'Failure is not an option'

In a few short decades Singapore has become one of Asia’s most sensational success stories. This economic tiger has one of the world’s busiest ports, a skyline of slick skyscrapers, a high standard of living and a well-deserved reputation for cleanliness, order and efficiency. The National University of Singapore (NUS), founded exactly a century ago, is widely regarded as one of the best in Asia, with a student body of 32,000 from 70 countries and partnerships or affiliations with some 130 other institutions around the world, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Beijing University, King’s College London and Eindhoven University in the Netherlands.

The idea to add a conservatory of music to NUS developed in tandem with the government’s vision of making Singapore a hub for the arts on a level it currently enjoys in commerce, finance, science and medicine. The opening of the spectacular arts complex Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay in 2003, the rapid and recent evolution of the Singapore Symphony into a world-class orchestra and the emergence of the T’ang Quartet as a high-profile international ensemble have all helped put Singapore on the musical map. Having its own conservatory seemed a logical extension of this objective, and Singapore got one in the manner in which so much else seems to happen in this city-state of 4.4 million – quickly, efficiently and well-done.

So just how do you go about building a conservatory from scratch in a country with no extensive history of classical music? With eleven years of experience as dean and associate dean of the famed Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, with which NUS collaborates in its medical programme, Steven Baxter would be the person to ask.

The story began in the late 1990s. Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan paid a visit to Peabody and was immensely impressed with the school. He invited the director, Robert Sirota, to Singapore to discuss the possibility of opening a national conservatory there. Sirota recommended Peabody’s dean at the time, Steven Baxter, for the position of founding director. But when Baxter visited some months later he was not optimistic, believing the project was too expensive and would take too long to implement. He recalls: ‘I was very blunt with them. I thought it was totally impractical, but then two months later they told me they were going ahead with the project anyway. Well, I was ready for a change from Peabody and it was the kind of challenge I like. I was given a mandate: start classes in 18 months. From that point on, it was do or die. Failure is not an option in Singapore.’

Initially designated the Singapore Conservatory of Music in 2001, its name was officially registered in August of 2003 as the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in recognition of a SGD$25m gift from the family of the late Yong Loo Lin to the conservatory. (Yong Siew Toh was a music teacher and daughter of the late Yong; she died in 2000.) This was matched with another SGD$25m from the Ministry of Education.

A SGD$5m ‘interim facility’ was built in the centre of NUS’s sprawling campus. This ‘interim facility’ would be the pride and joy of almost any other permanent institution, yet it is intended for use only until the new facility, complete with 600-seat concert hall and recording studio, is ready (opening date is set for early 2006). Everything in the two-story ‘interim’ structure is spanking new and state-of-the-art, from stands to Steinways. ‘You’d be amazed at what you don’t have when you start up a music school,’ says Baxter: ‘Music stands, chairs, cases, stereo equipment, blackboards, cabinets… the list goes on and on.’ Close to 50 pianos were imported from Germany (22 Steinways) and Japan (26 Yamahas).

The inaugural class consisted of 72 students from eleven countries. China sent the most, followed by Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. The second year added another 50 registrations, and when the new building is operational, there will be room for about 220. So far only a handful of Singaporeans have registered, an issue with which the Ministry of Education is still grappling. ‘On the one hand,’ says Baxter, ‘we want to attract musicians of the highest possible standard to study here in order to build a reputation as a venue of international attention. On the other hand, with the Singapore government so heavily supporting the venture, shouldn’t it benefit primarily the local community?’

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