T’ang Quartet co-founder and violist Lionel Tan dies at 60 after cancer battle

During his time with the orchestra, he received a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London. He graduated in performance and pedagogy and was awarded the Lionel Tertis prize for his outstanding viola performance.

In 1992, following Ang’s return from overseas studies, the four musicians formed the T’ang Quartet. The ensemble’s name references China’s Tang Dynasty, often regarded as a golden age of the arts. It also serves as a play on the musicians’ surnames: Tan, Ang and Ng.

In 1997, all four founding members left the SSO to focus on the quartet full-time.

Over the following decades, the T’ang Quartet became one of Singapore’s most prominent chamber music ensembles, performing at venues including London’s Wigmore Hall, Boston’s Seiji Ozawa Hall and Berlin’s Philharmonie.

Beyond performance, the quartet was also active in music education. Members taught at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute between 2001 and 2005 and regularly mentored young musicians at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in the National University of Singapore. 

The ensemble released its debut album, The Art Of War, in 2005 and went on to produce several other recordings, including a live concert album and a project produced in collaboration with Tan Tock Seng Hospital.