Performing the South Seas: Singapore Chinese Orchestra and the Making of Nanyang-Style Music

Abstract

Since the establishment of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra (Xinjiapo huayue tuan 新加坡華樂團) in 1997, it has attempted to develop its approach to Chinese music differently from other international counterparts. Gradually, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra developed and performed Chinese music, reflecting Singapore’s diverse cultures and identities by incorporating non-Chinese music elements from Singapore and Southeast Asia. This article examines the “Nanyang-style music” (Nanyang feng huayue 南洋風華樂) of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra. It draws on Tu Wei-Ming’s (1991) concept of ‘Cultural China’ and builds on Brian Bernards’ (2015) work on the ‘Nanyang’ in Chinese and Southeast Asian literature to consider the creation and performance of new forms of modern Chinese orchestral music. I argue that the Singapore Chinese Orchestra’s Nanyang-style music, which has its roots in modern Chinese orchestral music, is created and performed to present the cultural hybridity of the Chinese in Singapore society. This article shows that the Nanyang-style music is performed in two ways, namely, Chinese music combining Nanyang elements and Chinese music presenting a Singaporean identity.