Jazz Association Singapore turns 10: a decade of building Singapore jazz beyond the stage

One of Jass’s earliest acts was to give the next generation somewhere to play. In May 2017, the Jazz Association Singapore Youth Orchestra, or Jassyo!, gave its inaugural performance at the Lion City Jazz Festival, where American jazz legend Benny Golson served as a mentor. Just months later, in October, the professional Jazz Association Singapore Orchestra, or Jasso, made its international debut as a 14-piece ensemble on the main stage of the JZ Shanghai Jazz Festival. Its first Benefit Gala followed that November, featuring acclaimed American jazz vocalist Carmen Bradford.

Performance, however, was only one part of the equation. The Jass Music Scholarship was established in 2018 to give promising musicians further development opportunities; by March 2026, more than S$500,000 had been invested through the programme, with 15 scholarships awarded. More than 110 young musicians have meanwhile received stage experience and mentorship through Jassyo!, while over 220 musicians have performed in Jass concerts, festivals and community programmes.

Jass’s understanding of support has also widened with circumstance. When the pandemic destabilised musicians’ livelihoods in 2020, the organisation established the Jass Crisis Fund to provide financial assistance to affected local jazz musicians, while livestreamed concerts kept performers connected with audiences. The initiative was renamed the Jass Support Fund in 2023. In 2021, the National Arts Council recognised Jass as a Major Company.

Monteiro’s own conception of jazz helps explain why that structure keeps evolving. Speaking to Tatler  during the pandemic, he reflected on a career in which mastery remains perpetually unfinished: “There’s no arrival, just a constant journey, which makes it so exciting and interesting.” Jass has followed a similarly expansive path, creating more ways for musicians, audiences and patrons to participate in the culture around jazz.

In 2022, “Build Your Legacy Through Jazz” began allowing members of the public to commission Jass musicians to create original compositions inspired by personal stories and sentiments. More than 20 bespoke songs have since been written and dedicated to donors and their loved ones, turning patronage into a direct contribution to new music. The same year, “Swinging Through Our Emotions”, created in collaboration with mental health professionals, explored live jazz as an experiential medium for self-awareness and emotional regulation.

Alongside building the ecosystem around musicians, Jass has spent its first decade asking what a distinctly Singaporean jazz sound might be. Pesta Jazz in 2021 recast Malay favourites such as Getaran Jiwa and Enjit Enjit Semut through jazz, while Jazz It Up! three years later brought veteran singer Teresa Carpio together with Singapore singer-songwriters Wysom Wong and Serene Koong for interpretations of Mandarin classics such as Qing Ren and Gei Wo Yi Ge Wen. Kaleidoscope: Explorations in Asian Jazz, conducted by Jass deputy music director and assistant executive director Chok Kerong and Jass assistant music director and flautist Rit Xu, explored how jazz improvisation could engage with Chinese instruments including the dizi and xiao. It later evolved into Singaporeana – Our Sound, Our Stories, extending that conversation across Singapore’s musical traditions.

That exploration has yielded 39 original compositions and 151 new arrangements, while Singapore jazz has travelled further afield. Jass has made 13 international appearances across seven countries and eight cities, including performances in 2025 at the Thailand International Jazz Conference, South Korea’s Jarasum Jazz Festival and the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. When nearly 180 members of the jazz community gathered for Jass’s A Great Day in Singapore portrait, Monteiro told Tatler that the scene had reached “a very important crossroads”. The image brought together musicians across generations; Jass’s work has increasingly been about creating more opportunities for those generations to meet, develop and carry the music forward.

In case you missed it: ‘A Great Day in Singapore’: Jazz Association Singapore recreates the famous Art Kane photograph

That continues in 2026 with Jass Junior, which supports musicians aged 18 and below through private coaching, mentored ensemble rehearsals and performance-based learning. The Jass Catalyst Fund, established in April, extends that support into professional practice, backing areas such as development, recording projects and overseas performances.

It is this sweep—from first exposure to professional practice—that gives the anniversary gala its resonance. The 2025 Jass Music Scholarship recipient Maya Raisha, now pursuing a Master’s in Jazz Studies (Performance) in New York, returns to Singapore to perform. Teresa Carpio joins musicians from Jasso and Jassyo! in a combined orchestra led by Monteiro alongside Jass deputy music directors Chok Kerong and Tan Weixiang. For Monteiro, the night carries another milestone: his 50th year as a professional musician.

The gala feels less like a look back than a snapshot of where Jass is now—and where it is headed. The numbers—more than S$6.3 million raised, 114 signature productions and 50 community events—give a sense of Jass’s reach. But its legacy is perhaps better measured in what those figures have made possible: young musicians gaining meaningful performance experience, artists receiving support to develop their craft, and Singapore jazz finding new audiences at home and abroad. Ten years on, Jass has built something larger than a calendar of concerts. It has helped create the conditions for the music, and the people making it, to keep evolving.

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