Sir Dr Peter Low (ARAM, KC*SG, USI)
Peter Low began as a boy chorister in 1956 at the Church of Sts. Peter & Paul under French missionary, Rev. Fr. Jean Baptiste, from whom he learnt Gregorian Chant. When Fr. Itcaina returned to France in 1960, Peter joined the Choir at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd and sang under choir mistress, Fay Holmberg. In 1965, he left to join the Minor Seminary and established a Youth Choir in 1965 at the Church of St. Michael as part of his formational training.
In 1970, the 30-member Youth Choir ‘migrated’ to the Parish of the Risen Christ where the Choir’s membership increased to 80 and was further augmented in 1971 by an 80-member Junior Choir. In 2002, the Choir was installed as the principal Choir at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd and renamed ‘Cathedral Choir of the Risen Christ’ with Peter as Choral and Music Director.
Peter’s musical journey continued with his involvement in the National University of Singapore Choir under Dr. Edward Ho, Director of the NUS Arts Centre and the University Recorder Consort under Dr. Geoffrey Benjamin. He studied harmony at the Singapore Institute of Education under Leong Yoon Pin. From 1971 to 1976, Peter was also Associate Conductor of the Singapore Youth Choir which won Singapore its first choral Gold at the prestigious Llanggollen International Eisteddfod in 1974. Besides forming and directing no less than 12 other Choirs in the Republic, Peter also served on the executive committee of the Ministry of Culture’s ‘Music for Everyone’ initiative in the 70s and 80s. He also served on the Executive Committee of the First Singapore Arts Festival and the Ministry of Education’s Standing Committee for School Music. For his contribution towards developing Music in the Republic he received the Singapore Youth Service Award at the Istana in 1979. Peter was part of the Ministry of Education’s Choral Excellence Programme and was Singapore’s First Choral Scholar (under a government scholarship) at the Royal Academy of Music in London where he did a post graduate Diploma in Choral Conducting. In 2006, he earned a Doctorate in Sacred Music from the Graduate Theological Foundation in Indiana.
Aside from his work as a liturgist for three services in the Church of the Risen Christ every weekend, Peter also organized and directed the 1800 member Combined Archdiocesan Choir for the visit of Pope John Paul II to Singapore in 1985 and also directed Combined Archdiocesan Choir for the Episcopal Ordination of Archbishop William Goh in 2013. He was also invited by the Anglican Bishop Rennis Ponniah to direct the Combined Church of Singapore Choir in 2019 for the Bicentennial Celebration of Modern Singapore Service held at St Andrew’s Cathedral, with guest of honour, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Peter’s exceptional work is well recognised. Peter was awarded the Bene Merenti in 1996, a papal knighthood – Knight Commander with Star of St Gregory the Great in 2003 by Pope St John Paul II and also the Italian Ufficio of the Star of Italy. Peter’s services to the church are pro bono.
Besides representing Singapore on the Boards of Adjudicators at international Music Festivals, Peter also has several compositions to his credit including corporate songs for the SMRT, Motorola, and the Anthem of the Singapore Polytechnic, the Episcopal Anthems of Archbishops Nicholas Chia and William Goh and a prize winning composition ‘Laughter of the Child’ at the Japan International Song Competition in Osaka in 1989. He also directed The Risen Christ Choir in 7 commercially successful record albums under the WEA label. Peter’s gift for music and lyrical composition was recognised by fellow musicians when he was awarded the Meritorious Award from the Composer and Authors Soicety of Singapore in 2018.
Peter has also set the 3-year liturgical cycle of more than 180 Responsorial Psalms for Sundays and Holy days to more contemporary genres of music to encourage Psalm singing in homes and prayer gatherings. To date, two volumes of CD recordings have been released under the titles ‘Here I am, Lord’ and ‘Happy the Man’. He is featured in Singapore Records as Singapore’s longest serving Choirmaster.