SUTD LUNCHTIME PERFORMANCES: PIANO FIESTA November 2025 Edition

The Lang Lang grand piano, gifted to 50 public institutions in 2015 as part of the SG50 celebrations, has been particularly busy at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). It is an omnipresent fixture at SUTD's Lunchtime Performances, which takes places on Wednesday afternoons during term time. Piano Fiesta is the mini-piano festival organised by Professor Lim Seh Chun featuring faculty performers as well as guest players. This month's edition on 19 November 2025 was graced by two former artistic directors of the Singapore International Piano Festival, no less. Here are the photos of another hour of piano classics.

Professor Lim Seh Chun introduces the
lunchtime performance series.

Lim Yan performed three Rachmaninov Preludes,
Op.23 Nos.1,3 & 5.

SUTD lecturer Jer-Ming Chen
explains his performance.

Arvo Part's Fur Alina followed by
Jer-Ming own response and improvisation.

There are two Scriabin Etudes being performed
this afternoon, and I'm playing the easier one.

Scriabin's Etude Op.2 No.1 followed by
Mozart's Fantasy in D minor K.397.

SUTD Lecturer Melissa Tu
waxes lyrical about Chopin's Ballades.

The other Scriabin Etude
in C sharp minor, Op.42 No.5

Chopin's Ballade No.2 in F major Op.38

We get to take home some fine tea.

Kee Kirk Chin makes up the original TBM
(Three Bald Men), soon to make their debut.

Now its FBM or 3 and 1/2 BM.
Lim Yan, you'll soon get there!

PIANO FIESTA @ SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY & DESIGN

It was an honour to be invited to perform in the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) at their Lunchtime Performances series. Professor Lim Seh Chun was the brains behind this initiative that brings arts to the campus, involving students, alumni and guests. Piano Fiesta is its mini piano festival, featuring only piano music, and this was a revival of an ongoing series that was disrupted during the pandemic. 

Here are the photos from this year's first Piano Fiesta, the programme of which was as eclectic as one can get, and whatever you do, "Don't shoot the piano player!"

Professor Lim Seh Chun
introduces the Piano Fiesta series.

Opening the matinee was
Marc-Andre Hamelin's Ringtone Waltz
(Valse irritation apres Nokia)

Jer-Ming Chen skillfully improvised on
four notes in a minimalist manner
from the Pelog Gamelan scale.

Chu Wy Ton offered up
Debussy's Arabesque No.1
& Gershwin's The Man I Love.

Tongyu Lu performed a marvelous
improvisation on Jerome Kern's
All The Things You Are.

Speaking on what inspired Rachmaninov's
most infamous Prelude, about 40 roubles.

Rachmaninov's Prelude in C# minor,
Op.3 No.2, warts and all.

The most accomplished performance
came from SUTD Humanities lecturer
Melissa Tu in Chopin's Ballade No.2.

All the performers get their just desserts.

Among the guests who attended were
Professor Chan Heng Chee, Professor Bernard Tan
and Dr Geh Min, music lovers all.

Reliving the old SSO days
are Professors Lim Seh Chun & Bernard Tan.

MUSIC IN THE EAST: SUTD LUNCHTIME PERFORMANCE

The Singapore University of Technology & Design (SUTD) has a lunchtime series of performances at its capacious Student Centre. Its latest event on Wednesday (23 October 2024) featured its staff and students in a joint concert with students from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. As in previous years, this was an enjoyable East meets West encounter, and long may this collaboration continue.

The concert opened with two SUTD students
violinist Wong Jae Hann and Patricia Darana
in Elgar's Salut d'Amour.

From YST, Eric Ewazen's Philharmonic Fanfare
from Tseng Hua-Chih (horn),
Yeh Tsung-Ruei (trumpet)
and Low Kim Ven (trombone)

Endres Szervansky's Woodwind Quintet
with Simeon Yap (flute), Lin Shu-Yu (horn),
Wen Xiyu (bassoon), Ng Wei Xiang (oboe)
and Zhang Liangliang (clarinet)

A bird's eye view of the quintet.

The lyrical third movement from
Brahms' Third Piano Quartet
with pianist Papat Lertchanvit, violinist Chien Hsin,
violist Yu Yang and cellist Chen Pei Yi

Harpist Vanessa Jazzy Irwanto 
waxes lyrical about Harald Genzmer's Fantasy
which she performed with
flautist Weng Yi-Chian and violist Huang Yi.

