Shaping the future for Singapore’s young singers is choirmaster extraordinaire Wong Lai Foon

There is something ethereal, nay, other-worldly, about choral music. Listening to a multitude of individual voices combined to create a sound of overall perfection is a tonic for the soul and a detoxifier of the spirit. 

“I think it has to do with the nature of the human voice,” says choirmaster Wong Lai Foon, the woman responsible for coordinating the sounds emanating from the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir (SSCC) and the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir (SSYC), subsidiaries of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. “It’s organic,” she continues, “the most natural instrument you can have.”

She discusses the human voice’s “ability to express so many different expressions and emotions” from sadness to pure joy and how it all goes “hand in hand with the composer’s artistry”.

Perhaps this is why, when many voices are gathered together to produce harmony through harmonies, we, as human beings, are treated to a sense of ourselves amid the realisation that, like a choir, a group or a community can be so much more than the sum of its parts. 

Educating young lives through music

Listening to a finely honed and tuned choir is a wonderful and moving experience, and there’s no one better at honing and tuning than Wong. 

The choirmaster has not only elevated young people’s choirs in Singapore to an internationally acclaimed level over the past 17 years — the Children’s Choir started in 2006, and the Youth Choir (17 to 28 years old) came into existence in 2016 — but she has also changed lives in the process.

Part teacher and part child psychologist, Wong relishes the responsibility she is entrusted with. When she talks of “empathy, giving the benefit of the doubt, and friendliness” as her three best qualities, you quickly understand why the talented youngsters who sing for her are in such capable hands. 

It’s not always plain sailing. Young people have their fair share of problems and issues, particularly in our modern and frequently unforgiving world, but Wong is there to mould and nurture. She is frequently “in loco parentis” and deals with kids and youths from fractious and even fractured domestic environments. “Where there are issues at home,” she says, “we investigate, and we understand that there are children who need to be dealt with differently and require individual attention.”

As calm, graceful, and cultivated away from the conductor’s rostrum as she is when holding court on it, Wong exudes confidence. She’s not flashy, eschewing musical fireworks, but when the audience sees the expectant faces of the young people looking up to her and hanging on her every movement, no one’s in any doubt that she is a mistress of her craft.

“I don't find myself using great big gestures,” she says, “because I think it's not really elegant. I try to be elegant.” As an accomplished musician in her own right, Wong brings a wealth of experience and an understanding of the nuts and bolts of music that make her so adept as an arranger. And when conducting her own arrangements, there is the sense that holding the baton is a velvet glove within which an iron fist is at the ready.

Singing for a sense of well-being

Wong is a firm proponent of the theory that singing is good for you. “The connection that the singers have with each other through the rhythm of their breathing” is healthy, she suggests. It’s what creates “the harmonic textures that line up so beautifully”. 

Being part of a choir provides a sense of belonging and togetherness, and Wong insists that studies have shown “that it can really improve mental and physical well-being”. She talks about “blood flow” and “endorphins” as well as “physical coordination”, and while admitting to not being a doctor, it’s clear that Wong is utterly convinced of the plethora of positive side effects that augment the joy of singing itself.

Choral music can also be a spiritual experience. This should come as no surprise, as it started out as non-secular in form and substance and was most often performed in places of worship. 

Much of the choral music canon is “sacred”, and it’s certainly not a coincidence that churches, for example, have excellent acoustics. According to Wong, it’s difficult not to be moved when a choir gets together and creates an “aura”.

“It’s more than just a collection of voices”, she says, “when you have a choir that works in perfect harmony — literally and metaphorically.” While choral music may have the reputation of being somewhat esoteric, Wong maintains that it’s as relevant today as it was half a millennium ago.

The spirit of togetherness engendered is a balm for the soul and the spirit, and creates a positive learning environment for the young people involved. There is a common goal and a shared passion for music that Wong feels are important for the development of the individual.

Wong Lai Foon is a born educator, inspiring young minds and bodies with her love of music and commitment to excellence in performance. While admitting that popularising classical music in Singapore is a “challenge”, the accessibility of her choir’s oeuvre and the beauty of the sounds they create mean that both the SSCC and the SSYC will go from strength to strength.