The Singapore Indian Orchestra and Choir (SIOC) was formed by the People’s Association in 1985. Under the baton of Mrs Lalitha Vaidyanathan, the SIOC brings together some of the finest Indian musicians in Singapore. With a good blend of young and experienced musicians, the SIOC showcases the richness of Indian music with its wide range of traditional and contemporary repertoire. It is also one of few Orchestras to have a choir to complement its performance.

Since 1989, the SIOC has regularly performed in major music and arts festivals in Singapore. Renowned Indian music composers like T V Gopalakrishnan, L. Vaidyanathan and violin maestro Dr L Subramaniam have frequently presented works with the orchestra. The SIOC has given widely appreciated performances in countries like Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, India, Thailand and Sweden. In 2005, SIOC collaborated with world renowned violinist Tatiana Grindenko and her innovative western ensemble Opus Posth to perform classical Indian music at the premier concert of singapur po russki (Singapore In Russia Campaign) at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow.

The SIOC has produced two CDs - ‘Ghana Varshini’ (1997) and "Sonic Orders in Asean Music” (2000). The Ministry of Education (Singapore) has also produced a video, “Raaga & Taala’ with the SIOC, used as educational material for schools. The SIOC has been the champion in the Ensemble category of the National Indian Music Competition for two consecutive years (2004, 2006).

In 2006, SIOC (Youth) was formed to reach out to Indian youth between the ages of 10 to 25. The SIOC (Youth) provides training to young musicians and vocalists in performing Indian orchestrated music, and aims to develop an appreciation of Indian classical music by youths in Singapore.

The Patron of the SIOC is Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and Second Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts.