TOM ANDERSON

Tom Anderson is a Singapore-based American conductor, music educator, and tenor vocalist who has been active in Singapore’s arts and music community since 1999. He currently serves as Resident Conductor of the International Festival Chorus (IFC), where, in his twelfth season, he has led the ensemble through its post-pandemic rebuilding and return to concert performances of both contemporary and classical repertoire.

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Tom’s early years in Singapore included singing tenor with the Singapore Symphony Chorus (SSC) and serving as rehearsal guest conductor for Beethoven’s An die Freude and Carmina Burana in the absence of the resident SSC conductor. From 2000–2002, he was Resident Conductor of the Raffles Junior College Chorale, leading the ensemble to a Gold Medal at the Singapore Youth Festival. From 2000–2004, he also served on the adjunct music faculty of the Singapore Bible College School of Music. From 2000–2018, he was Resident Conductor of the Celebration Chorus, an ecumenical community chorus he established to provide church musicians with opportunities to perform classical repertoire with orchestral accompaniment.

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Tom is a lifetime member of the American Choral Directors Association and a member of the American Guild of Organists, the International Federation for Choral Music, and the Dalcroze Society of America. In the United States, he conducted school and church ensembles, authored articles for music publications, and founded and conducted the Rockville Chancel Choir, a Washington, D.C.-area community chorus specializing in classical sacred music.

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Throughout his career, Tom has studied with and been mentored by distinguished conductors including Robert Page of the Cleveland Orchestra, Vance George of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Dennis Keene of Voices of Ascension, Rodney Eichenberger of Florida State University, and John Rutter of the Cambridge Singers. Most notably, he studied under the late Robert Shaw, former Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Tom also sang as a tenor chorister with the Robert Shaw Festival Chorus for two seasons at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

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As a music educator in Singapore, Tom is active as a conductor, adjudicator, clinician, and workshop leader. At the Canadian International School, he leads the Academy of Music as Choral and Instrumental Performance Lead, teaches high school music, and conducts the CIS Orchestra, Chamber Strings, Dandelion Chinese Choir, and Chinese Instrument Ensemble. Across his conducting and educational work, Tom is particularly passionate about creating meaningful opportunities for musicians to discover, develop, and share their musical voices.