SCO will celebrate its 30^th year by giving back to the community with a 30% discount on tickets till the end of August. Its concert programmes will look back at its growth over the last three decades. Highlights include a blind-box style opening concert, and a collaboration with The Purple Symphony, Singapore’s largest inclusive orchestra.

SINGAPORE, 16 JUNE 2026 — The Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO), which turns 30 this year, kicks off its SCO30 anniversary celebrations today with the aim of giving back to the audiences, partners, and community who have sustained it over the last three decades.

Anchored by the theme Looking Back, Giving Back 回顾·回馈, SCO30 will embark on a special six-month anniversary season culminating in a year-end gala concert. Seven major ticketed concert productions will take audiences on a journey through SCO’s journey, celebrating the maestros who have shaped SCO and reflecting SCO’s growth over the years. Over these six months, SCO will harness the power of music to transcend barriers and build friendships through special initiatives, including an inclusive concert with The Purple Symphony, a Diplomatic Night showcase, and a series of free community outreach performances across the country.

A Season of Celebration and Reflection

To kickstart its birthday season, SCO is offering 30% off all ticketed SCO30 productions from the first day of public sale through to the end of August 2026 — a nod to both Singapore’s National Day month and the orchestra’s anniversary. Friends of SCO members enjoy early access with priority booking and up to 50% off selected categories from 16 to 30 June 2026

This, said Executive Director Terence Ho, is SCO’s way of saying thank you. “SCO30 is an opportunity for us to acknowledge the people who have lifted us up, and who have kept the music going. Our audience members who have consistently supported our shows, our musicians who have taken us to new heights, and our partners and collaborators who have contributed to our musical journey with their unique perspectives,” he said.

Principal Conductor Quek Ling Kiong added: “We played our inaugural concert at the Victoria Concert Hall on 20 April 1997. That was the same year I joined SCO. Thirty years have passed, and SCO has grown and transformed. We are grateful to all the music directors, conductors, orchestra admin, production team, as well as our supporters, who have contributed to our growth and success.”

The anniversary season opens on 18 July 2026 with the SCO30 Opening Gala concert conducted by Principal Conductor Quek Ling Kiong, featuring works that span the orchestra’s history and the legacies of its artistic leaders. To express its appreciation for the audiences who have filled its concert hall for three decades, SCO will introduce an interactive element inspired by the concept of a blind box. Before the concert, members of the public will be invited to discover their “Chinese orchestra personality” through a series of fun questions exploring their musical preferences and concert-going styles. Their responses will then shape the concert lineup for the opening gala, which will remain a surprise until the event begins.

Looking Back: Honouring the Masters

At the heart of this season is Resonating 30, a tribute series in which five concerts pay homage to each of the conductors who defined the orchestra’s evolving sound across three decades: founding Music Director Hu Bingxu, former Deputy Music Director Qu Chunquan, former Principal Guest Conductor Xia Feiyun, former Music Director and current Conductor Emeritus Tsung Yeh, and Principal Conductor Quek Ling Kiong.

A micro-documentary series featuring these pioneering artistic leaders will be released alongside the tribute series. Snippets of the documentaries will be played at each concert, with the full clips uploaded to SCO’s official YouTube channel.

On 15 August, Tsung Yeh — who led the orchestra as Music Director from 2002 to 2022 and is now its Conductor Emeritus — returns to the podium for Resonating 30 with Tsung Yeh. The programme revisits landmark works from his tenure, including Liu Xijin’s gaohu concerto Legend of the Merlion, featuring soloist Li Baoshun who gave the work its premiere with SCO in 1999, and Law Wai Lun’s choral-orchestral masterpiece The Celestial Web, first presented under Tsung Yeh’s baton at the 2003 Singapore Arts Festival Gala.

On 29 August, former Deputy Music Director Qu Chunquan conducts Resonating 30 with Qu Chunquan, revisiting pieces of deep personal and artistic significance from his years with SCO. The programme features his own composition Reverie at the Statue of Sir Stamford Raffles — a reflective work built around the melody of Singapura — alongside the pipa concerto Hua Mu Lan with soloist Yu Jia, and Liu Wenjin’s The Great Wall Capriccio with soloist  Zhao Jianhua.

On 3 October, renowned conductor Zhang Lie leads Resonating 30 with Hu Bingxu, a tribute to SCO’s founding Music Director. Highlights include the sanxian concerto Heroine Liu Hu Lan performed by soloist Huang Guifang, who gave its 1998 premiere, and a yangqin arrangement of the Chinese classic Yellow River by soloist Qu Jianqing.

On 17 October, maestro Yan Huichang — a former student of Xia Feiyun — conducts Resonating 30 with Xia Feiyun, honouring SCO’s first Principal Guest Conductor. The programme features the suona concerto Warmheartedness with soloist Jin Shiyi, premiered by SCO in 1999, and Liu Wenjin’s Rainbow with soloist Guo Changsuo, who also performed at its 2007 premiere with the orchestra.

