Latest News

Children Category Winners

Junior Category Winners

Intermediate Category Winners

Open Category Winners

 
The Pearl River Digital Piano International Competition 2022 held its Regional Finals on the 2nd of October 2022.

We were privileged to witness some of Singapore’s best aspiring young pianists, many of whom were taking their first steps into the competition experience! 

A total of 51 finalists out of over 400 candidates gave splendid performances in competing for top spots in the Regional Finals. We are truly humbled  by the support shown by all the participants, as well as inspired by their stories and the face that for many, the Pearl River Digital Piano International Competition 2022 became their stepping stone to overcoming obstacles in their pursuit of their musical journeys.

Speaking on their experience at the Pearl River Digital Piano International Competition 2022, we had a quick chat with a few top prize winners who shared their thoughts on the competition.

Open Category 1st Prize – Pariyakorn Tankanarat

Q: What was your experience like in entering and preparing for this competition?

“At first it was unintentional to join this, because for the qualifying round (the deadline) was the first of this month at midnight, ad i just submitted the Google form at 11:58 (laughs), and at that time i was confused very much (sic), and i think “ok, I’ve submitted it, so i have to fight and do my best, so over the month i kept on practice, practice and practice a lot… and i have to thank my friends and my family, and my professor, and myself also for never quitting.”

Q: Was this your first competition?

“No, actually I have joined around 2 or 3 competitions but in Thailand, so this is the first International competition that I’ve joined.”

Open Category 3rd Prize – Boo Kok Chuon:

Q: How would you describe your experience joining and preparing for this competition?

“Actually, why I joined the competition in the first place was to accompany my daughter but she didn’t manage to get in, I got in (laughs), but anyway I would say that it is a fantastic experience personally, and I got to see a lot of high quality piano players. I am truly grateful for the opportunity and really honoured to be one of the finalists.”

Q: Were you expecting to be a finalist?

“Actually not really, because I’m using my own composition, then I’m competing against the works of giants, so I wasn’t really expecting that my own work could actually be on the same stage and I never expected to place 3rd in my category.

Q: Do you have any message to others who may be looking to join the Pearl River Digital Piano International Competition in the future?

“Initially I was a bit discouraged (to join) because I suspect that I may be the most senior participant (laughs), but in any case, don’t let this (age) be an obstacle… don’t bother about all these concerns, ultimately it’s the experience that counts.”

Fun Fact: Boo Kok Chuon holds a corporate job, but music has always been a passion for him. He played his own composition “Wave Sonata” for the Finals.

Intermediate Category 3rd Prize – Hanyu Li:

Q: How would you describe your experience joining and preparing for this competition?

“Considering that this is my first piano competition, this is actually quite the experience because i’ve never actually done anything like this before, so I’d say it was an emotional roller coaster.

Q: What made you decide to join the Pearl River Digital Piano International Competition?

“Uhh, how honest do I be with my responses? (laughs)… Part of it is because i’ve been playing piano for a total of 10 years now, so I’ve gone a long time without actually joining a competition, so i wanted to have this experience of competing with other pianists and hearing others play physically, so like a piano festival with some stakes added, not to mention my teacher also wanted me to enter one (competition) so yeah (laughs).”

“It was the most available one in the post-COVID era and other competitions have been hard to find or are being held elsewhere, but this one i had seen all over (on social media, at music schools) and you could find out a lot about it very quickly, so i think the media exposure that it gets is a lot more than other competitions (that I wasn’t aware of).”

Q: Any message to other pianists such as yourself who perhaps are also hesitant to compete?

“Just join, it’s fun! (laughs) You may be nervous at first, but at the end of the day you’re playing piano so you can have others hear and enjoy your music so i think it’s worth it to come to piano competitions where you can express your piano playing on a platform where others can hear you as well.” 

Intermediate Category 3rd Prize – Gelasia Chan Cee Hwee

Q: What would you say was the biggest challenge in preparing for this competition?