SUTD's humanities lecturer Melissa Tu
hardly missed a note in
Prokofiev's fiendish Third Sonata.

Some memories from the East.

AN ENJOYABLE EARLY AFTERNOON CONCERT AT SUTD

The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) has been running its free series of lunchtime concerts at its Campus Centre since 2016. It hit a snag because of the Covid pandemic but has now returned with a purpose to enrich the academic lives of students and staff. Its latest concert on Wednesday (15 November 2023) welcomed students from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in chamber works, besides showcasing musically talented members of SUTD's own faculty.

Here are some photos of the performances and who played what. It made for an enjoyable post-lunch concert attended by a small and attentive audience of SUTD students and staff. This series looks to be a permament fixture as long as SUTD Advisor to the Office of the Provost Professor Lim Seh Chun, himself a fine flautist, has a say about it.

Professor Lim Seh Chun
gives his opening remarks.

The concert opened with two movements
from Devienne's Quartet in G minor 
from Zhong Tianai (bassoon), Qiu Zhengyi (violin),
Zheng Jingjing (viola) and Guo Mingai (cello).

Lim Seh Chun and pianist Jer-Ming Chen
contributed with Narita's Song of the Seashore
and Heinz Provost's Intermezzo.

Wen Zhu-Ling (flute), Zheng Shanxi (clarinet),
Yen Shih-Hsin (French horn) and
Muhammad Afiq bin Hussaini (bassoon)
performed two movements from
Vincenzo Gambaro's Quartet in E flat.

Pianist extraordinaire Lim Yan (extreme right)
was spotted in the audience.

Two movements from Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No.2
were performed by Tsao Wei-Chun (violin),
Chang Jia-Yun (cello) and Venus Chai (piano).

The concert concluded with a mini-recital
by new SUTD Humanities lecturer
Melissa Tu, who performed a Scarlatti Sonata,
Barber's Nocturne and Scriabin's Etude Op.42 No.5.
This made for spectacular close.

All the performers taking a bow.

SUTD LUNCHTIME PERFORMANCE 13 September 2017

To bring culture to the Singapore University of Technology & Design (SUTD) and otherwise culturally barren eastern side of Singapore, the university has organised a series of lunchtime recitals held on specially selected Wednesdays in the academic calendar. This series began last year, and I was fortunate to have been invited to perform in and attend these informal hour-long concerts held at the university's Campus Centre, a plaza with much traffic and not too bad acoustics.

The university was afforded the use of one of 50 Lang Lang grand pianos (provided by Steinway), which is now its proud property and boosted by a trolley system specially designed and created by SUTD students. 

Its latest concert featured talented SUTD students and guests from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory from the culturally rich western side of the island. East meets West, so they say, and it was curious to see three elegant young ladies from the Conservatory dressed to kill in their concert attire alongside two nerdy boys from the University who looked like they just woke up from an all-night tech and booze project. Anyway, music was the winner because all of them performed to the best of their abilities, and were roundly applauded by the audience for their efforts.

Here are some pictures taken at this groundbreaking event.    

The concert was opened by SUTD sophomore
Joshia Seam who performed Chopin's Ballade No.1
with much gusto and accuracy.

Prof Lim Seh Chun was a most engaging host
who did much research in providing the
"programme notes" to the performed works.

YST Conservatory's ace pianist Luong Khanh Nhi,
winner of the Piano Concerto Competition, gave a
solid reading of Brahms' Rhapsody Op.119 No.4.
Appreciating the concert were a number of past 
and present Singapore Symphony Orchestra directors.

So young yet so talented.
YST's Kim Soyoung performing the Prelude
from J.S.Bach's Cello Suite No.1.

A riveted audience at SUTD's Campus Centre.

The highlight of the concert:
The YST trio of pianist Luong, cellist Kim
and violinist Arisa Ikeda playing the 1st movement
from Schumann's Piano Trio No.1 Op.63

Ikeda and Luong in
Kreisler's Liebesleid (Love's Sorrow).

On her own, Ikeda performed
Paganini's Caprice No.9 "La Chasse".

All eyes and ears on the performances.

Closing dramatically was SUTD student
Chu Wy Ton who performed
his own original composition Snow,
Debussy's Arabesque No.1
and Gershwin's I Got Rhythm. 

Here are all the performers receiving
their accolades.