The conductor on how he navigates the symphony of his life with vim and vigour. You may be familiar with Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Mahler. You might be surprised, however, to hear a common Singaporean surname uttered in the same breath as these classical music greats. This has been the reality for Wong Kah Chun since he won the prestigious Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in 2016. He has been travelling the world since, living out of a suitcase, thanks to a hectic touring schedule guest conducting with different orchestras in different cities nearly every week. The 31-year-old, who got into music by chance when he was selected to play the cornet in his primary school’s brass band, studied at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music before scoring the Lee Kuan Yew scholarship to study conducting in Berlin’s Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler.  This September, the National Arts Council 2017 Young Artist Award recipient and 2016 Gen.T lister will officially begin his stint as chief conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra in Germany. He hopes this will keep him grounded, literally, for a while. Here, he shares about his conducting approach and how he's hoping to make music more inclusive.