30/08/2026
Singapore composer Wang Chenwei 王辰威 is one of those remarkable cross-cultural musicians. In 2021, he composed the Chinese instrumental quintet Vanda Miss Joaquim, inspired by Singapore’s national flower — itself a hybrid orchid.
Just like the flower, the music is also a fascinating cultural hybrid. The piece brings together elements of Chinese, Malay and Indian music, Western classical traditions and even popular music. Wang created his own raga for the work, while its musical language also draws inspiration from gamelan, Chinese modes, Western fugue and the energy of rock.
For someone like me without a professional music background, I may not recognise every technical detail — but I love that moment when you suddenly think:
“Oh, Chinese music can sound like this too.”
Perhaps that is the beauty of a living tradition. Like an orchid, it keeps adapting, cross-pollinating and blooming into forms we have never seen — or heard — before.
🎧 Highly recommended: listen to Vanda Miss Joaquim on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mY4yJpAqFI&t=3s
📷 Except for the musical score excerpt, the photographs and visual composition in this post are by me.
Singapore Chinese Orchestra
