Terrence Wong

Terrence Wong, who is 21 this year, is a young composer who holds a Diploma in Music Performance (Composition) at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore and is now serving National Service. Under the patient tutelage of Dr Zechariah Goh Toh Chai, he has composed several substantial works and is continuing to write and arrange for various symphonic ensembles and bands Even during his study in NAFA he has been commissioned several times to compose and arrange music for events and concerts.

His musical interests lie mainly with symphonic music, as his symphonic roots come from his active participation in the Catholic High School Symphony Band before enrolling in NAFA to further hone his artistic skills. Terrence is proficient on the keyboard, recorder, trombone and euphonium. However, his passions also extend to other kinds of music, such as the Central Javanese Gamelan and Classical Thai Music. His compositional style is varied and diverse, as he has yet to find his true personal voice in the art of musical composition.

Describe your musical career. How has it been so far?

My musical life these few years has been very fulfilling, especially since being a student in the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) has allowed me to gain many friends and contacts, and thus expanding my musical network. In such a vibrant musical environment, such friendships have led to quite a number of commissioned works from friends and even outside groups, and thus I am usually busy most of the time writing and arranging new works and racking my brains (and not forgetting to use my soul) to make a work interesting.

Another word to describe my musical career so far would be challenging. One can say that the art of composition is simple or complex; it all boils down to how much time, effort and passion you are willing to pour into every single note and phrase that you write. Each work I write is different from the rest; just as how a restaurant can be wildly different from its rival, despite serving up similar dishes to their customers.

In order to write a successful and meaningful work, one needs to posses at least three things: Knowledge, skill and passion. With knowledge, one understands the different instruments being written for, ie. their tone colour, their capabilities and limits, their uses in history and much more. With skill, the composer uses his or her knowledge and develops a musical idea into a longer composition. Lastly, with passion, the composer prevents the work from turning into a mere mechanical development and expansion of notes and instead creates a meaningful work that attempts to relate to himself, the performers and the audience. Using all three every time I face the computer to write music is definitely a challenging task.

Another part of my musical career, albeit a smaller one, would be that of conducting. I conduct and perform (or record) my own works with various ensembles sometimes, and of course, that would involve rehearsals too. Also, I am now taking a a community band, namely Novo Winds, which was formerly known as Moulmein Wind Symphony (MWS) as its associate conductor.

The art of conducting is by no means an easy one; one has to engage the entire ensemble at all times, bring the music out of the ink, paper and the performers, and yet still allow the performers to have their own say in how they want to bring out their own part individually. All that, with just my hands, my body language and facial expressions. Definitely it is no easy feat and as an growing musician myself, I see it as a challenging and yet another fulfilling part of my musical career. As of now, I still see myself continuing to compose and conduct music in the long run.

What made you interested to major in composition in NAFA? Any influences?

My interest in musical composition actually dates back to my secondary school years; namely after I joined the symphonic band in Catholic High School. Prior to joining such a musical group, I had virtually no contact with symphonic and classical music. However once settled into the band, I begun to realise that the entire band and all its wildly different instruments were to me what a good buffet is to a hungry man.

I remember vividly that the first orchestral works that got me interested in classical music were Antonin Dvořák’s Symphony no.9 “New World” and Gustav Holst’s The Planets Suite. Such works got me thinking a lot about how music was written for so many instruments at a time and also lead me to try to understand each individual instrument in the band. The latter was no difficult task as there were experienced seniors in each section that helped me to understand the instruments better.

Another great help was the opening of the library@esplanade, which contained a huge amount of musical resources. Not satisfied with just performing works by others, I attempted to create my own.

Beginning with free (albeit simple) notation programs, I experimented with arranging duets, trios and quartets from famous melodies and other band pieces for my trombone section. That caught my conductor’s eye and when I was secondary three, she gave me my first official task: to arrange Christmas music for brass quintet, to be performed for the early secondary 1 orientation held that December.

Though the parts turned out funny for each player (needless to say, there were many complaints from my friends playing the parts!) the pieces were passable as a whole and it gave me a sense of satisfaction I did not have from merely performing other people’s works on my instruments, namely, the feeling of sharing your own musical work with your fellow friends and audiences.

After I graduated from secondary school my conductor advised me to check out NAFA as a possible place for me to further hone my compositional skills. I did so, and I must say I have not regretted the decision to study there in the least.

Joshua

Joshua is a social ‘freak’ who enjoys music, photography and good food. He is currently based in Melbourne doing his Bachelors Program in Information Technology Systems.

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