Conductor — Composer
Darrell
Ang
“A Star is born.” — Chang Tou Liang, The Straits Times (Singapore)
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Conductor and composer Darrell Ang is fast becoming one of the most entrepreneurial and influential players in the musical landscape of China, as well as one of the foremost interpreters of contemporary Asian composers active on the global stage. In recognition of this, in 2022 he was engaged by the San Francisco Opera to conduct a 7-show production of Bright Sheng's Dream of the Red Chamber, and he is the conductor of choice for Lunar New Year celebrations with such leading orchestras as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (2024), the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (2023), and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (2023).
Since 2017, Ang has served as Artistic Director & Chief Conductor of the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra of China, building the ensemble into the leading musical force not only of the Sichuan province, but also of mid-Western China as a whole. He has been afforded the honour of spear-heading the growth and development of the mid-Western landscape within the fast-paced world of China's growing musical life, by appointment of the regional government — a mission that is perfectly suited to Ang's entrepreneurial creative spirit. As such, he is now leading the creation of numerous creative projects, from a large-scale orchestral touring circuit for international orchestras, to the creation of large-scale festivals and international education projects and competitions.
Ang is celebrated globally as being in possession of a unique artistic mind and prodigious intellect. Fluent in six languages (English, French, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, and Russian), he also commands an extensive breadth of repertoire — from studies in Baroque Music & Harpsichord (at Italy's Scuola di Musica di Fiesole), to a particular passion for French and Russian music of the 20th century, through to contemporary repertoire.
He is himself a prolific composer of symphonic, chamber, and solo instrumental works: his Fanfare for a Frazzled Earth — a symphonic overture about man's devastation of nature and the environment — was recently premiered by the Singapore National Youth Orchestra; and his Kung Fu Koncerto (a concerto for orchestra and martial arts master) is being performed to great critical acclaim in Asia and Europe. Possessing this heightened insight into a composer's intentions, Ang is celebrated as one of the foremost interpreters of contemporary Asian repertoire, regularly conducting works by Chen Yi, Tan Dun, Zhou Long, Chen Qigang, Isang Yang, and the late Toru Takemitsu, in performances around the world.
In addition to Ang's skills in leading creative projects and institutions, he enjoys a prolific guest conducting career, regularly conducting the world's leading orchestras. Recent and upcoming projects include those with Beijing's NCPA Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, NSO Taiwan, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Qingdao Symphony Orchestra, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra Tokyo.
In Europe, highlights include the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Orchestre Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre National de Lyon, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra Gdańsk, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Janáček Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, RTVE Symphony Orchestra Madrid, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, ADDA Sinfonia Alicante, Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, Marseille Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Elsewhere in the Americas and Australasia, he has appeared with OFUNAM (Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM, Mexico) and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. In the United States, Ang has conducted the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, debuted with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2024, and made his debut at the San Francisco Opera in 2022.
Alongside his symphonic expertise, Ang is a highly skilled conductor of the operatic repertoire, working with such world-renowned houses as the Mariinsky Theatre, National Taichung Theater, Opéra de Rennes, Opéra de Rouen, Singapore Lyric Opera, St. Petersburg Opera, and Opéra National de Bordeaux.
Darrell Ang shot into the international spotlight in 2007 when he took all three top prizes at the prestigious 50th Besançon International Conducting Competition: Grand Prize, Audience Prize, and Orchestra Prize. Other major competition wins include first prize at the 9th Antonio Pedrotti International Conducting Competition, and the 8th Arturo Toscanini International Conducting Competition. Additional accolades include the French honour of Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of Arts & Letters) in 2015, as well as a GRAMMY® nomination for his recording of music by Chinese composers Zhou Long and Chen Yi — one of several recordings for the Naxos label.
Previous titled positions include Music Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne (2012–2015), the youngest-ever Associate Conductor of the Singapore Symphony (2008–2013), and Music Director of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra (2010–2013), amongst others. Whilst studying in Russia, he co-founded the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, by way of introducing contemporary music to Russian audiences.
Born in Singapore, Ang received his early musical education at the age of four, when he began to play the violin and the piano. After studies in Composition under Leong Yoon Pin in Singapore, he embarked on the study of Orchestral Conducting in St. Petersburg with Professors Leonid Korchmar and Alexander Polischuk — heirs to the grand tradition of the legendary Conducting Professor Ilya Musin — before continuing his education at Yale as the university's very first Conducting Fellow, under the tutelage of Shinik Hahm. Amongst his conducting mentors are such luminaries as Esa-Pekka Salonen, the late Sir Colin Davis, the late Lorin Maazel, and Valery Gergiev.
