The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University

A little more than 9,640 miles separates Peabody Institute and Singapore’s Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YST). At first glance, though, the two conservatories can appear more than just miles apart. The cultural differences are vast. And physical contrasts—Mount Vernon’s cobblestone streets and 19th-century architecture versus YST’s new, modern home on the campus of the contemporary National University of Singapore—are striking.

But for Maestro Tze Law Chan, YST associate director, Peabody feels like home. “The DNA of Yong Siew Toh is very much Peabody,” notes Chan, who is widely regarded as one of the most dynamic conductors of his generation in Asia. “Our faculty members recognize a lot of their training and teaching when they come to Peabody. The American style of training is what we teach in Asia.”

This past April, he spent a week in Baltimore, during which he presented a lecture on Elgar to conducting students as well as a general lecture, “Building Orchestras: A Perspective From Singapore.”

Sharing faculty teaching expertise and musical artistry has been an objective for both institutions from the beginning of Peabody’s historic collaboration with Singapore’s first conservatory, in 2004. That year, Peabody faculty member Marian Hahn traveled to YST to teach and perform at the YST opening. “As the technological revolution makes the world smaller, cultural exchanges of all kinds become increasingly important,” says Hahn, who holds the YST Singapore Conservatory Chair in Piano at Peabody. “Whenever artists of different nationalities get together, they always find common ground. The musical language cuts across national boundaries.”

Since 2004, Hahn and Keng-Yuen Tseng, the YST Singapore Conservatory Chair in Violin at Peabody, have averaged at least one visit to YST per year. Also, typically, at least one other Peabody faculty member spends a week each semester at YST, teaching master classes, playing, lecturing, and/or working with small groups or individual students. “Exchanges are a win for both faculty and the students,” says Gayle Ackley, senior associate dean for finance and administration. “Faculty gain a wider perspective for their own work, and students have the invaluable opportunity to work with a different faculty member. It also widens their world view.”

A new five-year collaborative agreement between Peabody and YST—expected to be signed this fall—calls for at least two faculty exchanges a year, in addition to the yearly visits by endowed chairs Hahn and Tseng. This September marks the first semester-long faculty exchange between the two institutions. Hahn and the YST’s Thomas Hecht will “switch” piano studios for the semester and teach each other’s students. Hahn also will teach a sonata literature class at YST to provide training in repertoire for piano and strings.

And for the first time this fall, four YST graduates have enrolled at Peabody as full-time graduate students, all on full scholarships through the National University of Singapore. Irwin Shung, a fifth-year Peabody student majoring in piano, will join Hahn for the fall semester in Singapore.

The universal language of notes and scales isn’t the only common tongue he’ll find at YST. Shung, who also is majoring in biology at Hopkins’ Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, will attend biology classes at the National University of Singapore, proving again that halfway around the world isn’t so far after all.

— Sarah Achenbach