Music lovers who attended the concert “My Muse · Rani Singam” in April 2019 may not have realised that vocalist Rani Singam ’94 and pianist/composer Chok Kerong ‘08 are connected by more than just music. Both are graduates of the NUS Faculty of Law.

The Call of Music
After graduating in 1994, Rani Singam became a lawyer with the Singapore Legal Service. During her younger days, she had been part of the Radio and Television children’s choir, and had performed while in secondary school and university. That music aspect faded when she joined the legal profession. It was only in 2001 that the call of music became loud and clear again when she left to become a full-time mother. “My mantra has always been to strive to be the best version of myself in any endeavour, be it music or law,” Rani reflects. “When I was in law school, I did not have any intention to be a professional singer, I had every intention to become a lawyer for life.” But life turned out differently. She became a professional singer in 2002, and is dubbed as Singapore’s first lady of jazz.
 
Drawn to music from a very young age, Chok Kerong auditioned for and won a scholarship to Berklee Scholarship of Music while he was still a JC student. However, he ended up reading law at NUS instead after fulfilling his National Service obligations. During his university years, he became increasingly active in the local music scene, gaining valuable experience that would inform his decision to pursue music full-time later. Some months before he graduated from NUS, he secured a place at the Manhattan School of Music and made history by becoming the first jazz musician here to be awarded the National Arts Council Overseas Arts Scholarship. Kerong is now one of the most established talents in the Singapore music community, and his compositions and arrangements have been performed by artists across genres such as singer-songwriter Charlie Lim, legendary trumpeter Randy Brecker, and the T’ang Quartet.
 
Lessons of Law
Even as musicians, law has shaped and influenced them. Rani shares: “The study of law, which involves analysis, interpretation, communication and debate, has instilled an awareness in me of the intricacies and complexities of life, of how things are often not black and white.” This has shaped her world view and interaction with people. The legal training has also equipped her with the knowledge on music business matters like performance contracts. But most importantly, it has taught her professionalism and integrity.
 
For Kerong, being heavily involved in music and law school at the same time helped to keep things in balance, and he tries to maintain that balance even today.
 
Making Music Together
“My Muse · Rani Singam” is the latest collaboration between Rani Singam and Chok Kerong, with Rani as the vocalist and Kerong doing the music arrangement and playing the piano. They took “My Muse”, a piece which they had worked on for Rani’s 2011 album “Contentment”, and turned it into a full-length concert with a string quartet and rhythm section.
 
“I had a fleeting desire to make music with a string quartet many years ago when I heard Kurt Elling’s album ‘Dedicated to You’,” says Rani. “After performing with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 2016, I fell in love with the live sound of stringed instruments in particular. That experience made me more resolute to make my desire a reality.”
 
That reality was made possible because with more than a decade of working together, there’s a lot of mutual trust between Rani and Kerong.
 
“He’s a joy to work with because he really cares about what he does,” says Rani of Kerong, adding that he stays focused on what’s important, and always delivers.

“I love working with Rani because she’s always down to try anything I write for her, and we’re on the same page most of the time,” states Kerong. He shares something few people know. “Rani used to present music education programmes where she would channel characters from popular children’s fiction and her band would don full animal costumes.”
 What about a Kerong fun fact? “He likes Indian food,” Rani exclaims. “He can make thosai!”
 
Musical Highlights
While Rani and Kerong have made beautiful music together, their individual accomplishments are also impressive.
 
Rani has collaborated with jazz greats such as James Moody, Ernie Watts and Singapore’s Jeremy Monteiro. She has also performed at occasions such as the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix. “Never had I imagined myself singing the national anthem at the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix on the race track itself on the very spot where the cars are flagged off, or performing with musicians all over the world like Japan before new audiences,” Rani enthused. “I’ve discovered how wonderful music can be in bridging geographical barriers, promoting deeper understanding and friendships and uniting people.”
 
Kerong is regarded as one of Singapore’s most versatile talents. In February 2019, he performed at the Esplanade Recital Studio with his 11-piece ensemble, which had some of the best musicians in the world, such as Mat Jodrell, Teriver Cheung, and Johannes Felscher. “The concert was entitled ‘Pitch’, and the repertoire was made up of all original music I wrote, with the majority being new works that had never been performed before,” Kerong says. “The musicians played with so much fire and it felt like the audience was really in our corner. The project was very special to me.”
 
Endnote
Starting this July, look out for Rani every Tuesday on Channel 5 as she acts and sings in a new 13-part murder mystery drama series “Fried Rice Paradise” that’s adapted from Dick Lee’s musical. Meanwhile, Kerong is working on some new video content that will go up on his social media channels soon.

My Muse - Rani Singam was part of the new VCH Excite! Series by the SSO. Rani enchanted the audience with jazz classics from legendary muses who have inspired her, as well as newly commissioned arrangements written by the inventive and evocative Chok Kerong. Held on Saturday, 6th April 2019, NUS Law was delighted to be able to support this event by inviting our supporters and alumni along for the performance. Professor Simon Chesterman (Dean, NUS Law), together with faculty members and almost 200 NUS Law supporters, alumni and their guests were thrilled to witness Rani and Kerong make the most of their musical talents.

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