SIX PIANO RECITALS NOT TO MISS: 32ND SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL PIANO FESTIVAL

 

32ND SINGAPORE

INTERNATIONAL PIANO FESTIVAL

2-5 July 2026

Under the visionary curation of new Artistic Director Albert Tiu, the Singapore International Piano Festival receives a new lease of life. The overriding theme of this year’s festival is the pianist as composer, transcriber and improviser. These disparate qualities of a piano virtuoso have long been forgotten, as one needs to go far back into history to encounter personalities like Frederic Chopin, Franz Liszt, Ferruccio Busoni, Sergei Rachmaninov and Percy Grainger to realise what modern day performers have lost.

Yes, we do have pianists like Marc-Andre Hamelin, Stephen Hough and Gabriela Montero with us, but Albert Tiu has unearthed six pianists (including two Singaporeans) who live with this ethos, a throwback to the “Golden Age of piano playing”. Four full-length recitals at Victoria Concert Hall and two late night recitals at the Play Den of The Arts House beckon, a chance to listen to repertoire spanning the baroque to modern day, and illuminating piano-playing with new ears.

Here are the recitals and some highlights

Thursday 2 June 2026, 7.30 pm

Emigres and Friends

CONRAD TAO

includes original compositions, Ravel Sonatine, Schoenberg Klavierstucke Op.33, Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue

Thursday 2 June 2026, 10 pm

Echoes and Refractions

CHUREN LI

includes original compositions, Ravel Ondine & Mendelssohn-Liszt On Wings of Song

Friday 3 June 2026, 7.30 pm

Dreams and Nightmares

HYUNG-KI JOO

includes original compositions, Ravel Gaspard de la nuit & La Valse, J.S.Bach Partita No.1

Friday 3 June 2026, 10 pm

Restless Natures

JONATHAN SHIN

includes original compositions, Mozart Fantasy in D minor, Lili Boulanger Deux Morceaux

Sunday 5 June 2026, 3pm

Music and Magic

SEAN CHEN

includes original compositions, Rameau Gavotte, Dukas-Chen The Sorceror’s Apprentice, Liszt Italie from Annees de pelerinage

Sunday 5 June 2026, 7.30 pm

Structure and Spontaneity

JON KIMURA PARKER

includes original compositions, Mozart Sonata K.311, Beethoven Appassionata Sonata, Ravel Jeux d’eau, John Adams China Gates

Tickets available at SISTIC:

Singapore International Piano Festival | Singapore Symphony Orchestra

SUKA MAKAN: SIAM SQUARE MOOKATA @ BUKIT BATOK WEST

We were heart-broken when Siam Square Mookata at Havelock Road Food Centre closed for good sometime last year. However, we found another outlet at Bukit Batok West, stumbling across it by accident when around the vicinity. So, this qualifies to be a Random Heartland Eats entry, but since we live to eat, we call it for Suka Makan as well.

It's located at the far end of a
very big and very busy food court.

Siam Square Mookata
has the most sauces to choose from.

Siam Square Mookata is very consistent wherever it is located, and so this outlet did not disappoint. The main difference is you need order the items via an app rather than using pen and paper - which is to my distinct disadvantage. Thank goodness that Janet is around and handy with her handy. So here are the food pictures for a leisurely Monday evening!  

Just a sample of dishes we ordered.

Kindly excuse the food porn.

The soup at the end of dinner
was simply delicious!

Our guest for the evening was
Phan Ming Ruey, arts administrator
of Thye Seng 105 in Kampar, Perak

SIAM SQUARE MOOKATA

Block 155 Bukit Batok Street 11

Singapore 650155

(19) 🎉🎉Siam Square Mookata at Bukit Batok🎉🎉 Blk... - Siam Square Mookata | Facebook

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION: POSTCARDS FROM MY DARLING LOVE by RIPPLE ROOT

Another afternoon wandering around Objectifs at 155 Middle Road and this was a most colourful and cheerful exhibition of art pieces I have encountered in a long while. Ripple Root is the nom de plume of Estella Ng (Ripple) and Liew Liquan (Root), a painting duo which has been in existence in the last 11 years. It's my loss not to have noticed their work previously; they can be found in hotels and various organisations.

