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Tutor's Bio
Nelson Kwei
Choral Director & Resident Conductor
Nelson Kwei is an accomplished conductor, music arranger and vocal tutor. Trained in vocal music since the age of eight, he has a Licentiate in Singing from the Guildhall School of Music. He was the first choral scholar from Singapore who was awarded a prestigious scholarship in 1990 by the Ministry of Education to an Advanced Post-Graduate Studies in Choral Conducting from the Royal Academy of Music, London.
Upon graduation from university in 1985, he founded and conducted the Victoria Junior College Choir, which made history in the Singapore music scene in June 1990 by being the first school choir to win an international choir competition at the Welsh Eisteddfod. Nelson's conducting style and interpretation of music was highly commended by the distinguished panel of judges.
Since then, Nelson has led the Victoria Chorale, the Tampines Junior College Choir, The Amadeus Choral Society and the Victoria School Choir to clinch top prizes at international choral competitions such as the Bournemouth Musicmakers' Festival, Riva Del Garda Concorso Corale Internazionale, Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, International Choral Competition at Polheim, Germany and the Pacific Basin Music Festival.
For his contribution in the field of Choral Music and Singing, Nelson was awarded the "National Youth Service Award" in 1993. He was also appointed the Chorus Master of Verdi's grand opera "AIDA" - an international production staged in Singapore in 1996, and the chorus was very highly commended for its splendid performances.
In 1998, Nelson led three choirs from Singapore to compete in the 3rd Musica Mundi International Choral Competition in Germany and clinched 3 Gold diplomas for Singapore. In addition, he also received the prestigious Most Outstanding Choral Director Award; the only Singaporean choral conductor to have received such an international award for choir direction.
In 1999, Nelson was awarded the Culture Award by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He later won his second International Outstanding Conductor prize at the 2nd International Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Choir Competition in Germany. His international recognition won him a place as a member of the Artistic Advisory Committee of the first ever Choir Olympics 2000 in Linz, Upper Austria.
