Malaysian born Chong Wai Lun self-taught his way to a full scholarship at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, majoring in trumpet performance. In 2005 he joined the SYC Ensemble Singers – a pioneer community choir championing the cause of contemporary and newly commissioned choral works – and found his passion for choral music. In 2011 and 2012, Wai Lun represented Singapore in the inaugural sessions of Asia Pacific Youth Choir, organized by International Federation of Choral Music (IFCM).
Wai Lun obtained his Master’s Degree in Kodály Music Pedagogy at the Kodály Institute of Liszt Academy of Music, where he studied music pedagogy under its director, Dr László Nemes, choral conducting under Dr Péter Erdei and sang with the Ars Nova Vocal Ensemble conducted by Dr Katalin Kiss. In the summer of 2014, Wai Lun was one of the few masterclass students of Simon Halsey and Grete Pedersen chosen to conduct the Berlin Radio Choir during a public performance.
In 2015, Wai Lun completed his Master’s Degree in choral conducting at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD). Besides assisting Neil Ferris in conducting the RWCMD Chamber Choir, he was also an active member of BBC National Chorus of Wales under the direction of Adrian Partington.
Upon returning to Singapore, Chong was appointed Music Director of the International Festival Chorus of Singapore (IFC) from 2015-2019. During his tenure with the IFC, he continued to build the choir community, culminating in major performances such as Haydn’s The Creation in 2019.
As the Artistic & Music Director of Symphonia Choralis, his community project chorus specializing in Orchestral Choral works, Wai Lun’s professional assignments as Chorus Master include collaborations with the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra (MFO), Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM), Voices of Singapore (VOS), BASE Entertainment Asia and New Opera Singapore (NOS). His chamber choir, Choralimus, recently awarded a gold and category champion titles at the 9th Singapore International Choral Festival (July 2025)
At VOS, Wai Lun is the founding conductor of VOS City Chorus which made its debut at the 2024 Voices of Singapore Festival. During its inaugural year, City Chorus has already garnered promising track records such as collaboration with Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) and performance of the full soundtrack from Disney’s animation: Beauty and the Beast with the OMM.
Also a dedicated music educator, Chong spends his time teaching choirs at several national schools, including Temasek Secondary and Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary. He serves as adjunct academic faculty at his alma mater—the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music—where he conducts the YST Chamber Singers and also studied orchestral conducting under the guidance of Jason Lai.
