NATIONAL PIANO & VIOLIN COMPETITION 2015 / Review

NATIONAL PIANO 
& VIOLIN COMPETITION 2015

Artist Category Finals 
& Prizewinners' Concert

Saturday & Sunday (5 &6 December 2015)

Victoria Concert Hall

This review was published in The Straits Times on 8 December 2015 with the title "Sky's the limit for Goh Soon Tioe award winner".

The National Arts Council (NAC) has been manning the National Piano & Violin Competition since the mid-1990s. This edition, which marks the NAC's final run, was co-organised with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and saw a major constitutional change. Pre-selection of all competitors meant that there were fewer performers, 64 violinists and 91 pianists in total.

The final rounds for the Artist categories of both the violin and piano involved concerto performances with the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra conducted by Chan Tze Law. Saturday evening was a violin extravaganza not unlike the final of the Singapore International Violin Competition held in January.

British-Malaysian violinist Liuyi Retallick, recent graduate of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, comfortably won 1^st prize with an immaculate reading of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, characterised by a big and gorgeous tone from start to end. She could have turned on the heat for a more exciting showing, but chose to play it safe, which was the secret of her success.  

Liuyi Retallick with her teacher Igor Yuzefovich,
concertmaster of the SSO.

With no 2^nd prize awarded, 3^rd place went to Singaporean David Loke Kai-Yuan, now studying in Yale, who seemed to engage more in Mendelssohn's E minor Violin Concerto. His totally musical reading was indelibly etched on his face, from painful grimace to sheer ecstasy, but was let down by momentary lapses of intonation.

Honorable mention went to Samuel Tan Yek Hee, all of 10-years-old and performing for the first time with an orchestra. A natural charmer on a 3/4-sized violin, he coped unusually well with the fireworks required for Wieniawski's Second Violin Concerto. All he needs is greater expressiveness, a better instrument and experience, which will no doubt come with time.

On Sunday afternoon, there were two performances of Schumann's Piano Concerto. Singaporean Jared Liew Wei, student of the Salzburg Mozarteum, gave an exceptionally polished reading, one which made time to luxuriate in its harmonies and smell the flowers. Although he could have projected further and exert his authority, it was a major surprise that his shining effort was not placed higher than 3^rd. Singaporean Joan Lynette Tay (below), long-time resident in New Zealand, provided a more assertive and tense view of the Romantic favourite, but struggled with getting all the notes in. A stumble towards the end meant only an honourable mention beckoned.

Josephine with her teacher Boris Kraljevic,
formerly of NAFA.

The last pianist Josephine (who goes by just one name) from Indonesia should have done much more for Saint-Saens' bubbly Second Piano Concerto. Her highly-assured account was stolid rather than spectacular. The mercurial scherzo was surprisingly earthbound, like champagne without fizz, but her steady and secure tarantella finale earned 2^nd place from an international panel of jurors. The 1^st prize went a begging for the first time since 2001.

The Prizewinners Concert saw performances from the top-placed musicians of all categories. It was also the perfect showcase for Zechariah Goh Toh Chai, the local composer commissioned for four set-pieces in the Senior and Artist Categories. His Ondeh Ondeh and Two Sketches for violin, Quinquagenarian Celebration and Jubilation for piano were varied in style, highly idiomatic and not to mention virtuosic, confirming his place among Singapore's creative elite.

Ronan Lim with his teacher Lee Shi Mei,
who looks almost as young as him.

The coveted Goh Soon Tioe Outstanding Performer Award of $10,000 went to to 16-year-old violinist Ronan Lim Ziming, who displayed astounding maturity and lyricism in Ondeh Ondeh, the first movement from Brahms' First Violin Sonata and Lutoslawski's coruscating Subito. A student of Lee Shi Mei, herself a major prizewinner in 2007, the sky's the limit. This competition just provides the wings.

Photographs from the NATIONAL PIANO & VIOLIN COMPETITION 2015

My review of the National Piano & Violin Competition 2015 Finals will come out in The Straits Times soon, but print space did not allow me to write about the performances at the Prize Winners' Concert, so I shall briefly mention them here together with my sneakily taken pictures. 

At the ceremony, there were those robotic humanoids who tried to prevent proud parents from taking photos of their talented children receiving their well-deserved prizes. I told off one usher, who subsequently retreated into a dark hole and never disturbed people again (that is until the next concert).

The concert began with the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra led by Chan Tze Law accompanying the winners of the Artist Piano & Violin categories in concertos movements by Saint-Saëns and Tchaikovsky. 

