How did we get here?
What keeps us here?
Is this home?
These are the questions Sulwyn Lok's music keeps returning to — the ones we live inside but rarely say aloud.
Cannes Film Festival • Busan International Film Festival • Hermès • New York State Council on the Arts • Singapore Chinese Orchestra • Singapore Symphony Orchestra
A composer and music director moving between Singapore and New York, Sulwyn writes for the charged space where Chinese instruments, Western orchestras, tradition, and electronics strain toward each other and almost — but never quite — touch. Sometimes the feeling is tender and bright — a spring breeze, a memory held with someone you love. Sometimes it's harder — an old wound, a peace that may never come. The music doesn't sort them or tidy them away. It holds them.
Because in the end, that is what music is for. Not to answer the questions — but to build a shared room for what's too large to face alone.
Sulwyn Lok is a composer and music director whose work has been described as “magical” and filled with “plenty of beautiful sounds to savour” (The Straits Times). Based between Singapore and New York, his music draws from a global palette — from orchestras and traditional Chinese instruments to voice and synthesizers — with a focus on cultural connection and narrative resonance.
He composed the music for the opening of Hermès’ On the Wings of Hermès exhibition, creating an immersive live experience that journeyed from Baroque elegance to whimsical marching band spectacle. His work also includes projects for Samsung and films premiering at Cannes and Busan, and has been recognized by Universal Music (UCompose) and the National Youth Film Awards. Spanning concert hall, theatre, and screen, his commissions include the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and the arts councils of both New York and Singapore.
Signature projects include Here, Hear — a museum-based piece on Asian New Yorker identity; Morning of the World — a multimedia meditation on renewal; and Waves, Towards the Lands We Call Home — a symphonic prayer shaped by early Chinese migration. His concerto cycle Into the Moonlit Yonder, written for Chinese wind and percussion instruments (吹打乐), explores longing, sanctuary, and transformation.
Sulwyn is also passionate about inclusion and education. He has led music workshops for Afghan refugees in Indonesia, works closely with The Purple Symphony (Singapore’s largest inclusive orchestra), and teaches regularly across Southeast Asia.
He holds a Master’s in Screen Scoring from New York University (Singapore Digital Scholar) and was valedictorian at NUS YST Conservatory. He is the resident composer for the Singapore Ruan Ensemble and Reverberance, and co-founded Poco Productions, the Southeast Asia Music Academy Online, and the Victoria Chinese Orchestra.