Cheong Kah Yiong
One of the most highly sought-after percussionists in Singapore due to his flexibility in Western and Chinese music literature, Cheong Kah Yiong has performed with many of Singapore's most important ensembles including the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Metropolitan Festival Orchestra, Ding Yi Music Company and The Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2017, he was chosen from over 1000 musicians all across Asia to take part in the Asian Youth Orchestra 2017 World Tour, touring across America, Europe and Asia, performing in festivals like the Lucerne Music Festival and the Ravello Music Festival. Through the years, Kah Yiong has had the wonderful opportunity to work with amazing artists such as Mathiass Bamert, James Judd, Kah Chun Wong, Sarah Chang and Vadim Repin.
An advocate of chamber music, Kah Yiong is part of various local chamber ensembles such as, A Bigger Bang (Percussion Ensemble), Dicapella (Chinese Flute Ensemble) and Reverberance (Chinese Wind Instrumental Ensemble). He also frequently collaborates with theatre and dance companies such as Intercultural Theatre and The Arts Fission Company as solo percussion, most recently touring with the latter to Melbourne, Australia, presenting music and dance in a eclectic programme curated by Dr Joyce Koh and Victoria Chou.
With a strong belief that music can connect audiences of all ages, Kah Yiong plays in the Purple Symphony, Singapore's first orchestra that includes musicians with and without disabilities and is frequently found playing in non-ticketed concerts for the local community in the many Arts in your Neighbourhood programmes hosted by the National Arts Council. He is also currently Percussion Tutor for various high school Bands and Chinese Orchestra.
Kah Yiong is a graduate of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts where he studied with Mark Suter and Christian Schioler. Currently a Full-time Military Musician in the Singapore Armed Forces Band, Kah Yiong continues to expand his passion of drumming under the tutelage of Cuban drummer Pablo Calzado Morales and local veteran Tama Goh.