About the Programme
New Sights Fellowship returns in 2025, a programme designed for music composers to produce original intercultural work, focusing on the process towards creation. Selected Fellows will go through a rigorous programme of talks, performances, site visits, lectures, and mentorship over a span of six months. They will then premiere their compositions with The Straits Ensemble and conclude the Fellowship by presenting what they have learned at a public sharing platform. 

For the inaugural fellowship, six fellows were selected from a pool of 15 applicants, made up of 4 professionals and 2 music college students.

The Process
The 2023 fellows went through a rigorous programme of talks, performances, lectures, site visits and mentorship. They were also guided to have a reflective practice, focusing on their identities and connecting with their audience.  The fellows were given ample time to work with the musicians from The Straits Ensemble to review the compositions.

The Presentation
The fellows premiered their compositions with The Straits Ensemble at The Great Hall, housed within Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre, in August 2023. Guided by veteran Teaching Artists, Kamini Ramachandran and Peggy Ferroa, the fellows also employed various tools (poetry, engagement activity, animation and videos) to help the
audience connect, in a deeper way, to their compositions.