14 releases for Naxos, Signum Classics, and Pentatone, 2014–present. Covers link to the official catalogue page where available. Let me know of any further releases to add.
After eight transformative years, Darrell has stepped down from his position as Artistic Director & Chief Conductor; instead, he takes up a new role as Conductor Laureate of the orchestra. Although he will relinquish a portion of subscription appearances with the orchestra, he will continue to make CD recordings (for Sunbird Classics) and special appearances with the orchestra.
Led the Singapore premiere of Liu Bin's Portraits of Mount Wuyi Landscape, part of a programme exploring China's mountain landscapes through orchestral colour.
Conducted centennial concerts for Asia's oldest orchestra at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater and the Proscenium Theater, Rockwell, Makati.
Replace this entry with upcoming dates, venues, and programme details as they're confirmed.
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►Beyond the podium, Darrell Ang has long put music to work — for young talent and underprivileged communities, for cultural heritage and endangered wildlife, and for the principle that orchestras earn their place in society by going where society is.
As Music Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne, Ang took the full orchestra into the prisons of Brittany for concerts followed by open conversations. "We brought them Beethoven; they listened — some were moved to tears." He saw this as a model for how orchestras prove their relevance in the twenty-first century.
Social inclusionCo-created with Dr Hamish McMillan Dyer, the scholarship offered up to S$30,000 a year for up to four years to gifted young Singaporeans who could not otherwise study abroad. Recipients trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London, in Geneva, and in Singapore. Following Dr Dyer's passing in 2017, Ang worked with his estate to see the final awards through.
Music educationFounded by Ang with prize-winning former members of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, the ensemble performed for President Tony Tan, at Keppel Corporation's 45th anniversary gala, and at Gazprom's showcase at SOTA. In 2013 alone it raised over S$60,000 for young musicians from underprivileged backgrounds.
Youth orchestraEstablished with Raffles Institution, which administers its scholarships and bursaries, the fund was designed to provide sustained support to talented young Singaporean musicians — a permanent structural complement to the Hamish Dyer Scholarship's individual awards.
ScholarshipsAs Artistic and Festival Director, Ang built outreach into the festival's DNA. Young musicians were sent into special education schools — including Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore, APSN@Tanglin, Lighthouse School, and the School for the Deaf — to teach students and guide them in composing their own work, which was then performed by festival musicians in public concerts.
Special needsOn taking up his post in Chengdu, Ang established weekly orchestra visits to public schools in and around the capital — often giving his own time to train the children himself. The initiative led in 2019 to the founding of the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra Affiliated Primary School, where pupils receive musical training alongside a conventional academic curriculum.
Music educationPartnering with Childhope Philippines and its then-Chairman Chips Guevara, Ang overcame the twin challenge of persuading the children to enter the concert hall, and the concert hall to let them in. In August 2018, nearly a hundred street children, accompanied by their street educators, attended his concert with the Manila Symphony Orchestra.
Social inclusionAng planned an international concert series to raise awareness of endangered animals, beginning with the pangolin — the world's most trafficked mammal. The series opened in February 2020 with the Manila Symphony Orchestra, attended by Greenpeace Philippines and leading animal welfare groups, before the COVID pandemic halted the global programme. His symphonic suite Land of the Panda (2018) and Fanfare for a Frazzled Earth carry the same environmental commitment.
ConservationMoved by a visit to the grasslands of Zoigê County on the Tibetan Plateau, Ang composed the symphonic poem Aba! Aba! for the community's most gifted throat-singer, Zerang Daji, and orchestra. He later transcribed it for Chinese orchestra. The work has been performed across China and in Singapore, and in 2025 received the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Culture & Tourism Arts Prize for its fusion of Tibetan folk music with Chinese and Western traditions.
Cultural heritagePartnering with the Global Strings Federation, the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, and the School of the Arts Singapore, Ang helped create a festival bringing amateur string players of all ages from around the world to Singapore to receive training and perform in a series of public concerts — most recently at Jewel Changi Airport.
Community music"Community work like this will make the difference for orchestras in the twenty-first century, when we have to prove our relevance to society and our right to be part of today's culture." — Darrell Ang, on prison concerts with the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne
"Music had changed his own life, and he was convinced it could do the same for others." — On Ang's partnership with Childhope Philippines, Manila, 2018
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