Stephen Tong is a pioneer in Indonesian classical music society. Fatherless at the age of three, he is a man of many gifts, born with extraordinary sensitivity to all art forms including music, painting, architecture, and sculpture. Through careful observations and endless passion and perseverance, he mastered architectural designs and music performances.

In 1985, Stephen led a seven cities concert rally for the commemoration of the 300th anniversary of JS Bach and GF Händel, attended by 27,000 people. He later founded Jakarta Oratorio Society in 1986, which annually performs concerts in Jakarta, performing great oratorio works. In December 2008, Stephen took Jakarta by storm when 9,000 people attended the 2-performances of Handel's complete Messiah choruses.

In 2009, Indonesia was blessed with its first ever classical concert hall of international standard - Aula Simfonia Jakarta. It is another exhibit of Stephen’s architectural achievement, with Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra as the newly formed and appointed orchestra-in-residence and Jakarta Oratorio Society as the choir-in-residence, all inaugurated in October 2009 with a series of concerts to celebrate. In its first decade alone, Aula Simfonia Jakarta has hosted over 200 performances of classical concerts.

Stephen is passionate about introducing classical music to the people of Indonesia and to the world. Beginning in 2017, Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra and Jakarta Oratorio Society launched a Grand Concert Tour, performing in major cities across Indonesia. In 2018 and 2019, the tour expanded beyond Indonesia, with the ASJ ensembles-in-residence reaching audiences in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Australia.

As the home of ASJ, Jakarta was not left out, for its people witnessed one of the biggest crowds for classical music events in Konser Akbar Monas, taking place in 2019, 2022, and 2023, attracting more than 80,000 people of dierent backgrounds, age, race, and religion. Konser Akbar Monas is the first open-door classical music performance in Indonesia.

Stephen Tong is the Artistic Director of Aula Simfonia Jakarta, Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra, and Jakarta Oratorio Society.

Stephen Tong is a globally respected evangelist with a strong foundation in Reformed theology. Since beginning his ministry in 1957, he has preached to over 37 million people across Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and the Americas.