Berlin hears Dr Darius Lim‘s music in December, but Singapore hears it first.
Tickets start at S$32, and the Early Bird discount on Stalls seats ends on 18 October. If you’ve ever wondered what a Singaporean composer sounds like on one of classical music’s most famous stages, this is the cheapest way to find out.
Meet the Man Behind the Music
Lim is the Artistic Director of VOS and a Singaporean composer and conductor. His album Songs of Dreams collects 14 works, was recorded in 2024 and was released by Naxos on 28 November 2025. The November concert borrows that title and much of that spirit, with a programme built around dreams, imagination and the things people share.
Lim is billed as conductor and composer-in-residence for this year’s Berlin programme. That means he isn’t simply having a piece performed abroad. He’s standing in front of the choir while his own catalogue fills the evening.
So What’s Walking in Beauty?
Walking in Beauty is a choral series curated by CHORALSPACE, a European organisation that brings choirs from different countries together to perform. Each edition centres on a living choral composer and puts that composer’s work into the Berlin Philharmonie, the concert hall complex that is home to the Berlin Philharmonic.
The 2026 edition, the series’ fourth, runs from 10 to 13 December. The closing Songs of Dreams concert then moves into the Philharmonie’s Kammermusiksaal, its chamber music hall, on 13 December from 8pm to 10pm, with Lim’s Island of Dreams on the Berlin programme. The festival has been listed as fully booked, which tells you choirs from abroad were keen to sing Lim’s music.
Voices of Singapore says Lim is the first Asian composer to be spotlighted in the series. According to VOS, he joins Ēriks Ešenvalds, Bob Chilcott and Ola Gjeilo. Anyone who sang in a school choir has a fair chance of having held a score with one of those names at the top.
Why a Composer Credit Hits Different
Asian musicians have been winning seats in Western orchestras for years. Park Kyung-min became the first Korean permanent member of the Berlin Philharmonic in 2019, and more Asian players now hold principal chairs in major orchestras in Europe and the US.
The music on the stands is a different story, though. Players perform what’s put in front of them, while a composer decides what the whole room hears. Getting a Singaporean’s name printed as the evening’s headline composer in Berlin moves Asian talent from the chairs to the programme itself. For young composers in Singapore wondering whether writing choral music could take them anywhere, December offers a very concrete answer!
Who’s Singing on 9 November
VOS calls itself Singapore’s largest singing organisation, with more than 30 groups and over 2,000 members. Eight of those groups share the SOTA stage: the VOS Children’s Choir, VOS Youth Choir, VOS Ladies Choir, VOS Men, VOS City Chorus, VOS Starlight Voices, Chorus of the People and Coronation Singers.
The children’s and youth choirs deserve your attention. Much of the conversation around this concert is about firsts and prestige, but those younger singers are the ones who will grow up assuming a Singaporean composer belongs in Berlin. Watching that assumption take shape live is worth the ticket on its own.
The other draw is the world premiere of Lim’s new work, Our World Is An Island. Premieres are a gamble, since nobody in the room has heard the piece before. At SOTA, though, you’ll hear it before any Berlin audience does. Getting to say you heard it first is a very Singaporean flex, and a harmless one.
The rest of the programme mixes Lim’s originals with well-loved choral works. That makes it a gentle first concert if your usual live music is a stadium tour from our quarterly concert roundups.
Tickets and Which Show to Pick
There are two performances, at 2.30pm and 8pm. The evening show makes sense if you’re coming after work. The matinee suits families bringing kids, who might get inspired watching the Children’s Choir perform.
Until Sunday, 18 October 2026, 11.59pm, the code EARLY10 takes 10% off Stalls tickets only, which brings them to S$34.20 before GST and fees.
If you’re choosing, book Stalls before the code expires. The concert is supported by the National Arts Council.
🗓️ Date: Monday, 9 November 2026
⏰ Time: 2.30pm and 8pm
📍 Location: SOTA Concert Hall, 1 Zubir Said Drive, Singapore 227968
🎟️ Tickets: S$38 (Stalls), S$32 (Circle), excluding GST and booking fees; 10% off Stalls with code EARLY10 until 18 October 2026, 11.59pm
🔗 Details: Eventbrite
Grab your seats on Eventbrite before the Early Bird code expires on 18 October. After that, follow Voices of Singapore to see how the choir does in Berlin on 13 December. It’s a rare chance to cheer on a hometown composer twice in one season!
Photos and Visuals courtesy of Voices of Singapore.
Read us first on Google: add DANAMIC as a preferred source and our stories show up more in your Top Stories and AI results.
