About Victoria Choral Academy
Victoria Choral Academy offers choral music education, choral workshops, seminars, consulting services and publications of choral music scores. Founded in the year 2000, the academy has been providing excellent choral music training and education for various schools and colleges.
The Academy has hosted workshops and seminars for choirs and conductors for various competitions and concerts. In conjunction with its music education, the academy also organises tours for overseas competitions and festivals. In addition, the academy has been publishing many local and Asian music pieces for choirs.
Victoria Choral Academy was also the co-organiser for the 21st Century International Choral Competition held in 2003 at Genting, Malaysia.
Artistic Director - Nelson Kwei
Mr Nelson Kwei, the premier choral director in Singapore, is an accomplished conductor, music arranger and vocal tutor in the music scene. Trained in the demanding art of vocal music since the age of eight, Mr Kwei has a Licentiate in singing from the Guildhall School of Music. He also won the coveted title of "Most Promising Singer" in an Asian Art Song Competition at the age of 20. Mr Nelson Kwei was the first choral scholar from Singapore. He was awarded a prestigious scholarship in 1990 by the Ministry of Education to do an Advanced Post-Graduate Studies in Choral Conducting from the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Besides conducting and singing, Mr Nelson Kwei also composes and arranges songs. He was the 5th Prize winner in an Asian Song Writing Contest in 1981. He was also the winner of the National Anti-Drug Campaign Song Writing Competition in 1980 and 1981. His choral arrangements are frequently performed by choirs both locally and abroad. In 1993, Mr Kwei was honoured with the "National Youth Service Award", the highest Youth Award in Singapore, in recognition of his significant contribution in the field of choral art. In 1999, he was awarded with the "Culture Award" by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and in 2001, the Rotary Club honoured him as the "Ambassador of the Arts" for Singapore.
International Achievements
Mr Nelson Kwei is a famous figure In the international choral scene, his choirs had won top prizes in various important international choral competitions such as "Bournemouth Musicmakers International Competition Festival" UK, "Riva Del Garda Concorso Corale Internazionale", Italy, "Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod" Wales, "International Choral Competition at Pohlhelm", Germany, "Mendelssohn Bartholdy International Choral Competition" Germany, "Choir Olympic 2000" Austria, "Schloss Porcia Internationaler Chorwettbewerb" Austria, "Hawaii International Choir Competition Festival" USA and "Pacific Basin Music Festival" USA.
In 1998, Mr Kwei won the prestigious "Outstanding Choral Director Award" at the 3rd International Choral Competition in Germany. He is also the only Singaporean choral conductor who has received such honour. He later won his second international award "Outstanding Conductor Prize" at the 2nd International Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Choir Competition in Germany. All these international recognition has won him a place as a member of the Artistic Advisory Committee of the first ever Choir Olympic 2000 in Linz, Austria of which three of his choirs captured 2 Gold Medals and 4 Silver Medals in total. He is also a member of the Artistic Committee for the First Asia-Pacific Choral Symposium 2001. Recently he had also clinched the Best Conductor Award in the Petr Eben International Advent Festival, Prague in 2002 with Victoria Junior College getting the Petr Eben grand prize.
In 2001, six of his choirs were awarded with the "Ambassador of the Art" Award for their outstanding achievement in international choral competitions. At present, Mr Nelson Kwei is working as a free lance choral director and was frequently invited to give workshops and keynote lectures in international choral festivals / conventions as well as adjudicate in international choral competitions. All his choirs were awarded Gold diploma in the biennial Singapore Youth Festival Choral Competition and Central Judging since 1987.
Current Work
In 2003, Mr Nelson Kwei was the Artistic Director of the 21st Century International Choral Competition held in Genting Highland, Malaysia. The festival involved over 2000 participants from 40 choirs from 6 different countries.
Nelson Kwei is presently a member of the National Arts Council Advisory Board for Choral Development in Singapore. He is also the Chairman of the Choral Directors' Association (Singapore). On the international level, he is the First Vice- Chairman of the Asian Youth Choir Council, an international federation for choirs and conductors.