• The character “华” in the Mandarin term “华乐” generally refers to the Chinese ethnicity.
• The modern Chinese Orchestra is made up of four sections: wind, bowed strings, plucked strings, and percussion. The wind instruments include the dizi, suona, and sheng; the bowed-string instruments include the gaohu, erhu, and zhonghu; the plucked-string instruments include the pipa, zhongruan, and yangqin; the percussion instruments include the paigu, dagu, and luo.
• In 1959, the Thau Yong Amateur Musical Association established Singapore’s first complete Chinese orchestra, which included the four sections, wind, bowed strings, plucked strings, and percussion.
• In 1960,  the Central Cultural Board Chinese Orchestra was formally established, with Lee Yuk Chuan as the conductor. Since the 1960s, Singapore’s local newspapers started using the term “华乐”.
• In 1997, at the proposal of then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra Pte Ltd was officially formed, with Hu Bingxu as the conductor.
• The Singapore Chinese Orchestra has recently devoted itself to promoting the Nanyang-style Chinese orchestra music, which incorporates elements of Nanyang’s cultural, geographical, and historical themes, which are mainly reflected in musical elements such as modality, structure, and rhythm.

民乐(Mainland China)、中乐(Hong Kong)、国乐(Taiwan)

• In 1968, Radio and Television Singapore held the first Chinesemusic competition. In the same year, the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra was formed.