Bernard Tan Tiong Gie is a Physics professor and composer who has made significant contributions to both the fields of science and music in Singapore. While engaged in nurturing scientific research and talent in his various academic posts, he has continually developed his music, building a repertoire of compositions that include works for orchestral, chamber and choral music. He has also served in various capacities for several arts bodies and events in Singapore including the National Arts Council, Ministry of Culture and the Singapore Arts Festival. For his contributions to music and the arts in Singapore, Tan received honours such as the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (Lintang) (Public Service Star [Bar]) and the Pingat Bakti Masyarakat (Public Service Medal).

Born in 1943 in Singapore, Bernard Tan received his early education at Anglo-Chinese School. He then attended the University of Singapore and graduated with Honours in Physics in 1965, subsequently obtaining a D.Phil. in Engineering Science at Oxford University in the UK in 1968. At the same time, he received his Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music in pianoforte in 1962 and become an Associate of the Trinity College of Music, London in pianoforte two years later.

Tan embarked on an academic career, working at the University of Singapore as a Physics lecturer that same year. His career in the university saw him rise to become the Dean of Science and then the Head of Physics. At the university, Tan began his official involvement with music as the conductor of the University choir and as a committee member in the Singapore Musical Society. He went on to obtain a Licentiate-in-Music from the Trinity College of Music, London and became the acting head of the Department of Music in the university.

Tan built himself a reputation as an accomplished musician and composer. He steadily created a repertoire of works encompassing a wide variety of musical forms, composing orchestral, chamber and choral music. He also composed music for ballets, musicals and a play, and songs with words by Singapore poets Lee Tzu Pheng and Edwin Thumboo. Many of his works were commissioned, premiered and performed by numerous organisations and individuals including Singapore violinist Lynnette Seah, the Singapore Youth Orchestra and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

A keen supporter of the arts, Tan contributed his service to several arts organisations, starting by serving as chairman of the Choral Music Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Culture for eight years starting from 1977. He went on to chair the Music Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Culture, the steering committee of the Singapore Arts Festival, the organising committee of Sing Singapore, and the Arts Consultative Panel of the Media Development Authority. Tan was also a co-founding director of the Singapore Arts Centre Co. Ltd and a member of the Singapore Arts Centre steering committee, which oversaw the development and building of Esplanade – Theatre on the Bay. At the National University of Singapore, Tan also served as associate director of the Centre for Musical Activities and the chair of the steering committee of the National University of Singapore Institute of the Arts which led to the establishment of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.

In 2010, he received the Long Service Award at the National Day Awards and the Meritorious Award from the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore and in 2011 he was made a Fellow of the Singapore National Academy of Science.

Outside of the arts, Tan is a UK Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in Singapore and the UK. He chaired the Science and Technology Committee of the Singapore Youth Awards and the Singapore Section of the Audio Engineering Society. He also served as president of the Institute of Physics, Singapore and as vice-president of the Singapore National Academy of Science.

Today, Tan continues to pursue his passion for the arts and science. He currently serves as the director of the Centre for Maritime Studies at the National University of Singapore, and chairs the Choral Development Secretariat of the National Arts Council and the Artistic Advisory Committee of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

Images courtesy of Professor Bernard Tan Tiong Gie and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.