Our Theory and Oral Teacher Mr Phoon Yew Tien

Under the tutelage of composer Leong Yoon Pin and Elaine Dobson, Phoon Yew Tien is Singapore's most recorded classical music composer. Phoon is not only well-grounded in both Eastern and Western musical vocabularies, his output covers the entire spectrum of chamber music, songs, music for theatre and concert hall. He has earned a fine reputation as a significant composer, both in Singapore and in the international arena.

For three consecutive years, 1977 to 1979, he won the Distinguished Prize in the National Song Writing Competition - the prizes were awarded for the works Our Song in 1977, Nanyang University (1978) and Song for Workers (1979). While attending the Queensland Conservatorium of Music on a Singapore Symphony Orchestra scholarship, Phoon was awarded the Dulcie Robertson Prize in composition thrice (1980, 1981 and 1983), for best composition.

In 1984, Phoon won the prestigious Yoshiro Irino Memorial Prize for Composition, awarded by the Asian Composers League, one of the highest awards to be given to a young Asian composer. In 1996, 1997,2001 and 2004, he was also awarded the top Local Serious Music Award by the Singapore Composer and Authors Society (COMPASS).

On 14th April 2000, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra premiered his Variants on an Ancient Tune as one of a series of new works commissioned for the 20th anniversary of the orchestra. On 12th October 2000, the Beijing China Film Orchestra performed works by Phoon Yew Tien in his solo composition concert in Beijing Concert Hall. The concert was jointly presented by the government of the People's Republic of China and the Singapore National Arts Council. He was also commissioned by the Singapore National Arts Council to compose a large scale work ( Confucius - A Secular Cantata ) for the Singapore Arts Festival 2001.

Since 1987, Phoon's compositions and arrangements have been performed and recorded by the orchestras such as the Singapore Symphony, the Russian Philharmonic, Shanghai Philharmonic, Shanghai Music Conservatory Symphony, , Shanghai Music Conservatory Chinese Orchestra, Singapore Chinese Orchestra ,Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and the Kaohsiung City Chinese Orchestra of Taiwan.

Besides composing symphonic works,Chinese orchestra music and chamber music,Phoon participated in almost all Singapore Arts Festivals since 1984.He has collaborated with many Singapore artists including Kuo Pao Kun, Goh Lay Kuan, Tan Swie Hian , Lim Fei Shen and Yan Choong Lian to Create music for television (Grandpa?s Meat Bone Tea),over 20 theatre productions (Evening Climb, Lao Jiu, Kopi Tiam, The Oolah World, Family, The Spirits Play, Descendent of the Eunuch Admiral, etc.), dance theatre (Nu Wa, Xi Fangping, Tang Huang, The Homing Fish, etc.) and dances (Nuo Dance, Madhouse, Dao, Qing Ming etc.).

Phoon's music successfully combines a Chinese idiom with contemporary compositional techniques and styles. It is often transparent and spare in texture, making effective and careful use of tone colour. Phoon Yew Tien has been a Committee Member of the Advisory Council on Culture and the Arts (1988), a member of the National Arts Council Resource Panel, and Associate Conductor of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra. From 1993 to 1996, he was Head of Music at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, where he lectured from 1984 to 1999.

In 2000, Phoon was appointed by the Singapore government to re-arrange the National Anthem.

Phoon has been serving as an Arts Advisor to the National Arts Council since 1998. In 1996 he was awarded the Cultural Medallion by the Singapore Government, the highest award given in the field of the arts in Singapore. He has also been appointed by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra to be the Composer in Residence for the year 2003.

一九八三年以作曲及长笛演奏双学位毕业於澳洲昆士兰音乐学院。

翌年在亚洲作曲家同盟大会上发表了作品－“秋”并因而荣获该会所颁之“入野义朗纪念奖”（Yoshiro Irino Memorial Prize）。

除了创作交响乐，华（中）乐，及各类型式的中西室内乐之外。自一九八四年起至二零零三年二十年间，潘君也参与了几乎每一次的新加坡艺术节 演出。在和舞蹈家家吴丽娟，林飞仙，戏剧家郭宝昆，多元艺术家陈瑞献等新加坡著名艺术家的合作过程当中所产生的作品有：电视电影配乐“阿公肉骨茶”话剧配 乐“乌拉世界”，“老九”，“黄昏上山”，“羔呸店”，“家”，“灵戏”以及“郑和的后代”等二十余部。舞剧音乐“女娲”，“席方平”，“唐璜”以及舞蹈 音乐“傩舞”，“归鱼” ，“疯人院”等等。

潘君作品除了在新加坡发表之外，亦曾在中国，香港，台湾，日本，英国，澳洲，纽西兰，法国，意大利以及马来西亚等地发表或广播。其中交响 乐及华乐作品亦为俄罗斯爱乐乐团，新加坡交响乐团，上海乐团交响乐队，上海音乐学院交响乐队，台湾省交响乐团，新加坡华乐团，香港中乐团，高雄实验国乐团 以及台湾国立实验国乐团所演奏或录音。

二零零零年秋，潘君的个人作品专场音乐会在中国与新加坡两国文化交流计划下在中国北京成功演出。同年，新加坡政府委托潘君为国歌重新编曲。二零零一年潘君亦受委为是年新加坡艺术节创作了大型清唱剧“化雨”。

创作之余，潘君亦曾任新加坡南洋艺术学院音乐系主任（1993－1996）以及新加坡国家艺术理事会艺术顾问（自1998年至今））。同时亦历任新加坡华乐团（自1997年）香港中乐团（2001，2002）之声部首席及乐员考核委员。

一九九六年潘君荣获新加坡文化界最高荣誉之一的国家文化奖。潘君亦为二零零三年新加坡交响乐团驻团作曲家。