“Thinking of a way to deal with the anxiety that comes with participating competitions, because i get a lot of stage fright so even if i’m able to play it properly at home, when i play in front of others it usually sounds more messy so it was definitely more of a mental preparation and finding ways to deal with the stress that i’m going to experience on the day itself.”

Q: Is there any advice you would like to share with other young pianists who may experience the same sort of anxieties as yourself?

“It may help to think that, you know, you only get one shot at this, so before your turn comes around, you should really just mentally prepare yourself and when you get to the piano, just take a moment to take a deep breath, and then think about how you want the first few notes to go because it’s always the first few notes that will set the tone for the rest of the piece. Just take a moment to calm down and think about the piece.”

Q: Who inspired you to go ahead and take part in the Pearl River Digital International Piano Competition? And would you recommend joining competitions to other young pianists?

“I would say definitely my secondary school English teacher, he was very very good at piano and i was just so inspired by him. I think it was also sort of like a challenge to myself, but definitely he (English teacher) was my biggest inspiration. I would definitely recommend joining competitions because it’s very good exposure and getting to meet other people and seeing the different styles, and the different types of music, and when you meet others you find out you still have a lot to learn and even if it’s scary, i still think it’s a good experience.”

Intermediate Category 2nd Prize – Zheng FeiLin

Q: How did you decide to join the Pearl River Digital Piano International Piano Competition that focuses more on 20th Century and contemporary repertoire?

“Previously i was very reluctant to play 20th Century pieces because i thought of them as discordant and very messy, but this ave me an opportunity to just step out of my comfort zone to play pieces that i’ve never really touched before, because i think as a pianist we should be able to touch all types of pieces like Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th Century, so this (competition) really gave me the opportunity to do that”

Q: What approach did you take to go about your preparations for this competition that focuses on pieces that are usually outside your comfort?

“It took a lot of practice for me because I’m very used to playing Romantic pieces, and sometimes the style and techniques required is really different, so it took some getting used to.”

Q: What message do you have for other young pianists like yourself who may be hesitant to try music that is out of their comfort zone?

“I think as pianists we should be able to play all types of repertoire because you want to be well-rounded so that when people say ‘oh, can you play this?’ you should be able to touch all types of repertoire and not just focus on any one style of music.”

Intermediate Category 1st Prize – Tan Jing Yang

Q: What made you decide to join this competition where the focus is on 20th Century and more contemporary works?
“I do enjoy listening to contemporary works, not excluding those non-classical pieces, i do listen to jaz sometimes, i like J-Pop a lot, but i decided to join because I really do want to try to play more 20th century pieces because to be really honest, i have not played much (20th century works) in my repertoire… so I’m very thankful for this opportunity to be able to show that I’m able to play 20th century pieces.”

Q: Was there any difference in preparing for this particular competition compared to competitions you’ve joined before?
“Generally it’s pretty much the same, but for this competition because we are using the digital piano, which is a significant difference from those concert grands that we usually use for competitions,… i had to note down parts which i had difficulty controlling (when i came to practice on the competition instrument) as you know this is totally different from an acoustic piano, (as some parts would be a bit too loud and unbalanced) so i had to control the technique used. And also i have a digital piano at home, and recently I started to use it much more, so this was a good opportunity to (get more use out of it).”

Top Prize winners from the Intermediate Category and Open Category will advance to the International Grand Finals in Guangzhou.

For more updates and information, visit the official RS Event Center Facebook Page, Instagram, and our official website!

24th September 2022 – We got to see the Cristofori Full Concert Grand Piano CG275 in action at the Our Tampines Hub Festive Arts Theatre under the expert hands of Singaporean Pianist and Composer Churen Li in one of her Classical Music Adventures, Encounters with Chopin.

