Singapore musician Iskandar Ismail dies of lung and brain cancer

SINGAPORE — Cultural Medallion winner, composer and music director Iskandar Ismail died of lung and brain cancer today (Nov 1) according to media reports. He was 58.

In the music director’s career, which spans 30 years, he helmed national-scale productions including the National Day Parade, Chingay street parade and the Youth Olympic Games.

He also worked on musicals such as Sing To The Dawn, Beauty World and Chang & Eng, and music for television dramas such as On The Fringe and A War Diary.

Despite not speaking Mandarin, he worked with Asian pop artistes such as Sandy Lam and Jacky Cheung.

In a 2013 interview with TODAY, he said: “Chinese pop actually spurred me on … and gave me the incentive to (carry on). It gave me a salary such that I could eventually afford my own recording studio,” he said. “It was really a blessing, because not many music arrangers get to work with so many genres.”

Iskandar was first diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010. He leaves behind a wife, son and daughter.