• The character “华” generally refers to the Chinese ethnicity, while “乐” refers to music.
• The modern Chinese orchestra is made up of four sections: wind, bowed strings, plucked strings, and percussion. The wind instruments include the dizi, suona, and sheng; the bowed-string instruments include the gaohu, erhu, and zhonghu; the plucked-string instruments include the pipa, zhongruan, and yangqin; the percussion instruments include the paigu, dagu, and luo.
• In 1959, the Thau Yong Amateur Musical Association established Singapore’s first complete Chinese orchestra with all the four sections.
• In 1960, the Central Cultural Board Chinese Orchestra was formally established, with Lee Yuk Chuan as the conductor. From the 1960s, Singapore’s local newspapers started using the term “华乐”.
• In 1968, Radio and Television Singapore (presently Mediacorp) held the first Chinese music competition. In the mid-1970s, the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra was formed.
• In 1997, acting on the proposal by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra Pte Ltd was officially formed, with Hu Bing Xu as its musical director.
• The Singapore Chinese Orchestra has recently devoted itself to promoting Nanyang-style Chinese orchestral music, which incorporates the region’s cultural, geographical, and historical themes in its modality, structures, and rhythms.

The Singapore Chinese Orchestra and the Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra have launched the Digital Chamber Concerts series, allowing audiences to enjoy Chinese orchestra music from the comfort of their homes. (Lianhe Zaobao, 9/4/2018)

民乐 (Mainland China), 国乐 (Taiwan), 中乐 (Hong Kong)