Bevlyn Khoo (; is a jazz pop singer songwriter based in Singapore. Her ability to sing in 5 languages has generated international interest and acclaim for each of her 5 albums. Despite her commercial success, she is credited with being a pioneer within the Singaporean DIY and independent musician community, having founded two music-based companies in addition to her own artistic pursuits since 2002. After parting ways with Japanese record label S2S in 2011, Bevlyn returned to her independent status focused efforts on The Storyteller Wave, the music production and consultancy company she founded in 2013.
She currently teaches pop vocals to private students and at various music colleges.
Early life and education
Khoo was born in Singapore and was educated at River Valley High School, Singapore and Hwa Chong Junior College. She started singing part-time in 1999 at Singapore's Ark Cafe with Dennis Chew and Kelvin Tan while she was a student at the National University of Singapore.
Singing career
Khoo signed as a part-time singer with the A Cappella Society of Singapore until 2006, during which she sang in two A Cappella groups.
In 2003, Khoo joined Singapore's national Mandarin-Pop Songwriting competition Xinyaojie 新谣节. Her song entry "Intersection" 交叉路口 made it to the finals but did not win. The song was later sold to Taiwanese singer Freya Lim, who released it on the soundtrack to Taiwanese TV drama Tricks of the Trade 偷天换日 in 2005.
Khoo also recorded demos for regional songwriters.
Khoo also recorded the theme songs to two Mediacorp TV series: "Cinderella " 灰姑娘 for An Enchanted Life 钻石情缘 in 2006 and "Keep Warm" (保温) for Little Nynoya in 2008. In February 2015, two of her songs from her album The People I've Known 我认识过的人, 别太寂寞 and 灵魂伙伴 were licensed for the opening and closing theme songs of Mediacorp Channel U's serial drama Let It Go 分手快乐.
Khoo performed publicly for the first time as an independent artist in August 2008 at the NUS UCC Theater Hall for the launch of her EP Lonely Afternoon.
Khoo signed a three-album contract with the Japanese independent record label S2S from November 2008 to 2011 which she released the albums, You Are My Angel, Bistro Affair and Feel About You. In an interview with The Straits Times, Khoo cited creative differences as the reason for the separation, saying "I didn't want to end up with people thinking I sing a lot of covers and that's it. After all, I started out as an indie singer who writes original songs." In the same interview, Khoo states that she wanted to "prove she was capable of more than just sad love songs."
In 2009, Khoo performed at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting held in Singapore.
In March 2012, Khoo represented Singapore in Hong Kong Asian Pop Music Festival.
Khoo's songs 跳 and 天天是好天 were used for StarHub's first local serial drama Jump Class 跳班 for its opening and closing theme songs respectively. She also wrote and produced all the songs in episode 6, in which most of the lead actors sang for their characters.
Khoo was also a featured performing artist at the Spring Wave Singapore 《春浪新加坡》in May 2013.
In August 2014, Khoo was also invited to represent Singapore in "The Harmony of Chimes" in Bangkok, a concert put up by the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra for the Asean Economic Community.
Business career
In 2002, Khoo and friends founded A Little Dream, an agency responsible for booking musical artists at events like weddings. The agency consisted of 50 performers.
In 2013, Khoo set up a music production company, The Storyteller Wave, providing music production services for television, music albums and wedding songs. As part of the company, Khoo was the music producer for serial drama Jump Class 跳班.
Albums
Lonely Afternoon (EP) Bevlyn's first record as a solo artist was Lonely Afternoon, an EP consisting of 5 originals and one gypsy jazz cover of Edith Piaf's "La Vie en Rose" that was released in February 2008. The EP's diverse genres and languages led World Music Magazine to praise Bevlyn's versatility as a musician. Title track "Lonely Afternoon" showcased Bevlyn's ability to transition between singing in multiple languages within one song, as she sings the verses in Mandarin and choruses in English. Moshin Magazine reviewed a live performance of the song, saying "Articulating the verses with fluent Mandarin, Bevlyn easily transitioned into perfectly enunciated English. Her voice constantly stirred emotion, dripping with a honey-like quality and filling the Rainbow Canopy with a powerful resonance."