Ripple Root's present exhibition is inspired by a 1965 black-and-white Malay movie called Cinta Kasih Sayang (My Darling Love), and their paintings are reimagined and idealised scenes from this film. It's a riot of colour that pleases my eyes, possibly inspired by paintings by French artists Henri Matisse and Andre Derain, and more recently Australia's Ken Done.

Meeting the duo in person was also a pleasant surprise. I suppose both of them have unified ideas of viewing things and painting techniques, which ensures a seamless uniformity in their modus operandi. Interestingly enough, they are not even a couple, as they have separate but hopefully understanding partners.

After this encounter, I'm certain to spot their work far more often now. That's called the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon.

POSTCARDS FROM MY DARLING LOVE

by RIPPLE ROOT

Objectifs

This exhibits runs till 28 June 2026

Postcards From My Darling Love - Objectifs

rippleroot

SUKA MAKAN: OVERBRØD @ ANCHORPOINT

Strange as it may seem, we've never ever been to Archorpoint. There's always a first time, and for this occasion, we decided to try the Scandinavian bistro called Overbrod. The name is probably Danish but it serves food that is probably common to Danes, Swedes and Norwegians, and possibly North Germans as well. Its proximity to Ikea Alexandra (just across the street) is possibly not coincidental as well. 

It's a very small space, with an entrance just outside of the shopping centre. There's outdoor seating, and rather cramped indoor seating with direct view of its very small kitchen space, where three staff are never idle for a moment.

Oyster stew

Seafood stew

Half a dozen of meatballs!

We loved the stews - one with oysters and the other with seafood, eaten with bread. Very delicious and rather filling too. We also tried the meatballs, which are larger and juicier than the Ikea variety, served with a thick and savoury gravy (not cranberry!). It's likely we will be back whenever we feel like eating like a viking.

OVERBRØD

Anchorpoint

370 Alexander Road #01-14A

Singapore 159953

(20) Facebook

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION: TAN TECK HENG PAINTINGS & SCULPTURES @ LIM HAK TAI GALLERY, NAFA / Part 1

TRANSIENT JOURNEYS:

TAN TECK HENG'S

PAINTINGS & SCULPTURES

Lim Hak Tai Gallery,

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, besides being a great piece of music has also encouraged me to visit art galleries all over the world. However, I must admit to being somewhat indifferent to modern art in Singapore, but that had to change sometime. Nowadays, I have tried to open my eyes more, and to imbibe what I see and also to document them with my trusty camera. The result has been the recent additions to Pianomania of various art exhibitions in Singapore. 

Whether I understand or enjoy modern art or not is not so important. What I hope to do is to record what I see, to be viewed again at a later date under different circumstances. Perspectives may change, and what I may have liked (or disliked) earlier may elicit a different response the next time I view it. 

The artist himself was spotted in the background.

I had the fortune of visiting Singapore artist Tan Teck Heng's exhibition on two different days at the Lim Hak Tai Gallery of NAFA. Tan Teck Heng was born in 1958 and graduated from NAFA in 1981. What an interesting artist he is, with his paintings and sculptures (all crafted from wood) bring about various different responses in me. Art pieces are meant to challenge, to provoke and sometimes to disturb, and those responses were all present. Is he an impressionist, a surrealist, or does that even matter at all?

Dream of Home, 2019

Landscape Upon Her Body, 2018

Home Amongst the Lotus, 2019

All I can say is my mind is refreshed by asking "What is this all about?" For that matter, "What is life all about?" These questions should regularly be asked, and modern art is what should spark those questions and debates. In the meantime, just enjoy the colours and shades.

Orchard & Scream, 2025

My favourite painting:
River of Time, 2018

Echoes of Salvador Dali:
Rare Earth and Roses Communicate, 2025

Adam and Eve, 2024

Eve is listening to God
 (or Satan?) via a smart-phone.

Philosopher, 2024 & Meet, 2022

Continued in Part 2: 

pianomania: PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION: TAN TECK HENG'S PAINTINGS & SCULPTURES @ LIM HAK TAI GALLERY, NAFA / Part 2