In this series, Churen seeks to bring Classical Music to the young audience through performances, discussion, games and interactive learning. Churen spoke about each of the pieces played in the program to educate the audience on Chopin’s life and different works. The stage setup featured the grand piano framed by kinetic sculptures by art director Phoebe Zoe Ho & team that used shapes, flowing lines, different colors and textures to depict the movement and flow of Chopin’s music.

Her playing paired perfectly with the resonant sound of the Cristofori CG275. This piano is Made in Korea by Young Chang – who are among the largest and most automated of the world’s piano manufacturers. The Cristofori CG275 features all top-quality materials and craftsmanship including solid spruce soundboards.

Singaporean pianist Churen Li seeks innovative and personal approaches to concert programming, combining diverse genres with improvisatory and experimental practices. Churen attained her Bachelor’s Degree from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (National University of Singapore), where she graduated aged 19 as the youngest of her cohort. She attained her two Masters Degrees (in music and in philosophy, respectively) from Yale University and Cambridge University. Churen is currently an Artist Fellow at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. Her past teachers include Albert Tiu, Bernard Lanskey, Paul Liang, Peter Frankl and Hung-Kuan Chen. 

Catch more of the Cristofori CG275 in action @ Our Tampines Hub:

17 December 2022

Classical Music Adventures: Encounters with Schumann

Festive Arts Theatre, Our Tampines Hub, Singapore

25 March 2023

Classical Music Adventures: Encounters with Ravel

Festive Arts Theatre, Our Tampines Hub, Singapore

Click the link below to watch the full video:

https://www.facebook.com/OurTampinesHub/videos/2275182382632273

4th September 2022, Singapore – Sir Stephen Hough recently returned to Singapore for a solo recital, and a concerto performance with the professional chamber group reSound Collective.

Sir Stephen played Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto – a 4-movement work playing close to 50 minutes. 

A brief background on the piano concerto, Brahms began composing the piece in 1878 and completed it in 1881 while he was in Pressbaum near Vienna. It took him three years to work on this concerto. He wrote to Clara Schumann: “I want to tell you that I have written a very small piano concerto with a very small and pretty scherzo.” Ironically, he was describing a huge piece that is regarded as the longest, most complex piano concertos written to that date. The public premiere of the concerto was an immediate success in November 1881, with Brahms as soloist with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra.

Sir Stephen certainly lived up to the renown of this concerto’s premiere over 140 years ago, conceived like a symphony, it has been described as a “concerto against the piano”, putting a solo instrument – the Bechstein D282 Concert Grand Piano for this performance, whose resonant tone is perfect for any concert hall – up against the power of an orchestra.

There was certainly nothing to fear, as Sir Hough displayed a great sense of reassurance and expertly conquered every challenge the piece presented in his path with his finesse and masterful skill.

All through the concerto, the players of re:Sound supported Sir Stephen throughout the piece, and even presented their own impressive showcase in Bartok’s Divertimento For Strings, Led by violinist and former SSO concert master Igor Yuzefovich. Bartok ironically named his Divertimento, although named after the Classical divertimento form, it is not a light and entertaining work as the name suggests.

The Evening was truly a spectacular performance by both Hough and the reSound Collective, and further distinguishes Sir Stepen Hough as one of the most distinctive artists of this generation.

Photo Credits: Resound/ Joel Chew

The Cristofori team was treated to a delightful opportunity to witness the first live performance by Sir Stephen Hough in Singapore since his induction into knighthood by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his vast contributions in the field of Music.

Sir Stephen’s “Nightscapes” was held on 31st August 2022 at the Victoria Concert Hall and featured the following Programme:

Chopin: Two Nocturnes
Scriabin: Sonata no. 5
Debussy: Estampes
Hough: Partita (2019)
Liszt: Three Petrarch Sonnets
Liszt: Dante Sonata

The first half of the recital was played on a C. Bechstein D282 full concert grand piano, proudly sponsored by Bechstein Music World, that offered a full-bodied, sparkling and balanced flavour to the two Nocturnes by Chopin, and the Scriabin Sonata. 

