A vibrant and charismatic Singaporean conductor, MR BRANDO TAN HENG PONG, is a versatile musician who is well-versed in Band Directing and Brass playing.

Music has become part of his life since his participation in Saint Patrick’s School Military Band in the year 1990. He started with the euphonium before switching to the Trombone section at a later stage. The band was then under the baton of Mr. David Anthony Glosz.

His enthusiasm towards music did not end after his secondary school years but went on to Saint Andrew’s Junior College Concert Band where he was appointed as Section Leader of the Trombone Section. Two years later, he was selected through a series of audition to join The Singapore Armed Forces Central Band and became the principal Bass Trombonist during his National Service.

In 1998, he went under Mr. David Glosz’s tutelage to learn about band directing and assisted Mr. David Glosz at their Alma Mater, St Patrick’s School. He also joined Commonwealth Secondary school as an assistant conductor while he pursued his degree in Banking and Finance. Although so, he realized that his passion was in band directing and thus decided to take it up as a career.

In the late 2001, Mr. Brando Tan took over the helm of David Glosz and became the Band Director of Commonwealth Secondary School. This marked the prelude in his music career when he also started teaching at Beatty Secondary school. In 2002, he decided to take on another challenge to be the Band Director of Ang Mo Kio Secondary School. In 2004 and 2006, Xinmin Secondary School and Nanyang Junior College also came under his baton respectively. Just this year, the Singapore Chinese Girl’s School too, appointed him as their band director with the confidence that he will bring the school band to greater glory. Driven by his passion and love for music, Mr. Brando Tan improved his musical knowledge at the National Institute of Education, graduating among the pioneer batch with a Specialist Diploma in Band Directing in the year 2004.

As a Band Director, he has groomed and brought numerous Bands to great heights. Through consistent efforts and communication, Commonwealth Secondary School progressed to achieve Gold Awards consecutively in the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Central Judging Competition for Concert Bands in 2003, 2005 and 2007. Ang Mo Kio Secondary School also attained the Gold Award during SYF in 2005 and in 2007, advanced into a Gold With Honors band. They were even selected to perform at the Presentation night for concert bands, the highest and most prestigious honor for a school band in Singapore with guests like the First Lady and other parliamentary ministers among them. 2007 also marked a special year for him as he brought Xinmin Secondary school back to a Gold Band status. He also achieved the Gold award for Nanyang Junior College, ending their 30 years drought of such a highly respected award, making him one of the most successful conductors of the year.

As part of his aspiration to bring out the musicality in every band member, Brando has organized many international and local band exchanges, concerts, overseas trips and workshops for his students. The milestone includes Pacific Basin Music Festival in Hawaii, Band Overseas trips to Sydney, Perth, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, China, Brisbane, New Zealand and Concerts in various concert halls. Having worked with renowned conductors like Shuichi Komiya (USA, Japan), Douglas Stotter (USA), Meryl Wamhoff (USA), Bill Buchanan (Australia) and many others from around Asia, he has definitely made friends with people in the international band music scene.

Currently, serving as the President of the Band Director’s Association of Singapore (BDAS), he has included many programs that will see more interaction among the primary, secondary, tertiary and even community bands in Singapore. He has also managed to bring the association to be a part of the Asia Pacific’s Band Directors Association (APBDA) which will bring about more involvement among the Bands in the region.

Mr Brando Tan believes that constant exposure and increase experiences will help the students in aesthetics development. He always emphasize on character development and adopting good life skills through Co Curriculum Activities (CCA) in school. Mr. Brando Tan will continue to strive for excellence in bringing out the best from all band members.