Annex 1
NATIONAL PIANO & VIOLIN COMPETITION 2007 PRIZE WINNERS
Piano
Junior Category (aged 12 years and below)
First Prize
Clarence Neoh Kai Yang, 12, 梁凯洋
Clarence took to the ivories at the age of five and since then, he has honed his skills under Miss Winnie Tay from Song without Words Music Studio. He completed his Grade eight practical exam with distinction. Clarence enjoys music so much that his daily three hours of practice never seems to be sufficient. He also likes the excitement and ‘enjoys’ the pressure during competitions and concerts. Just this year, he topped the Young Pianist Competition 2007 and Yamaha Piano Competition 2007, both in the senior category and performed alongside fellow young music talents at the children’s charity concert, ChildAid. Clarence lists his favourite composers as Beethoven and Rachmaninoff.
Second Prize
Jessica Tan Yu Jia, 11,陈宇嘉
Jessica is 11 years old, currently a primary 5 pupil in MahaBodhiSchool. Jessica started piano lessons since four and a half years old and joined the Gifted Young Pianist program of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts at six. She was put under the care of Ms Sim Lay Koon who taught her the basics and helped build up her foundation in piano playing. She completed her piano practical and music theory grade 8 at the age of 10. Thereafter, she started her piano training under Mdm Fang Yuan, head of Junior Music Department. She is currently preparing for her diploma(ABRSM).
The piano performances that Jessica has taken part in include:
- NAFA Young Pianists in UK Concert Trip (RoyalCollege of Music, PurcellSchool, WellsCathedralSchool)
- NAFA Young Pianists in Concert 2007 & 2006 (Lee Foundation Theatre)
- Performers’ Festival 2006 (awarded Platinum Award, Alliance Francaise Auditorium)
- NAFA Young Talents in President’s Challenge 2005 (Lee Foundation Theatre)
- NAFASchool of Young Talents in Efflorescense 2004 (Lee Foundation Theatre)
Other than piano playing, Jessica loves to compose songs. She hopes to be a great pianist and composer one day. Jessica’s other interests includes reading, playing badminton and swimming.
Third Prize
Nicole Ong Shu En, 9, 王淑恩
Her first public participation in a music competition, 9 year old Nicole is a pupil of Methodist Girls’ School. Blessed with perfect pitch and a keen ear for music, she began her musical journey at the age of five under the tutorage of Yao Xiao Yun (1st prize winner of Open Category in the NPVC 2005) at NAFA School of Young Talents.An avid classical fan of FM92.4, she lists Shostakovich and Chopin as her favourite composers. Music being her first love, she aspires to become a concert pianist performing with orchestras all over the world.Apart from playing the piano, she enjoys reading and playing with miniature toys.
Intermediate Category (aged 15 years and below)
First Prize
Zhang Aidi, 13,张艾棣
Zhang Aidi was born on April 13, 1994 inBeijing, China. She moved to Singapore when she was two years old and started learning piano at the age of 4. She moved to the United States in 2001. In the U.S., she won numerous awards. At the age of 9, she obtained the Level 10 for Piano Performance of American’s Music Teachers Association. Aidi moved back to Singapore in July 2004. She joined NAFA to study piano under Mdm Fang Yuan. She obtained ABRSM Diploma for Piano Performance with distinction in 2005, and at the age of 12, obtained LRSM with distinction in 2006. She represented Singapore at the International Piano Conference in Manchester, UK in 2005. She also went on a Concert Tour to London this March. Recently she performed for the President’s Challenge 2007-Youth Talent Concert sponsored by Singapore Press Holdings, and performed at Young Artist Award 2007 at Istana. In addition, she holds an ABRSM grade 8 violin certificate.
She was accepted by the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and is now attending the Young Artist (Piano) Program. She is currently under the tutelage of Ms Marian Hahn, an exchange professor from Peabody Institute, USA.
Aidi also excels academically. She was the PSLE 2006 top scorer atNanyangPrimary school. She represented Singapore at several international Math competitions and won awards. She is currently a student at RGS.