The first half of the recital was played on a C. Bechstein D282 full concert grand piano – proudly sponsored by Bechstein Music World, a certified RSL supporter – that offered a full-bodied, sparkling and balanced flavour to the two Nocturnes by Chopin, and the Sonata by A. Scriabin, who himself wrote his music on a Bechstein piano. 

Top quality since 1853: the C. Bechstein name is synonymous with exquisite grand and upright pianos made in Germany. The C. Bechstein D 282 concert grand piano is a top-class instrument. Thanks to its stupendous and beautiful sound, it’s the ideal grand for large concert halls just like the Victoria Concert Hall.

The C. Bechstein engineers and master piano-makers developed the D 282 model after intensive discussions with international star pianists. This legendary instrument has set new standards with its transparent voice and unparalleled richness of tonal colors. The C. Bechstein D 282 concert grand piano embodies the synthesis of the brand’s legend and the demands of today’s pianists for power and dynamism.

International star pianists confirm the outstanding characteristics of the C. Bechstein D 282 concert grand piano: surprisingly powerful sound, elegant and high-precision action. 

Bechstein pianos have been favoured by some of the greatest concert pianists and recording artists, including Leonard Bernstein, Wilhelm Kempff, Dinu Lipatti, Shura Cherkassy, Sviatoslav Richter, Oscar Peterson and Tatiana Nikolayeva. Claude Debussy said “Piano music should only be written for the Bechstein”.

This illustrious history behind the C. Bechstein pianos was fully apparent in the D282 played by Sir Stephen at the “Nightscapes” recital, which astounded us with the striking clarity from the first notes of the Nocturnes, which carried through the entire tonal range of the instrument; the sparkling brilliance of each note drawing the ear’s interest and keeping our minds glued to Sir Stephen’s performance, and truly highlighting his brilliant playing and mastery of the piano. 

Named by The Economist as one of 20 Living Polymaths, British pianist Stephen Hough is a true renaissance man – a leading concert pianist, writer, composer and painter. He has won global acclaim for his outstanding interpretations of the piano repertoire. The Bechstein D282 is indeed a masterpiece of European piano standards!

Sir Stephen is an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he is a visiting Professor, a Fellow of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where he is the International Chair of piano studies, and an Honorary Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Liverpool in 2011.

2022 marks the first year that Cristofori is able to finally prepare something GRAND for our year-end Musicale concert. The annual Musicale Concert and Cristofori Start Students Awards has been a long standing tradition for Cristofori Music School as a way to show our appreciation for the efforts of our dear students.

Over the past 2 years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and numerous restrictions to gatherings and performances, our previous Musicale celebrations were majorly scaled back and limited to a simple awarding ceremony. Now in 2022, emerging into a new state of normal, we are finally given the opportunity to slowly return to our grand celebration.

This year’s theme is “ Journey Through Time 穿越时空之旅 ” – calling to us to envision a journey from past to future, having stood together to emerge stronger after a Global Pandemic, we recall memories of playing music together, and appreciate the time we have together; we recall predecessors, and at the same time, look toward a future where we can return to a state of togetherness. 

COVID-19 had taken away opportunities to gather our students together, but this year, we take back our way of life and stand in hopefulness, to realise our vision to overcome this pandemic and stand together for a brighter future, to continue to build our heritage and legacy of music, passion, life and to bring music to every heart and home.

The Musicale Concert 2022 will be held on Friday, the 2nd of December at the Festive Arts Theatre at Our Tampines Hub. The program highlights will feature collaborative performances by our Cristofori Music School students and teachers, and the much anticipated Start Student Awards recognising the efforts and hard work of students as nominated by their teachers.

About the venue

Our Tampines Hub (OTH) is Singapore’s largest integrated community and lifestyle hub, with 12 government stakeholders under one roof, providing a wide range of community, sports, cultural and lifestyle facilities, one of which is a state-of-the-art theatre and cinema – the Festive Arts Theatre.

