ABOUT US
The Vocal Associates Festival Choruses were formed in early 2014 as part of Vocal Associates Ltd, a Singapore-based non-profit organization. This was the result of the vision, passion and commitment of Artistic Director Khor Ai Ming to bring a new level of vocal artistry to the Singapore musical scene. The choristers represent multiple nations and cultures, and range in age from 7 to 75. The Vocal Associates Festival Chorus, Children’s Choir and Youth Choir were formed in March 2014, followed by the Vocal Associates Senior Choir in June 2017. In April 2019, the Vocal Associates Chamber Choir joined the family. At some concerts, visually- impaired students sing alongside choristers. The choruses come together with a passion for creating beautiful music across a wide range of genres, including Classical, Choral, Opera, Art Song, Musical Theatre, Pop and Jazz.
From 2014, the choruses performed with various orchestras in Singapore to present The Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. They also performed in OMM Goes To The Movies 2, and Let’s Keep Christmas In Our Hearts with Singapore’s celebrated jazz musician Jeremy Monteiro, In 2015, the choruses performed in the world premiere of Luis Serrano Alarcon’s Marco Polo the Trilogy, and presented the incomparable Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 where they were joined by three choirs from Australia.
In 2016, the Vocal Associates Festival Choruses presented their inaugural choral concert, which was hailed by Singapore’s major newspaper The Straits Times as a “colourful and impressive debut”. Subsequent annual choral concerts included works such as Mass Of The Children, Faure’s Requiem, A Mass for Peace, classical songs, and Asian songs in local languages.
Another milestone was the choruses’ first overseas performance at the New York Sounds of Summer International Music Festival 2016. There, they gave a very well-received performance at the prestigious Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage of Carnegie Hall. A second overseas trip took the chorus to the Los Angeles International Music Festival in 2018, where they performed at Disneyland Anaheim and the Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles.
The choruses have received recognition for their impressive progress in their journey of musical excellence through opportunities to perform at significant concerts, and with acclaimed musicians and orchestras. The choruses have worked with distinguished conductors such as Justin Freer, Timothy Reynish, Tsung Yeh, Joshua Tan and Qu Chun Quan, and with acclaimed orchestral musicians from Asia as well as Singapore. Also, in the Voices of Harmony fundraising concert for the Buddhist Free Clinic in 2017, choristers had the opportunity to sing with the renowned singer and nun Ani Choying Drolma.
In addition, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Singapore’s premier chinese orchestra, invited the Vocal Associates Festival Choruses to present The Celestial Web with them in November 2016. This concert was also the world’s first Chinese orchestra concert to be accessible live online. The Singapore Chinese Orchestra again invited the choruses in March 2017 to sing renowned Chinese composer Liu Xi Jin’s works under the baton of Hong Xia, one of China’s Top Ten Ethnic Orchestral Music Conductors. The collaboration with the Orchestra continued in March 2018 with the Songs of Liu Sanjie, a musical film in concert which featured a renowned Chinese soprano Wang Qing Shuang and music adaptation by Singapore Cultural Medallion recipient Law Wai Lun. Also in 2018, the choruses performed with the Orchestra in Dream of the Red Chamber and Red Cliff, as well as An Evening of Xinyao II.