Having guaranteed their cash prizes, and without the adrenaline of competition, they performed poorly, and the Acting Minister of Education must have been wondering, "I came out on a Sunday evening for this?" For everyone's sake, hopefully he cannot tell Bach from Berg. For my part, I think some of the lower placed finalists would have performed better.    

All the prize winners of all the categories.

All the judges,and the competition's composer-in-residence
Zechariah Goh Toh Chai.

The biggest winner of them all was Ronan Lim Ziming,
who won $12,5000 in total! 

So it was left to the young ones to show how it was done, and they did so magnificently. All the judges were in total agreement that the performers in the Junior and Intermediate categories were gems in the making. Let's hope our education system does not mess them up. 

Kate Liu left Singapore at the age of 8, settled in USA and went on to win 3rd prize in the 2015 Chopin International Piano Competition. Cynical ones say she won because she did not have to worry about PSLE, O Levels, N Levels, A Levels, S Papers, IB, IP, ABRSM, SYF, NDP and all that jazz. Now that's one lesson to be learnt.

Paganini's Caprice No.16 lasts only one minute, but
Tricia Ng En Lin (Violin Junior) made it sparkle.

Yap Sheng Hwa (Piano Junior) displayed a
crisp and rhythmically precise technique in
Albeniz's Castilla (Seguidillas).

Ronan Lim Zhiming (Violin Senior) showed why he won
the GST Award with a soaring lyrical account
of Brahms' Violin Sonata No.1(1st movement)
with pianist Lim Yan in support.

This guy's a genius.
Mervyn Lee (Piano Senior) giving an enthralling account
of Goh Toh Chai's Quinquagenarian Celebration.

Jordan Alexandra Jun Yi Hadrill (Violin Intermediate)
played the longest piece on the programme, but there
was not a single dull moment in her swashbuckling
reading of Wieniawski's Variations on an Original Theme.

Wang Hua Hao Jia (Piano Intermediate) was all
brilliant fingers in Debussy's Feux d'artifice
and Filipenko's Toccata.

The last piece in the 3-hour long concert saw
Ronan Lim Ziming and Lim Yan in
Lutoslawski's Subito, which saw the audience
applauding before the work ended!

People-Watching at the NATIONAL PIANO & VIOLIN COMPETITION 2015

Milan Stevanovic, pianists Kseniia Vokhmianina,
Mary Tran and Tran Thahn Xuan with their
Montenegrin mentor Boris Kraljevic.

Boris Kraljevic and Albert Tiu have consistently
mentored students who have featured in the
concerto finals of NPVC.

The Guest-of-Honour Ng Chee Meng,
Acting Education Minister, meets with young winners.

The slightly older winners.

The piano jurors, Kiai Nara, Tamas Ungar, 
Anna Jastrzebska-Quinn
with Rena Phua and Mrs Jutka Ungar.

The Goh family (old freinds from church)
have lots to be proud of. Daughters Mathea (2nd, Violin Senior)
and Madeline (3rd, Violin Junior) were among winners.

Singapore's greatest piano duo from the 1980s and 90s,
Rena Phua and Ling Ai Ee.

Violin juror Charles Castleman meets
Tedd Joselson and his prodigy Keishiro Sawa.

1999 Violin Artist winner Tang Tee Khoon
has played for Charles Castleman before.

Maestro Chan Tze Law, Grace Ng and
Kathy Lai CEO of NAC, and Vivien Goh.

Madam Fang Yuan's prodigies:
Kennis Ang, Wang Huang Hao Jia,
Jem Zhang Yifan & Joshua Tan Jingyi. 

The previous generation of winners:
Chan Yoong Han, Koh Jia Hwei & Lim Yan.

NAC, PLEASE WITHDRAW MY FUNDING!!!

NAC, PLEASE WITHDRAW MY FUNDING!!!

Here’s something we’ve learnt in SG50, the glorious 50^th year of Singapore’s independence:

If you are a budding artist in Singapore, pray that the National Arts Council (NAC) withdraws its funding (or pulps your work) and get The Straits Times to publish the gory details, and you’ve got an instant hit on your hands!

Don’t believe it? Witness the graphic novel The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Malaysia-born naturalised Singaporean Sonny Liew (above). On the day before its release, the NAC announced the withdrawal of its $8000 funding (a paltry figure actually) and its publisher Epigram Books had to return whatever had been disbursed. The reason? The book had dealt with topics of a “sensitive nature” which went against “NAC funding guidelines”.

The result? The first run of 1000 copies was sold out within a week, and a second run of 1500 copies went flying off the shelves. The book is now in its third printing run. I was fortunate to catch a copy at Kinokuniya the other week, mostly curious to find out what seditious and salacious content had angered the powers that be.