With 400 seats, 4K digital technology and Dolby 7.1 Surround sound system, the Festive Arts Theatre @ Our Tampines Hub is an ideal for musical and theatrical performances, and even  town hall speeches and gatherings with the latest audio-visual equipment available. Many spellbinding performances have already been held here to great success, and this year’s Cristofori Musicale is sure to be one of them!

About the piano Cristofori CG275

As of March 2022, Cristofori has shown our full support for this community hub by supplying the Festive Arts Theatre with a Cristofori Full Concert Grand Piano CG275. 

This piano is Made in Korea by Young Chang – who are among the largest and most automated of the world’s piano manufacturers. The Cristofori CG275 features all top-quality materials and craftsmanship including solid spruce soundboards.

The CRISTOFORI C275 Full Concert Grand piano is worth SGD96,300.

The first classical pianist to inaugurate the CRISTOFORi Concert grand on the 25th June 2022  is Singaporean pianist Li Churen who presented the first ever in person musical event since the Pandemic to an overwhelming crowd. The event was also live streamed and is available to watch here: Classical Music Adventures: Encounters with Beethoven

Look out for these upcoming events by Li Churen at Festive Arts Theatre: 

​24 September 2022

Classical Music Adventures: Encounters with Chopin

Our Tampines Hub, Singapore

With art director Phoebe Zoe Ho

​

17 December 2022

Classical Music Adventures: Encounters with Schumann

Festived Arts Theatre, Our Tampines Hub, Singapore

25 March 2023

Classical Music Adventures: Encounters with Ravel

Festive Arts Theatre, Our Tampines Hub, Singapore

The design also features an evenness of tone throughout the entire range including the transition from bass to tenor sections. All grands have all maple action parts and double coated cold pressed hammer felt for superior tonal quality. This piano is sure to bring out the best in our Students’ and Teachers’ performances at the Musicale!

Auditions for the Musicale 2022 Performers are on via Video Submission until 11th September 2022.

The Asian Supreme Drum Competition 2022 kicked off after a 2-year hiatus, and the energy was absolutely uplifting! 

From morning till evening over the weekend of 13th-14th August, we had the privilege of sharing in the excitement felt by over 250 young drummers – many of whom are our very own Cristofori drum students, family and other supporters to finally be playing live again at the ASDC 2022 Live Qualifying Round. This experience also gave the sense that we are indeed closing in on getting back to some normalcy, and able to now be with our overseas community in-person. 

Apart from the many Singapore drummers, there were a number of participants flying in from overseas to play live for the audience and judges panel from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand too! This year, there are more than 500 participants joining from South East Asia and beyond. We have participants from countries including Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Philippines, USA, China, Korea, England, Myanmar, and Canada – If the Asian Supreme Drum Competition proves anything, it’s that the Groove Transcends All Borders. We certainly had a great time seeing our students and all the other competitors perform on stage.

The ASIAN SUPREME DRUM COMPETITION 2022 – organized by RS Event Center – is an annual event that aims to encourage a love of drumming and life-long musicianship. The competition is open to non-professional drummers and features 3 main categories (Junior, Intermediate and Open), as well as a Rockschool Category covering Debut to Grade 5 that will allow even more young drummers to have the live performing and competition experience, something we definitely want our young Cristofori Drummers to try! In fact, a good number of our Cristofori drum students were able to get the full competition performance experience by participating in the Rockschool category. We are thrilled that the Asian Supreme Drum Competition has opened opportunities for learners of all levels to participate.

Winners of the Grand Finals to be held on 8th October 2022 at the Singpost Auditorium in Singapore stand a chance to win from S$9000 in prizes!

Check out this year’s Jury Panel at the 2022 Asian Supreme Drum Competition. Truly an assembly of illustrious industry professionals! The panel includes Singapore’s Er Chow Kiat, Thailand’s Jirawat (a.k.a. Mr Print), Lee Jit Seng from Malysia, and Mr Carl Jenkins from USA to name a few.