Second Prize
Soh Ser Yee, 14,苏恩瑜
Ser Yee embarked on her magical music tour when she was just four years old. She is under the tutelage of Mdm Fang Yuan in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, School of Young Talents. A secondary 2 student in Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary), Ser Yee is also in the Music Elective Programme. Music to her is a form of relaxation and she feels that it brings about more than mere reality to her life. It plays a huge role in her life – in fact, it brightens up her day. Besides playing the piano, she also plays the violin and the viola. She is in the Raffles Strings Ensemble as well as the Singapore Youth Training Orchestra. From a very young age, Ser Yee has performed at various ministerial functions such as the Ministerial Innovation Seminar at the Istana, functions hosted by Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Manpower and the Child Prodigies Concert graced by President Nathan. In 2005, she represented Singapore in the Piano Conference held in Manchester, United Kingdom. In March 2007, she also performed in a series of prestigious concerts initiated by the Purcell School of Music, Britain’s oldest Specialist school for gifted young musicians, in conjunction with two other well-established music schools for young musical talents – The Wells Cathedral School of Music and the Royal College of Music. This year she was also the 1st runner-up in the Yamaha Piano Competition (Open Category).
Third Prize
Wilford Goh Yu Xiang, 14, 吴宇祥
Wilford joined the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), School of Young Talents (SYT) at age 5. At the age of ten, he obtained the ABRSM Grade 8 with a distinction in both Piano and Violin Performance. He also obtained a distinction in ABRSM Diploma Piano Performance this year. He has given many distinguished performances including the Child Prodigies’ Concert in 2005 during the President’s Challenge, the 27th World Piano Conference 2005 in Manchester, Purely Piano in Esplanade Recital Hall 2005, National Piano and Violin Competition 2005 Piano Junior Category where he obtained 3rd prize, 2006 Singapore Music Teachers’ Association concert, the Child Prodigies II 2006, and the Tianjin 2006 International Children’s Culture and Arts Festival. This year, he also performed during the NAFA, School of Young Talents concert tour of the United Kingdom where he performed at locations such as the Royal College of Music, the PurcellSchool, and the WellsCathedralSchool. He is an active member of the Anglo-ChineseSchool (Independent) Philharmonic Orchestra, and was part of the Singapore Pops Orchestra performing during the ASEAN Summit 2007 in Singapore. He is currently under the tutelage of Mdm Fang Yuan, head of SYT in NAFA.
Senior Category (aged 18 years and below)
Second Prize
Lee Guan Hui Royce, 17,李冠辉
Royce is pleasantly surprised to have been placed second in the senior category of the National Piano Competition. As with any other young person nowadays, Royce’s formal music education began at four years of age. He picked up classical piano just five years ago, having started off with the electric organ. He is currently a JC1 student at RafflesJunior College, and he pretty much wants it to stay that way. The big eighteen is upsetting. He has taken music as a subject in school for the past five years, the first four spent in Raffles Institution’s Music Elective Programme. He is also a recipient of the MOE Music Elective Scholarship 2007. In 2004, Royce collaborated with two other friends to record the classical music album, Bach2Bach. In the same year, he was also the nation-wide top scorer for the ABRSM Grade 7 Piano examinations. In 2005, he placed third in the Young Pianists’ Competition organised by DynamicWorkz, a local company dedicated to promoting the arts scene in Singapore. Also in 2005, on two different occasions, he received fractures to his right wrist, effectively crippling him from receiving any other accolades. Royce says that accolades remind him of chocolates, and he asks if that’s a sufficiently quirky soundbite. Royce is also an amateur jazz pianist, and occasionally performs with the starving artists along Orchard Road.
Third Prize
Jin Yujia, 13, 靳雨嘉
In 2003, at the tender age of nine, Yujia emerged champion in the junior category of the National Piano and Violin Competition, organised by the National Arts Council. In July the following year, when she was only 10, she did exceptionally well in her Grade 8 ABRSM piano examination obtaining a high distinction of 142. In the year 2005, Yujia took part in the 2005 National Piano and Violin Competition and competed in the intermediate category with an age limit of 15. She was the youngest member in a formidable field of 51 participants and was also the only girl who made it to the final round with four other participants. With no takers for the first prize, Jin Yujia successfully won an honourable mention and was chosen by the German adjudicator, Friederike Richter, for a demonstration in the prestigious piano master-class.
Jin Yujia began to play the piano at a tender age of 5 and continued her learning in the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Her teachers include Mdm Yim Ying Lun, Mdm Cheah Piang Foong, Mdm Fang Yuan, Mdm Ying Shi Zhen and Mr Ong Lip Tat. Currently, she is studying with Dr Thomas Hecht, Head of Piano Studies at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and Ms Marian Hahn. In 2006, Jin Yujia performed with the Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra in their Gifted Young Musicians Concert. In the same year, she was selected from a field of more than 100 musicians for a performance in the ChildAid charity concert.
