Benjamin Yeo

Benjamin Yeo (born 1985) is a Singaporean composer and conductor who is notable internationally for his original wind band works. He is currently the conductor of the Saint Andrew's School Military Band. His music education started at the age of 7 and he played the trumpet in his secondary school and junior college. Being very active in the local band scene, he has guest-performed for many tertiary groups as well as guest-conducted many ensembles in Singapore. His experience in band directing has enabled him to work with students across a wide spectrum of educational institutions – from primary to tertiary levels. As a band enthusiast, he started writing and arranging music for wind bands and ensembles at the age of 15, and his works have also been performed publicly in local and overseas concerts. Benjamin has also been invited to serve as an adjudicator for events such as the Junior Band Festival in Singapore.

Many of his music has been published by C. L. Barnhouse Company,^[1] a famous and long-lasting American publisher of band music in the world; as well as Beriato Music (Belgium),^[2] a reputable publishing house in Europe. In 2007, his debut work, Beyond the Highlands^[3] was selected to be on the "New Band Music Reading List" at the prestigious Midwest Clinic,^[4] an International Band and Orchestra Conference held in Chicago, Illinois. The following year, his second work, Legend of the Ancient Hero^[5] was ranked the Top 100 out of the 800 over titles in the American Band College/Band World Magazine/Western International Band Clinic Literature List 2008–2009.^[6] His latest lyrical selection, As the Moon Whispers^[7] also joined the rank of Top 100 in the same Literature List for 2010–2011.^[8] Many of his wind band works have also been recorded by world-renowned ensembles such as the Washington Winds in the USA,^[9] the Royal Netherlands Army Band 'Johan Willem Friso',^[10] Rundfunk Blasorchester Leipzig^[11] as well as the Royal Band of the Belgian Guides in Europe.^[12]

His compositions have taken places on both the International and National Festival/Contest list such as the Bi-annual Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging for Brass/Concert Bands held locally. As an active and a well sought-after published composer, he writes for both commissioned and non-commissioned works. In 2016, Benjamin was commissioned to write the set piece for the Singapore Youth Festival Arts Presentation for Primary School Bands. He is also a member of the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS).^[13]

Benjamin joined the Singapore Armed Forces Bands during his National Service where he continued his musical training. Thereafter, he studied composition under both Kelly Tang and Zechariah Goh, and Harmony and counterpoint under Eddy Chong. Currently, he holds the Bachelor of Arts (Ed.) (Hons.) degree, majoring in Music from the National Institute of Education of the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He now teaches the Music Elective Programme (MEP),^[14] GCE 'O' Level Music course as well as Music Theory Instruction under the Ministry of Education, Singapore. He also took up the role of band master of the Saint Andrew's School Military Band in 2013 and is still the band master today.

List of original works

References