Leong Yoon Pin – A Choral Odyssey 25 August 2009 is a milestone in Singapore’s choral history.  Led by 4 renowned Singaporean conductors, a tour de force of 12 school and community choirs came together for an unprecedented gathering to pay tribute to Singapore’s pioneering composer, performing to an appreciative full-house crowd at the Esplanade Concert Hall in a concert aptly titled “Leong Yoon Pin – A Choral Odyssey”. This featured composer is Mr. Matthew Leong Yoon Pin (b.1931), a respected educator and conductor who is best known for his voluminous output of choral music as well as myriad instrumental works that run the gamut from symphonies, overtures, concertos to chamber works. Leong’s choice of text shows a predilection for poetry ranging from the Chinese classical greats such as Li Bai (李白) and Du Fu (杜甫) to modern English nationalistic poetry by local poets such as Angeline Yap.  His choice of texts is born of a natural affinity for the two languages and filtered by the political climate of the late 1950s – choral songs …