Music: A Brief History

I have always enjoyed singing. My first public performance dated back to when I was eleven years-old. During my early teenage years, I picked up the acoustic guitar, played in a band and went frenzy over music competitions. In 2004, I won ‘Best Composition’ for my song It’s You in a nation-wide contest Talent Quest. Over the years, I have sung for many events in schools, shopping malls, cafes, churches and auditoriums before large crowds. I grew up mostly listening to pop music by Backstreet Boys, Michelle Branch, Goo Goo Dolls, John Mayer and lately David Choi, from which I draw many of my ideas from. I penned and sang my first song at the age of sixteen.

In 2005, some songs that I distributed on the Internet were used by Singaporean director Justin Kan for a short film titled The Letter. Subsequently, I had the opportunity to meet with Dr Kenneth Lyen, a renowned pediatrician and musician who introduced me to Five Foot Broadway, a collaborative program among several creative networks, in conjunction with the Singapore Festival of Arts fringe 2005. Thereby, I had the opportunity to co-arrange music with pianist Michelle Loh for a broadway musical titled Don’t Say I Do that was directed and produced by Justin Kan and Irishman Paul Hannon. Alongside, I played an exciting acting role as a Casanova in the musical Boom Baby Boom that was written by Andrew Leong and directed by Peggy Ferroa. A year later, I was privileged to co-arrange music with August Lum for another broadway musical called Vanity Victorious Virtue Vanquished, directed by Dwayne Lau and staged at the Singapore Esplanade Recital Studio.

In 2008, I produced my very modest debut compilation Assuringteddy that featured ten of my best songs that were written over the years. Taken by the good response by friends and strangers that greeted me by surprise, I was led to produce my second compilation, Dopey And The Chosen Suspect in early 2010. Four of my songs were used for a short film The Gift, directed by Jill Soong and produced by Janesa Wong that won ‘Best Short Film’ in the Zanzibar International Film Festival in mid 2010.