In April 2007, Jin was invited to perform at Lithuania’s 16th International Festival of Young Musicians, along with other young international competition winners from over 30 countries. She was also selected to perform with the KaunasCity Symphony Orchestra. Recently, Jin also performed with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in the President’s Young Performer’s concert which was attended by His Excellency President S R Nathan. Currently a student at Raffles Girls’ Secondary School, she has also won numerous international awards for Creative Writing, Mathematics and Science.
Honourable Mention
Shawn Neo Pin Han, 16, 梁品涵
Shawn Neo, age sixteen, first started piano lessons at the age of 4. At the age of 9, he passed his grade 8 with a high distinction, and at 14, obtained his LRSM diploma. He has appeared in various concerts and piano recitals, and has been a regular performer at the SSO music marathons. In 1999, Shawn was invited to perform at the Rotary International Convention held at SuntecCity, as well as for the principal of the Yehudi Menuhin School of Music and other music professors from the University of Kansas when they visited Singapore. He was awarded the Bronze Award and a certificate of High Distinction at this year’s Asian Youth Music Competition (Piano Category) organized by Christofori Music School. Shawn also plays the violin and was Concertmaster of the Raffles Institution String Ensemble from 2006-2007.
Artist Category Finalists (aged 25 years and below)
First Prize
Wang Haijie, 20,王海杰
Wang Haijie started learning the piano at the age of four under his grandfather. At twelve, he entered the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. He won second prize in the Steinway National Competition in China and the first prize in the Xing Hai National Piano Competition. Also, he won the first prize in the IBLA International Piano Competition in Italy.
A winner of the Music Essentials Concerto Prize in 2007, Wang is currently pursuing a Diploma in Music Performance at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, under the patient tutelage of Prof Yu Chun Yee.
Second Prize
Kwon Cheo Yong, 22
Cheo Yong, a native of South Korea, first started playing the piano at the age of 5. But his professional music education started rather late. He started formal piano lessons at the age of eighteen when he entered South African College of Music in the University of Cape Town to study with Francois du Toit – one of South Africa’s finest pianists. Later on, he studied with Jovianney Emmanuel Cruz in U.P.College of Music in the Philippines. Cheo Yong has lived in Singapore since 2006, where he studies with acclaimed pianist Albert Tiu, at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, on full scholarship funded by Singapore’s National Arts Council. Kwon has also received lessons and masterclasses from renowned pedagogues and pianists, including Dmitri Alexeev, Mauricia Borromeo, Marian Hahn, Thomas Hecht, Frank Heneghan, Stephen Hough, Roy Howat, Jerome Lowenthal, Joseph Stanford, and Reynaldo Reyes.
Kwon performs regularly at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, NUS, and has appeared in venues including Gwa Cheon Civic Centre in Korea, Fish Hoek Civic Centre and Baxter Concert Hall in South Africa, Crossroad 77 Convenarium and Fransisco Santiago Hall in the Philippines. His orchestral debut in the Philippines with Metro Manila Community Orchestra in 2006 was critically acclaimed. He also won several prizes including Zook Field Piano Prize at University of Cape Town, the Hennie Joubert Merit Prize at University of South Africa, and he was the winner of 2006 MMCO Concerto Competition in the Philippines.In his spare time, Kwon enjoys drawing, painting, and playing chess.
Third Prize
Cheng Shih-Wei, 20, 鄭士維
Cheng Shih-Wei is currently a third year piano major in Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. Born in Taipei, he started studying piano from age five and had been learning from Mdm Wang Ying, Mdm Ou Ling-Ru and Mdm Guo Shu-Qing before studying under Mr Albert Tiu, Assistant Professor of Piano in Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, Singapore.
Shih-Wei has won the outstanding performance prize in Kawai Piano Competition twice. In 1999 and 2001, he won fourth prize in the Southern Taipei and Eastern Taipei respectively. He has also won the third prize in both the Hsing Tien Kong Music Competition for Talented Youth and the Eastern Taipei National Piano Competition and the third prize in 2006/2007 YST Conservatory Concerto Competition.
Shih-Wei has been involved with musical activities since young, being a trumpeter in a brass band and a member of The Earth Choir of Taipei. He has performed at Novel Hall for Performing Arts and Taipei National Concert Hall in 1997 as well as playing the role of Knabe in the production of the opera The Magic Flute in National Theatre Concert Hall in Taipei. In 2007, he participated in a talk ‘Mad About Piano’ presented by Symphony 92.4 FM in YMS auditorium.