SINGAPORE, 18 October 2026. Tanglin Trust School held this year's Centenary Music Scholars' Concert at CHIJMES Hall in Singapore on 1 October, welcoming parents, staff, friends and supporters of the arts to an evening of chamber and solo music spanning more than 200 years.
The programme moved from Bach and Beethoven to Saint-Saëns, Mendelssohn, Dvořák and Shostakovich before finishing in the world of Miles Davis. The contrast between styles, genres and ensemble combinations reflected the range of ambitious repertoire available to young musicians at the school.
Chamber music formed the heart of the evening. The scholars performed in duets and trios through to quintets and septets, playing with a real sense of connection, maturity and shared purpose, and showing the listening, communication and trust that chamber music demands.
These ensemble pieces sat alongside a number of solo performances, which gave each scholar the opportunity to show their own musical voice while also contributing to the collective spirit of the evening. The scholars took ownership of the stage and communicated the emotion of the music throughout their performances.
The concert is the showcase of the Tanglin Centenary Music Scholarship Programme. The programme is designed not simply to recognise talent but to create opportunities for young musicians to stretch themselves artistically and perform at the highest level, and the evening showed how much it has developed and the important role it now plays in the musical life of the school.
In chamber music each part is usually played by a single musician and there is no conductor, so the players have to agree on tempo, balance and phrasing by listening to one another as they perform. Ensembles of up to seven players, as heard at CHIJMES, ask a great deal of student musicians in that respect.
The evening closed with congratulations to all of the scholars and guest performers, and thanks to everyone who came to support them.
About Tanglin Trust School
Founded in 1925, Tanglin Trust School is the oldest British international school in Southeast Asia. It teaches the English National Curriculum with an international perspective to around 2,850 children aged 3 to 18 from more than 50 nationalities, from Nursery to Sixth Form.
Tanglin was the first school in Singapore to offer a choice of A Levels or the IB Diploma in the Sixth Form. As a not-for-profit school, it devotes tuition fees to the provision of education, and around 96% of its graduates typically receive a place at their first or second choice of university.
What this means for families
For families comparing schools in Singapore, a scholarship programme like this shows what music can look like beyond weekly lessons: regular ensemble work, demanding repertoire and performances in a public venue in front of a real audience. Parents of musically able children may want to ask each school how scholars are chosen, how much time they spend in ensembles and which performance opportunities follow.
Events like this also give a sense of a school's arts culture beyond exam results. Families can explore the best international schools in Singapore to compare what each one offers.
You can contact Tanglin Trust School here.
