What does it take to build a career in the arts? 

The NAC Arts Scholarship supports and nurtures outstanding talents across various disciplines, from curatorial practices to creative health and cultural economics, empowering them to push artistic boundaries and create meaningful impact within Singapore as future leaders in the arts. 

Since 2025, in partnership with President's Challenge, the scholarship has expanded its support for young arts talent, empowering more individuals from diverse backgrounds to achieve their artistic potential. 

We speak with four NAC Arts Scholars whose journeys reveal what becomes possible when passion meets opportunity in the arts.

NAC Arts Scholars (clockwise from top left): Mohamed Khalifah Bin Mohamed Safri, Denise Leong, Niranjan Pandian, and Guo Ningru.

Creating Spaces for Stories to Be Heard

Mohamed Khalifah Bin Mohamed Safri

Theatre Practitioner

Diploma in Theatre, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, NAFA 

Mohamed Khalifah Bin Mohamed Safri didn't just want to perform theatre; he wanted to build a home for it.

While pursuing his Diploma in Theatre at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, he co-founded NAFA Stageworks, a drama CCA that brings together students from different disciplines to create and perform. It marked his first step towards making theatre accessible for everyone. Their first production, Normal by Faith Ng, became a defining milestone that strengthened his instincts as a collaborator and leader. 

"I learnt how important it is to build a safe and welcoming space where people from different backgrounds can come together through theatre," he said.

For Khalifah, the NAC Arts Scholarship affirms his ambition for inclusion and gives him greater confidence to engage and connect with the wider community through theatre. "I hope to keep creating spaces where people can come together to make art. Most of all, I hope to create opportunities for unheard voices to share their stories,” he reflected.

Bringing Dance into Communities

 Denise Leong

Founder, HOWONE Institute

Master’s in Dance Leadership and Community Practice, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, United Kingdom

Techniques and movement didn't come naturally to Denise Leong, who came to dance later in life. She had to break down movements step by step just to keep up. What initially felt like a disadvantage turned out to be one of her greatest strengths.

"That became a blessing in disguise — it allows me to teach more clearly and connect with beginners. I understand their fears and frustrations because I've been in their shoes before," she reflected.

Today, Denise is the founder of HOWONE Institute, a creative health social enterprise that has worked with over 40 organisations and touched more than 4,000 lives.  

Through the NAC Arts Scholarship, she pursued a Master’s in Dance Leadership and Community Practice at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in the United Kingdom (UK), a country at the forefront ofin arts and health. This placed her at the heart of a field Singapore was only beginning to explore.

“Being supported by the National Arts Council symbolises a form of recognition, and it gave me the courage to kickstart my own creative health social enterprise,” she shared.

Bringing her wealth of knowledge home, Denise participated in the NAC-commissioned Arts for Wellbeing programme at Active Ageing Centres (AACs), enriching the lives of seniors through the arts. “It allowed me to collaborate with artists, a research team from the National University of Singapore, and an occupational therapist to pilot a multidisciplinary programme at three different AACs,” she added.

Expanding Musical Boundaries

Niranjan Pandian

Composer, Flautist & Creative Head of Brahmastra Arts House

2026 National Heritage Board Outstanding Youth in Intangible Cultural Heritage Award recipient 

Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Music, LASALLE College of the Arts

Niranjan Pandian's journey into music began at age ten, when his father brought him to Bhaskar's Arts Academy. The sounds of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and the image of Lord Krishna's flute had already taken root in his imagination, and once he picked up the Indian bamboo flute, there was no turning back.

Growing up, he performed in symphonic bands, Navarathiri performances, and national music competitions, eventually appearing with the Singapore Indian Orchestra and Choir. "Over time, music became my anchor and gave me a sense of purpose," he said.

The NAC Arts Scholarship gave him the space to take that purpose further. At a crossroads in his career, he began exploring how the bamboo flute could travel across cultures and genres, moving beyond its traditional contexts into new musical and collaborative spaces. Since then, Niranjan has developed new performance contexts, interdisciplinary works, and regional collaborations, introducing Indian traditional music to wider audiences locally and internationally at platforms such as the Shanghai International Spring Music Festival, the Bangkok Art Biennale, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s National Day Concert, and the World Expo Osaka 2025.

Beyond performance, Niranjan is deeply invested in nurturing the next generation to not only continue the tradition of Indian music, but grow the scene through new ensemble formats and repertoire. "Through these experiences, I hope they gain the confidence to take ownership of Singapore's arts scene," the Creative Head of Brahmastra Arts House shared of mentoring young artists.

Designing Immersive Soundscapes

Guo Ningru

Sound Designer

2022 National Arts Council Young Artist Award recipient 

Master of Fine Arts in Sound Design, University of California, Irvine

Guo Ningru works in a space most audiences rarely notice, yet it shapes everything they feel on stage. As a sound designer, she crafts the sonic world of theatrical productions, drawing audiences deeper into the experience.

Her interest in immersive audio took root during her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at the University of California, Irvine. In her final year, she explored how sound could move beyond support to shape storytelling through hyperrealism and surrealism, developing her thesis and incorporating an immersive audio system, Timax, into her graduating musical project.

“I was curious about how sound could play a much bigger role in making a theatrical experience more immersive,” she said. Now, she is breaking out of the mould in creative design and pushing the boundaries of sound design. In the T.H.E dance production Infinitely Closer, she implemented a 360° d&b Soundscape system to envelope the listener from all directions. Beyond theatre, Ningru also worked on various music productions, handling recording, mixing, and sound designing for short films.

The NAC Arts Scholarship enabled her to pursue a three-year MFA programme overseas, an opportunity she would not have otherwise considered. “Without it, I wouldn’t have dared to apply. However, the experiences, knowledge and growth that I gained from the three years was pivotal in shaping the rest of my journey as a sound designer,” she recounted.

Learn more about the NAC Arts Scholarship here.