We will definitely be looking forward to catch the Finals on 8th October 2022 at the Singpost Auditorium. 

Results for the Qualifying Round will be announced on 23rd August 2022 on the RS Event Center Facebook Page, Instagram, and right here on our website!

9th August 2022 marks Singapore’s 57th National Day, and also the launch of a new line of affordable, high-quality acoustic guitar – the Sevillana 2101!

RS Event Center was privileged with access to a sneak preview of the Sevillana 2101 at Bechstein Music World on the 4th of August, and here’s what we learned.

Acoustic guitars come in different body shapes and wood compositions – dreadnought, grand concert, jumbo, grand auditorium, parlour, and more plus solid vs laminate wood all contribute to overall qualities of the guitar’s sound and playability. Here’s a quick summary:

Dreadnought – this iconic shape with large shoulders and large lower-ends are your all-around strumming and picking machines.

Parlor – Small but bold, these designs are known for strong projection of mid-range tones.

Jumbo – This one looks like a dreadnought that put on a few pounds but uses that new space to bellow out still more bottom end and bigger sounds.

Grand Concert – This throwback to the mid-19th century is a mid-size body that champions EQ in the mid- and upper-ranges, making it ideal for cutting through any unplugged session.

Grand Auditorium – This design takes the best of the dreadnought but modernizes it by narrowing the waist of the guitar slightly 

Many acoustic guitar makers also enhance fretboard reach with a cutaway.

The Sevillana 2101 boasts an all-rounder performance and responsiveness with its Grand Auditorium shape, and full solid top, back and sides offering the best possible resonance and sustain. Playability benefits from this shape as well, with its narrower waist, this guitar is more comfortable to hold than a standard dreadnought, and the added reach with the cutaway is a definite plus too whilst giving it a very stylish profile.

This guitar features all solid sitka spruce top, and african mahogany back and sides, top grade 1:18 die-cast machine heads, and a Zero Fret that aids in consistency of tone between open and fretted notes.

We got a chance to try this guitar out ourselves and were surprised at how comfortable it was to hold and to play. We found a nice balance of frequencies as well that makes this guitar a great instrument to pair with the RSL Acoustic Guitar material. 

What amazed us the most was the price point of this instrument at SG$399.00. 

All things considered, you really don’t need to spend top dollar for a quality instrument, if you know what to look for!

You can learn more about the Sevillana 2101 and where to get it here.

Wonder what we think of the role of Live Performances in a learner’s journey? Click here to find out.

If you’re looking to improve your sight-reading, we have some tips to share with you.

See what else we have coming up with the Pearl River Digital Piano International Competition.

On 12th July 2022, Bechstein Music World had the honour of hosting the Singapore leg of the Piano Adventures Teacher’s Workshop Series with Dr Randall Faber. The session was conducted via Zoom Webinar and shared with hundreds of piano teachers across Singapore.

During the session, Dr Faber shared philosophies on teaching and the ethos behind the world-renowned Piano Adventures teaching method and series of books – that music instruction “develops the minds and hearts” of the learner. This holistic approach values music performance not only as personal and creative artistic expression, but also as a process of cognitive and emotional development, with the student as the main agent of their own active learning. 

The Piano Adventure series touches on the physiological and neurological aspects of the act of practicing and playing music, which Dr Faber explains, play a significant role in learning, in developing and maintaining brain health in children, and preventing cognitive decline in adults – aspects such as physical motion, “Discovery” tasks with each piece encouraging the Left Brain (analysis), and “Creative” tasks encouraging Right Brain (Creativity) activity by allowing a student to add a twist to the existing piece to create their own new interpretation (i.e. use the same notes to create your own ending for the piece). The progression from one level to the next also strongly reflects how well the Faber method takes into account the way the human brain works and utilizes it to optimize learning and exploration.