The season culminates on 21 November with the SCO30 Closing Gala, conducted by Principal Conductor Quek Ling Kiong. The programme opens with Phoon Yew Tien’s Overture — Step Up and Up, a commissioned work that debuted at SCO’s very first concert 30 years ago. It builds to a powerful conclusion with the world premiere of “Lion City Symphony – An SCO 30^th Anniversary Commission” by Cultural Medallion recipient Law Wai Lun — the first work of its kind written for Chinese orchestra — a five-movement piece that traces the Singapore story from its earliest chapters to the present day.

The concert also goes beyond music to honour the people behind the music, showing that 30 years of music is also 30 years of human stories: among the programme highlights is a tribute to musicians past and present who have contributed to SCO’s growth, including those who have gone before us.

Giving Back: A Mid-Autumn Celebration for All

On 19 September, Principal Conductor Quek Ling Kiong reprises his much-loved alter ego Ah De — a character inspired by his own Chinese name — in A Voyage of Voices: Moonbound. This immersive, family-friendly concert will be presented in Mandarin with English surtitles, in collaboration with the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. The programme celebrates Mid-Autumn traditions through music that reflects Singapore’s multicultural identity, from bossa nova-inflected folk melodies to interactive musical riddles. Tickets are priced at $30 as a special SCO30 gesture. 

Giving Back: Bringing Communities Together

Come 31 October, SCO will share the stage with The Purple Symphony, Singapore’s largest inclusive orchestra, comprising musicians with and without disabilities. Titled SCO30: Giving Back in Harmony, the concert marks SCO’s largest collaboration with The Purple Symphony to date.  

“This event is a display of the power of music to bring communities together, forge friendships, and promote mutual understanding,” said Executive Director Terence Ho. “To all our supporters and donors, let’s give back in harmony by turning up this October.”

Conducted by Principal Conductor Quek Ling Kiong and The Purple Symphony’s Composer-in-Residence and Assistant Conductor Liong Kit Yeng, the programme features Liong’s Overture: Symphony in Purple and Wang Chenwei’s Confluence, alongside a diverse range of pieces from Malay and Indian songs to popular film music. Some tickets will be made available to the public, with details to be announced at a later stage.

From August to December, SCO will also present 12 free outreach and community concerts across parks, hospital atriums, community clubs, and outdoor amphitheatres, under its Caring Series, Community Series, Music Oasis, and Lunchtime Concert programmes. This commitment to accessibility — bringing live Chinese orchestral music to seniors in eldercare facilities, residents in heartland neighbourhoods, and families in public green spaces — sits at the core of SCO’s giving-back mission.

Giving Back Beyond Singapore: Building Cultural Diplomacy

Beyond the ticketed season, SCO will also deepen its reach into communities across Singapore. On 14 August, SCO and the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) will co-present its inaugural Resonance in Harmony: Diplomatic Evening— exclusively for members of Singapore’s diplomatic community. The concert, conducted by Tsung Yeh and by invitation only, commemorates both SCO30 and SCCCI’s own 120th anniversary celebrations, and marks the first time SCO has presented a dedicated concert for foreign missions and dignitaries.

Five SCO musicians — Benjamin Boo (percussion), Lee Jun Cheng (dizi), Ma Huan (yangqin), Tan Manman (huqin), and Wang Siyuan (pipa) will perform Pictures at an Exhibition in Japan in October alongside the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Wong Kah Chun. The work — originally by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky and reimagined by Wong with Chinese orchestral elements including the dizi, the huqin, the pipa, the yangqin, and percussion — has previously been performed by SCO musicians in Germany and at the Manchester International Festival. 

Giving Back: Limited Edition SCO30 Merchandise

Audiences can also look forward to limited-edition plushies and keycap keychains, specially created for the SCO30 milestone year. The plushie set features four plush toys: the drum, the erhu, the zhongruan, and the sheng. Named Little Treble Makers, it represents the different instruments that come together to make music, but with a fun and adorable twist. Similarly, the keycaps come in a set of four with designs inspired by Chinese music instruments. Named The Treble Boost, each design represents the musical effect of each instrument — the erhu and its rich emotions, the guzheng that conveys peacefulness, the drum that provides beats, and the suona for its intense sound.

These collectibles are aimed at clicking with younger audiences and introducing SCO to them. Redemption tickets for the Little Treble Makers plushies will be placed at the seats at the SCO Concert Hall across the seven ticketed shows at random, for a touch of surprise. Audience members with the redemption tickets can head to the box office after the concert to receive the plushies. As for the Treble Boost keycaps, audience members can redeem them by completing a survey and following SCO on its official Instagram account. Tickets for SCO30 concerts go on sale on 16 June 2026 via BookMyShow. Friends of SCO members enjoy priority booking and additional savings from 16 to 30 June 2026. For more information, visit sco.com.sg.

For the concert listings with venue and ticket details, refer to Annexe A. For conductors’ biographies, refer to Annexe B. Media images are available for download here.