About

ABOUT

TO ensemble is Singapore's innovative contemporary music ensemble which creates multi-disciplinary performances exploring the relationships between Man, Technology and Nature. It's music is original and draws from a multitude of musical cultures including jazz, film score and classical music and Asian sounds.

The ensemble was created in 2007 by award-winning composer-pianist Tze Toh, described by The Straits Times as "an extraordinary musician whose idiom straddles comfortably between genres of classical, jazz, world and film music” and “possesses an original voice”. He created the original score for Ramesh Meyyappan's critically acclaimed theatre piece Snails and Ketchup (London 2012 Cultural Olympiad) and also Singapore's first animated film Sing to the Dawn. He has also composed for Discovery Channel, Epson, Rosewood, SAP and performed with his jazz ensembles at the Asean Jazz Festival and Indonesia Music Expo (IMEX) among others.

TO ensemble's music has been described by The Business Times as “sophisticated and accessible" and the group's debut album Stories from wonderland (recorded under previous name Tze n Looking Glass) was selected as one of the top 10 albums of the year for having “helped shape music in 2011”.

TO ensemble has performed for the Journey of Youth Olympic Flame 2010 (Auckland), Singapore International Festival of Music (SIFOM)(2016), 2015 Titian Budaya Festival, Singapore Heritage Festival 2017,  Esplanade's MOSAIC Music Festival, among others, and the official opening of Singapore's iconic Gardens by the Bay andNational Gallery Singapore's inaugural Gallery Late Night series.

The ensemble has also collaborated internationally with Cartier, Toyota, Xynteo and DBS bank, and actively works on projects involving film, contemporary dance and visual art. The ensemble soloists have recorded the original score for film maker award-winning film maker Royston Tan's film Popiah［薄餅］, Erik Wayne's Sands of Our Our Fathers (an SG50 film) and Toyota's recent ad The Promise,

TO ensemble is lauded for its original and highly successful audio-film LAND with NO SUN series, which questions the choices of Man whose potential exist as both a destructive and creative force, in a post-apocalypse world. The performance received a standing ovation when it was premiered at the Esplanade Recital Studio in 2015.

The ensemble is a collective made up of outstanding musicians from various musical traditions - from jazz, classical to carnatic (south Indian) and film music, who have all performed internationally and each with a distinct voice. The main soloists include Lazar T.Sebastine (Indian violin), Teo Boon Chye (saxophone), Christina Zhou (violin), Tze Toh (piano), Helena Hulsman (jazz vocals), Izumi Sado (soprano), Wu Bing Ling (violin), Benjamin Wong (viola), Martin Peh (violin), Yap Shing Min (soprano) and Wendy Phua (e.bass).