. I have no regrets now about not composing according to my university specialisation.”

Having happily found his place in the world of concert music, Chenwei has composed renowned pieces like ‘Postcards From Macao’, ‘Bronze Age Of Shang’, ‘Confluence’, and ‘Dauntless’, the secondary school Chinese orchestra set piece for this year’s Singapore Youth Festival.

While his list of achievements already run so long, Chenwei still hopes his musical endeavours continue on, wanting to create pieces that live beyond him. Centred around artistry, relevance, individuality, and accessibility—or as he so concisely refers to as ‘ARIA’, the multi-instrumentalist and composer’s dream composition is one that shows artistic depth and that resonates with an audience on a holistic level. 

“I think that only the top 1% of all the pieces composed have a chance of going down in history [...] We have so many excellent compositions, past and present—why should people listen to mine? Therefore, I must offer something unique that doesn’t sound very similar to all the others in existence,” he ponders. 

As an ode to a musical journey well lived, a life-long dream actualised, and future endeavours worth looking forward to, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) is presenting For Our Dreams: Wang Chenwei’s Composition Showcase, a concert that features four Singapore premieres of Chenwei’s compositions. 

“This is a dream concert for me, to have the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, one of the finest Chinese orchestras in the world, to hold a composition showcase and dedicate the entire concert to my compositions,” says Chenwei. 

In what is a full-circle moment for the composer, For Our Dreams takes us back to the beginning of Chenwei’s journey in more ways than one. The concert involves some important figures whom he had known since the start of his career, including Maestro Tsung Yeh, Diyin Sheng soloist Lim Kiong Pin, and Percussion soloist Benjamin Boo

The concert will take audiences on a ride through the vivid and sonically dynamic genre of Chinese orchestra, as Chenwei weaves together a wide range of influences and styles. “The whole Chinese orchestra as a performance genre represents a dream of Chinese people worldwide to have music that is rooted in tradition and yet enriched by globalisation,” he shares. 

“At this concert, audiences will hear a contemporary and urban blend of East and West. I fused a wide variety of inspirations, ranging from Renaissance organ music to modern pop. The Chinese orchestra incorporates diverse and unexpected cultural influences, and so, everyone can look forward to a very interesting and colourful concert.”

For Our Dreams: Wang Chenwei’s Composition Showcase is happening on 10 June 2023 at the SCO Concert Hall. Tickets, which range from SGD 20 to SGD 70, are available for purchase via the Singapore Chinese Orchestra. You can use code: <BAND10> to enjoy 10% off on Cat 1 & Cat 2 tickets!