Mr Foo Say Ming

Assistant Conductor

In 1983, Singaporean violinist Foo Say Ming walked away with the 1st prize in the Violin (Open) Category and the 1st prize in the Ensemble (Open) Category of the 3rd National Music Competition in Singapore. The judging panel also unanimously awarded him the grand prize of the competition, the Best Performer Award.

Say Ming then continued his musical studies at the Royal College of Music in London with Rodney Friend, former concertmaster of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He was later accepted into the Conservatoire de Lausanne in Switzerland, where he continued his studies with the great French violinist Pierre Amoyal, a protégé of the legendary Jascha Heifetz.

Say Ming has also performed as a soloist with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) on many occasions. In addition to performing with the SSO, he was also featured as a soloist with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. He was also invited to perform Chen Gang and He Zhanhao’s Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto with the National University of Singapore Symphony Orchestra on its successful tour to Scotland at the Aberdeen International Youth Festival in 2005, under the baton of Maestro Lim Soon Lee.

Say Ming also works extensively with young aspiring musicians in Singapore. Some of his students have won top prizes in local and overseas music competitions; some have also gone on to further their musical studies abroad. He is also currently a tutor with the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and the National University of Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to his many musical endeavours, Say Ming also leads and directs re: mix, a chamber orchestra comprising some of the most dedicated musicians in Singapore, that seeks to break new ground in the exploration of the repertoire for the petit orchestre through its unique approach to programming ideas and concepts.