About

St. Nicholas Chinese Orchestra (SNCO) started off in 1992 with a few individuals interested in certain instruments. Initially, there were only Dizi and Pipa classes.

Gradually, interest spread and a few enthusiastic girls sent a proposal to the principal Mrs Hwang-Lee Poh See to start a Chinese Orchestra as a Co-Curricular Activity, backing their plan up with the reason that St Nicholas was a Chinese school. From the small handful of 30 odd students, our orchestra has expanded to its current 100 odd members.

Some of the orchestra’s key objectives are to promote the awareness and appreciation of Chinese music, as well as to exchange ideas and experiences among musically-oriented institutions and individuals. We also felt that there was a need to take an active interest in the civic, cultural and general welfare of the Chinese and wider community.

The orchestra performs regularly for school events such as the School Open house, Chinese New Year celebration, took part in exchange programme with other schools like Catholic High and   Secondary and participates actively in national competitions obtaining prestigious awards in the process. The last award we obtained was a Certificate of Distinction in the 2015 SYF Arts Presentation.

Under the guidance of our teachers, instructors and the baton of Mr Liu Bin, a renowned composer and conductor, the orchestra has been steadily improving. SNCO is also continually working to develop the group's repertoire and technical capabilities, to foster new audiences, as well as recruit and train new members.

About our conductor: 

作曲家刘斌老师(50岁),原籍上海. 他毕业自上海音乐学院，留学法国巴黎市音乐学院，考取音乐分析学硕士学位，至今已落户新加坡近20年，15年前成为公民。 他在新加坡的第一份工作是在Naxos唱片公司出任艺术总监，两年后到南洋艺术学院任教一年，并设立刘斌文化艺术中心(Liu Bin Cultural Arts)，担任许多中小学的乐团指挥。 作为一个作曲家,他觉得以西方艺术歌曲的形式为中国现代诗谱曲，与西方的音乐潮流交流，跟中国内地的作品有区隔。他甚至希望有一天能通过这样的结合把中华文化带到西欧国家进行交流。

Mr Liu Bin studied composing and conducting under Professors He Zhan Hao and Xia Fei Yun at the Shanghai Consevatory of Music, graduating with top honours in 1984. In 1992, he obtained his Masters degree in Music Analytics from the Paris Conservatory of Music and settled in Singapore, working as the Artistic Director for NAXOS Singapore and composing works for Chinese orchestras and events in the region. He has lectured at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and continues to be a music educator. In 1998, he established his company -Liu Bin Cultural Arts- and was awarded the Artistic Excellence Award by the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore in 2001. He is currently the President of the National Theatre Club of Singapore and a member of the Association of Composers (Singapore). 

CCA information:

Training / Meeting Venue	Chinese Orchestra /Band Room (Thursdays)  Various Classrooms (Fridays)
Training Day / Time	Thursdays 3.45pm to 6.30pm  Fridays 4.00pm to 6.30pm
Instructors / Coach	Mr Liu Bin (Conductor),   Ms Huo Ruo Wei,   Mr  Yeo Siew Wee,   Mr Tony Ang Ting Leong,   Mr Kenneth Lee Hou Koon,    Mr Zhu Lin, Mr Wu Xiang Yang and   Mr Neil Chua.
Teachers-in-charge	Mdm Goh Siew Ngoh Mdm Suah Jun Mr Lim Han Chuan Miss Clarissa Lua Mr Joel Ng Mr David Chang