Singapore’s xinyao scene will see a significant milestone as Cultural Medallion recipient and singer songwriter Liang Wern Fook releases his first digital album in collaboration with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra on 8 May 2026.
Titled Encounter with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the instrumental album presents a retrospective of Liang’s musical journey through 25 songs arranged into six medleys. The collection explores themes such as life, youth, uncertainty, home, reconciliation and self, while reinterpreting well known pieces including Friends Forever, Singapore Pie and Your Reflection.
Xinyao, a homegrown music movement that emerged in Singapore during the 1970s and 1980s, is known for its distinctive Chinese songwriting rooted in local identity and everyday experiences. Its themes often reflect youth, romance and the realities of life in Singapore, and the genre continues to resonate with audiences today as a reflection of a formative period in the nation’s cultural development.
The collaboration between Liang and the Singapore Chinese Orchestra brings together two important strands of local music. Chinese orchestral music has played a key role in shaping Singapore’s cultural soundscape, and this project offers a fresh interpretation of xinyao classics through orchestral arrangements. The album also reflects the orchestra’s ongoing efforts to explore and define a uniquely Singaporean sound, following earlier initiatives such as its 2017 xinyao concert and subsequent collaborations with Liang.
The album was recorded after the success of the sold-out 2024 concert Encounter: Liang Wern Fook’s Composition Showcase, conducted by SCO Principal Conductor Quek Ling Kiong. The new release follows the same programme, with Liang’s works arranged for Chinese orchestra by resident composer Wang Chenwei, who previously won the Singapore Composer Award at the 2006 Singapore International Competition for Chinese Orchestral Composition.
In crafting the arrangements, Wang focused on pairing instruments with melodies to capture the character of each piece. One example is the use of the kouqinzi, a small jaw instrument placed at the back of the throat, which is used in So Much, Too Much! to mimic the Malay phrase “cukup banyak banyak”. The album also incorporates instruments from Singapore’s major Chinese dialect groups, addressing their relative absence in traditional Chinese orchestra repertoire. These include the Hokkien Nanyin pipa, Teochew tihu, Cantonese gaohu and yehu, Hakka touxian and Hainanese diaoxian. In the track Prelude, the melody opens with the Cantonese yehu, whose resonance evokes the coastal character of Singapore.
The album will be available globally across major streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, KKBOX, QQ Music and NetEase Music.
The release coincides with the sold-out Mother’s Day Concert 2026, Encounter II: Liang Wern Fook’s Composition Showcase, which will be held at the SCO Concert Hall from 8 to 9 May. Conducted by Quek as part of the orchestra’s Metamorphosis Season 25/26, all tickets were sold out within two hours of going on sale in May 2025. In addition to revisiting the 2024 programme, the concert will feature the world premiere of Liang’s new work Encounter Again, commissioned by the orchestra and arranged by local composer Tan Kah Yong.
Concertgoers can also expect exclusive postcards featuring Liang’s signature and selected verses, which will be distributed during the performances.
