Leonard Tan


Leonard Tan is a trinational-based, Singaporean music director, conductor, tubist, violinist, and music educator at scholastic, collegiate, conservatory, and professional levels
Tan was awarded the National Institute of Education-Nanyang Technological University Overseas Graduate Scholarship to pursue a PhD in music education and conducting at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University Bloomington. His primary conducting mentors at the Jacobs School of Music were David Effron, Arthur Fagen, and Stephen Pratt, while his primary music education mentor was Estelle Jorgensen.
In 2013, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Music at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. He is also the Principal Conductor of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra from 2014 to 2018 and music director of the Philharmonic Wind Orchestra.

Education

Tan spent his early musical years playing the violin and tuba, and studied harmony with Singaporean composer Leong Yoon Pin. Following music studies at Raffles Junior College – where he studied with Constance Wong – he went on to earn a Licentiate diploma in orchestral tuba from the Royal Schools of Music and a Licentiate diploma in musical theory, criticism, and literature from Trinity College London.

Career

Prior to teaching and conducting, Tan was an active tubist, performing with ensembles, including the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Opera Orchestra, the Singapore Armed Forces Central Band, the Desford Colliery Band, and the Singapore Stompers.
Tan's conducting studies included work with:
Tan's numerous appointments include Conductor of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, Singapore National Youth Sinfonia, and National University of Singapore Wind Symphony. In addition to his conducting engagements, Tan has served as music teacher at the NUS High School of Math and Science, where he taught music theory and history, music theory teacher at the Singapore Armed Forces Bands, lecturer in conducting at the LASALLE College of the Arts and lecturer in band training and direction at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. He has presented lectures / workshops at the University of Hawaii, University of Kansas, University of the Pacific, Indiana University, and Nanjing University of the Arts.
Tan has conducted Singapore Symphony Orchestra musicians in a Singapore-Japan Composers Exchange Concert, Singapore National Youth Orchestra musicians in the "Ong Teng Cheong Concert," as well as several performances with the Philharmonic Winds. His conducting repertoire ranges from early classics to such twentieth-century works as Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale, and music by Singaporean composers Leong Yoon Pin, Goh Toh Chai, and Kelly Tang. In a production of Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly, he worked with an international cast, choir, and orchestra.
As a tubist, Tan has performed with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Opera Orchestra, Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Desford Colliery Band, Singapore Stompers, Singapore Armed Forces Tuba Quartet and the Regal Brass Quintet. As soloist, he has performed concertos by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Edward Gregson, Derek Bourgeois, and music for tuba and electronic tape by Walter B. Ross. He conducts brass and tuba clinics and coaches the Singapore National Youth Orchestra Brass Ensemble.

Personal life

In 2005, he had his first son, in 2007, he had his first daughter, in 2015, he had his second daughter.

Honors