Dr Faber also shared a few tips on selecting the appropriate material for each student, as each series has been especially paced & designed with the development at each age group in mind, and a variety of supplementary repertoire and supporting resources for teachers available within the Piano Adventures range. The Piano Adventures Atlas resource was also introduced at the session. This resource features countless technique demonstration videos, teacher guides, references and audio backing tracks to help teachers enrich their teaching even further.

The Fabers’ teaching method features a unique combination of  Middle-C, intervallic, and multi-key approaches, beginning with off-staff reading, and playing across the entire keyboard on all black keys. As demonstrated by Dr Faber in the workshop session, This allows students, especially younger learners to build & develop the motor skills  and dexterity, whilst not overloading information in the initial stages, allowing children to stay motivated. Emphasis on rhythm as an initial connection to music also serves as an engaging starting point for learners of any age. Notes in the Middle-C position are introduced in groups, but the student plays in these positions on white keys across the keyboard. The complete method incorporates attention to intervals, five-finger positions, music theory, and creativity in an inter-organized progression, supported by corresponding books. The series includes music originally-composed by Nancy and Randall Faber. It also includes well-known folk, pop, and classical melodies.

As pianist and educator, Randall Faber has appeared as special guest and keynote speaker at universities throughout North America and Asia, including the Beijing Central Conservatory, the Shanghai Conservatory and the Royal Conservatory of Canada. He has been Convention Artist for the Music Teachers National Association Conference and master teacher for the World Conference on Piano Pedagogy, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference and the USA National Piano Teachers Institute.

A Steinway Artist, Faber has given recitals throughout the United States, Canada and Asia. He has appeared on international television and on public radio in live recital broadcasts.

Dr. Faber holds three degrees from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Education and Human Development from Vanderbilt University. His research on motivation and talent development has been featured in journals and media in South Korea, China, Australia, and at the 9th International Conference on Motivation in Lisbon, Portugal.

Randall and his wife Nancy are well known as authors of the best-selling Piano Adventures(R)  teaching method. Translated to seven languages, their books have sold tens of millions of copies around the world.

The  Fabers are co-founders of the Faber Piano Institute located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

LA-born polymath Kit Armstrong proved a formidable force on the keys at his Debut Recital at the Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore on 3rd June 2022. The programme featured Bach’s 15 Sinfonias, BWV 787-801, and Liszt’s Transcendental Études, S. 139, said to be designed to be the peak of piano difficulty. 

The added personal touches to the program made the experience a very interesting and engaging one for us, as Armstrong opened the show with, and sprinkled throughout, food for thought with poignant discussion: “Why Classical Music?”, and the value it holds, or has the potential to hold, for modern audiences; How do we appreciate music? What is it that is universal about music?

The masterfully selected repertoire for the evening not only fully demonstrated Kit’s prowess on the instrument, they also allowed him to fully paint a picture on his thoughts and understanding of each movement, each variation and theme, giving the audience the means to ponder, and, in his words, go past the idea of venerating music as an artifact, to transcend, to move beyond and arrive in a mindset where we are actively engaging in finding answers to what it is in the music that speaks to us, that gives us the meaning and value we perceive. 

For example, Armstrong shared with the audience the origins of Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes, and Bach’s Sinfonias, and other compositions, and relates them to the meaning of the word “transcendental”, to go beyond the initial existence. What began as repetitive movements across the keys, over time are transformed, technical elements are taken and shaped and molded into expressions, embodiments of thought and emotion painted in sound. Music in essence is sound. It is meant to be experienced, to be felt as a physical phenomenon, to be appreciated by the senses.

Armstrong’s Singapore debut “Transcendental” inspired not only awe at his exceptional playing, musical maturity and youthful daring, and exquisite expressive ability, but ultimately a renewed appreciation for Music as a whole – as a window to the past, as a monument to culture and history, and as an inward message, one uniquely treasured in our own heart and soul. Kit Armstrong is an absolute must-see.