After burning midnight oil on two evenings, here is a summary of my findings:

Charlie Chan Hock Chye is a fictitious cartoonist born in 1938. He lived through the British colonial, Japanese occupation and Merdeka years, and tells the unfolding history of the city-state through a series of cartoons, each bearing different styles with different rather identifiable characters.

Wang Sa and Ye Feng tell the Singapore Story,
the way the gahmen wants you to know,
in the style of MAD Magazine.

The artwork is excellent, comparable with the best in the business (and we’re speaking globally here) and full of wit and humour. It was a delight to breeze through its pages, and difficult to suppress the chuckles that came spontaneously. This is a must-read for those who would like to share in a brief history of Singapore.

Charlie Chan's take on the Stop At Two
and Graduate Mothers campaigns.

And here’s the catch: it is an alternative history of Singapore, but not seen from the eyes of the victor (you know who they are). Elkay Wye and his party cronies are not portrayed in flattering light. The new Singapore is seen as a haven of wealth, where pragmatism (by not rocking the boat) and censorship have won over freedom of thought and speech. There is a comic strip called Sinkapor Inks about a stationery company headed by a dictatorial towkay called Mr Hairily (sounds familiar?)

There is also an imaginary revisionist history where Lim Chin Siong (called Lim Chin Siong here) becomes Prime Minister of Singapore and a benign non-Communist Barisan Socialis holds sway. Now look at Charlie Chan’s portraits of both the late politicians. Who would you vote for?

A morose LKY and
an optimistic LCS.

It’s almost a wonder now how The Art of Charlie Chan did not get banned outright! Maybe that’s the government’s idea of a soft touch today: just withdraw NAC funding and everything will look after itself. Banning it will only result in long queues at Johor Bahru bookstores.

The sorry plight of JBJ (bless his soul).

  

My message: buy several copies of The Art of Charlie Chan and gift your relatives, friends, enemies and frenemies a truly authentic SG50 gift. Available at Kinokuniya and good bookstores.

In the ever-popular Singaporean game of giving acronyms their true meaning: What does NAC stand for?

No Actual Commonsense

Never Allow Creativity

Nil Artistic Content
Not Against Censorship
Nosey Annoying Creatures
No! Allowances Cut!
Nasty Authoritarian Circus
Nitpickers Are Cowardly
Nobody Acting Civilly

Please help me out here!

Photographs from NATIONAL ARTS COUNCIL'S THANK YOU DINNER

The art deco construction that is the Boat House, 
which overlooks the Old Merlion Park, 
and now part of the Fullerton Hotel. 

Every once in two years, the National Arts Council (NAC) in Singapore holds a "Thank You Dinner" for its multiple committees of arts advisers, informers, infiltrators, spies and general kaypohs at an upmarket city venue in a mood of conviviality with good food, halal, kosher and otherwise. That means that two years of service to the arts scene in Singapore are up, and the invitees are left wondering whether they will be invited back for the next cycle or given the golden handshake. 

Whatever it may be, it was a good time for the movers and shakers of the arts scene - musical, literary, drama, dance, visual arts et cetera - to meet up, relax, bitch about arts funding (or the lack of), exchange business cards and the latest gossip. As always, the food on Wednesday 2 April 2014 at The Boat House was excellent (especially the beef and fish) and company invaluable. Once again, Thank You NAC!  

  

Chairperson of the NAC Professor Chan Heng Chee
lauded the sharp increase of arts events over past years.
but no mention of the Arts Festival and its feuding parties.

Entertainment of the evening was provided by Budak Pantai 
(Beach Boys), one of Singapore's most established and grooviest
a capella groups. Too bad their party has to end on 20 May. 

Lightning Conductors (from L):
Yan Yin Wing (founder of Braddell Heights Symphony),
Leonard Tan (Director of The Philharmonic Winds) &
Adrian Tan (Director of Braddell Heights Symphony
and Singapore Wind Symphony). Got that?

Two of Singapore's greatest Gen X composers:
Zechariah Goh Toh Chai and Joyce BT Koh.

Leonard Tan with NAC's Pearl Samuel and her husband,
the Scottish composer Peter Kellock.

The Chinese music fraternity: NAC's Rachel Lim 
with pipa virtuoso Samuel Wong and Terence Ho,
General Manager of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra.

With Former CEO of NAC and present CEO of ETBTB*
Benson Phua, NAC's Yvonne Tham & 
theatre practitioner Sean Tobin.
* Esplanade Theatres By The Bay

Too bad I did not take photos of the food, but here are some
 wall hangings at the Boat House.What's the deal with
Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek, one wonders.

One of the best views of the Singapore skyline.