CONDUCTOR Shui Lan candidly admits that when he first joined the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) as music director 12 years ago, conducting it after a stint abroad could be something of a letdown.

'After a few weeks of travelling around the world and conducting other orchestras, whenever I came back, I would always feel unhappy,' says the 51-year-old Hangzhou-born conductor with a chuckle.

'I didn't even know how to watch the beat. I had to constantly say, 'No, don't play on my beat, every professional orchestra should play a little bit behind the beat.''

But as the SSO celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, he is singing a different tune.

He says: 'Of course if you're talking about the Berlin Philharmonic, we are not there yet. But this orchestra can really compare with one of the top A-list orchestras I conduct in Europe.

'And whether it plays at home or abroad, it always has a good spirit which most other orchestras cannot match. This orchestra can play like the great professional orchestra but has the spirit of a youth orchestra, like young people.

'It really throws itself into the music, whereas most other professionals just treat this as a job rather than really expressing themselves. So this is something I am really proud of.'

Indeed, the SSO has come a long way from when it started out as a motley ensemble at the Singapore Conference Hall under the baton of founding music director Choo Hoey.

SSO's co-leader, first violinist Lynnette Seah, 51, is the only musician to have performed full-time with the SSO since 1979.

She says: 'We were just getting to know each other. A lot of the foreign musicians had probably arrived just a few days before. So it was a very mix-and-match kind of sound. It wasn't what it is today of course - not even close.'