Writer Director 作家董事

Prof Jeremy Monteiro

(Chairman)

Cultural Medallion recipient Professor Jeremy Monteiro is a co-founding director of COMPASS and is more widely known as “Singapore’s King of Swing”. Jeremy has garnered critical acclaim all over the world since becoming the first Southeast Asian to play and lead an established international jazz band on the main stage of the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1988 as well as the EFG London Jazz Festival. Having started his career in 1976 at a local hotel as a pianist & bandleader at the famed Singapore jazz club – Bclub392, Jeremy has performed and /or recorded with the likes of James Moody, Benny Golson, Michael Brecker, Bobby McFerrin, Randy Brecker, Lee Ritenour, Herbie Mann, Paulinho DaCosta, Ernie Watts, Charlie Haden, Terumasa Hiro, Carmen Bradford, Matt Monro, Toots Thielemans and Simon & Garfunkel, to name a few.

Jeremy is also a book author with a volume of essays titled “Jeremy Monteiro: Late-Night Thoughts of a Jazz Musician,” published by Marshall Cavendish in September 2018. The book received two literary awards from the Golden Door Awards in 2020, a 3rd Prize in the main category and a Bronze Medal in the Rex Karmaveer category for integrity in writing.

Jeremy is the current International Arts Ambassador for EFG Bank, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.

In November 2021, Jeremy was conferred the Public Service Medal (Pingat Bakti Masyarakat) Award by President Halimah Yacob. This follows his 2002 Cultural Medallion Award, Singapore’s pinnacle award in arts achievement.

In November 2003, Jeremy was conferred the “Lifting Up The World With A Oneness-Heart” lifetime achievement Award by Sri Chinmoy, who is the leader of the interfaith Peace Meditation at the UN (since 1970) and also the leader of the International Peace Centre. Previous recipients of this humanitarian award include, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, the Blessed Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, scientist Dr, Jane Godall, sportsmen Muhammad Ali & Carl Lewis, Musicians Ravi Shankar, Roberta Flack and Sting.

Jeremy has been mentioned in more than 400 press articles in publications around the world, including Billboard Magazine and The Washington Post with a total of 21 albums to his credit at the last count. He celebrated his 45th anniversary as a professional musician in 2021.

With his passion for jazz and wanting to contribute more to the local jazz community, Jeremy together with a few jazz-supporter friends established the Jazz Association (Singapore) (JASS), to help raise its level of excellence, especially in the area of youth development. JASS has now achieved charity status and is listed as an Institution of Public Character (IPC) (2018-2024). Jeremy serves in JASS as the Executive Director as well as the Music Director.