In 2013, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Music at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University.
Tan spent his early musical years playing the violin and tuba, and studied harmony with Singaporean composer Leong Yoon Pin (1931–2011).
[2] His conducting repertoire ranges from early classics to such twentieth-century works as Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale, and music by Singaporean composers Leong Yoon Pin, Goh Toh Chai, and Kelly Tang.
In a production of Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly, he worked with an international cast, choir, and orchestra.
As soloist, he has performed concertos by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Edward Gregson, Derek Bourgeois, and music for tuba and electronic tape by Walter B. Ross (born 1936).