Singapore-born composer and educator Chua Jon Lin credits her versatility in traversing musical cultures and genres to her eclectic musical background. Recent composition awards include the First Prize (large ensemble category) as well as the Young Singaporean Composer award on the 3rd Singapore International Composition Competition for Chinese Chamber Music, “Composium 2018,” organized by the Ding Yi Music Company (Singapore).

Apart from her work as a composer, Ms. Chua is also passionate about passing on her skills and knowledge to aspiring musicians. She has had experience teaching in both Rochester, New York, as well as in Singapore.

She has taught in the Eastman Community Music School in Rochester, New York, where she gave private instruction in composition, advanced analysis, as well as in eartraining and sightsinging. 

She has also served as instructor of theory and sightsinging for the Music Horizons programme, a programme targeted at highschoolers aspiring to major in music in college, as part of Summer@Eastman, a summer institute affiliated to the Eastman School of Music. 

In addition to her work in engaging with pre-college level education in music theory and aural skills, she has also developed a set of pedagogical exercises in advanced rhythmic training covering complex tuplets, polyrhythms, and irrational meters, for professional musicians who want to challenge themselves and venture into more rhythmically complex contemporary repertoire. These exercises were published in the Eastman School of Music Honors Track Aural Musicianship Training Anthology (from Fall 2016 onwards), compiled by Prof. Matthew Curlee.

After returning to Singapore, Ms. Chua began teaching in Eight Tones Music School, giving academic tuition in MEP/’O’ level music/’A’ level music/IB music, and giving private instruction in composition, music theory, and aural skills, bringing with her the expertise and experience she has accumulated during her time in Rochester. In November 2018, she has been invited as a guest composer by the School of the Arts (SOTA), to give talks, masterclasses, and workshops to composition students over a week-long composition workshop.

Ms. Chua studied at the Eastman School of Music, where she graduated with highest distinction as a double major in composition and music theory, and also a recipient of numerous scholarships, including the prestigious Presser Scholar Award and the National Arts Council of Singapore Arts Scholarship. She also received composition awards such as the Wayne Brewster Barlow Award, Louis Lane Award, and the Bernard Rogers Memorial Prize. Ms. Chua is the current treasurer of the Composers Society of Singapore (CSS), as well as a member of the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS).