LOVE PIANO MUSIC? PRIMARILY PIANO IS THE FIX!

Goh Kai Cheng performed
two Etudes from Op.10 by Chopin

PRIMARILY PIANO

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall

Tuesday (7 November 2023)

Do you love piano music, and its seemingly limitless wealth of repertoire? The Singapore International Piano Festival comes only once a year, and piano recitals aren't exactly thick on the ground. But thank goodness for Primarily Piano, the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory's showcase of piano literature, performed by its piano students over the past two decades. The selection is diverse, the performing standards very high, and its free of charge to attend!

At 15, Toby Tan is already a prizewinner
of international piano competitions
in Aarhus (Denmark) and Zhuhai (China)
here performing the 1st movement
of Mendelssohn's Fantasia Op.28.

It will not be an exaggeration to state that the 15 young persons who performed this evening are among the 40 best pianists presently residing in Singapore. Many of them are already decorated prize-winners of national and regional piano competitions, and in one special case, a winner of international piano competitions. Under the watchful eyes and ears of piano professors Albert Tiu and Ning An (latest addition to the faculty), these young people will become the leading young pianists of Southeast Asia and the region for the years to come.

Kuo Lyu-Cen giving a crisp account of
Haydn's Sonata in B minor (1st movement).

I was late in arriving and missed the first two pianists, but those who came after were very impressive. I will not be surprised that among them will be future winners of the National Piano Competition (coming up later this month!) Here are some photos of the starlets and what they performed.

The good-humoured first movement
of Beethoven's Sonata in F major (Op.10 No.2)
from Lin Sin-Yue

More witty Beethoven, the Rondo from
Sonata Op.14 No.2 from Mi Maw Li Aung

Fong Jean Ying gilded the lily in
Glinka's Variations on The Nightingale.

Two Debussy Preludes, Girl with the Flaxen Hair
and Minstrels, from Lin Shih-En, nicely coloured.

The first half concluded with a thunderous but
nimble account of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No.13
by Chakrit Khanonvej.

J.S.Bach's Prelude & Fugue in E major
from Chen Bo-Yu.

Beethoven's Variations in C minor
is a deceptively difficult piece,
polished off by Vernis Chua.

Cheryn Pandora brought out the lyrical
in Liszt's Petrarch Sonnet No.104.

Venus Chai played all four diabolical movements
of Lowell Liebermann's Gargoyles,
which was no easy feat.

Liang Ray-Heng masters the fussily decorative
Chopin Rondo in E flat major (Op.16)

Edenia Maureen provided a spectacular end 
to the recital with the 2nd and 3rd
movements of Prokofiev's Sonata No.7

All 15 pianists taking their bow.
The only pianist I did not get to hear was
Xian Ruifei (far right) who played movements
from J.S.Bach's French Suite No.6.
Bravo to all!