Famous all over the globe, Steinway & Sons has been a household name and brand known to every pianist and musician alike. Steinway & Sons is well-known for crafting highly-coveted pianos of utmost quality and grandeur.
Apart from their impeccable reputation in the craft of piano making, there is one other thing that Steinway is becoming increasingly respected for: Their passion in creating platforms that continuously allow classical pianists and music lovers around the world to share their enthusiasm for the art, as well as extend an outlet for the rest of the world to meet fresh, new talents. One such platform is the prestigious biennial International Steinway Festival.
Every other year, Steinway & Sons hosts their own music festival designed to provide opportunities for young talents from almost any country at every corner of the globe. Various countries send in homegrown talents to represent them at the festival as well as to give them the opportunity to be groomed in the early stages of their music careers.
Organised by Steinway & Sons in Hamburg, Germany, the upcoming festival is said to be one of the world’s most renowned music festivals, with some of the biggest names in the industry serving as hosts, judges or otherwise.
Here in Asia, we are already beginning to warm up for this international event, as the 3rd Steinway Regional Finals Asia Pacific 2016 had only just ended not too long ago in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 22 and 23 July 2016. Gruelling auditions had been held to determine the finalists, including the Semifinals in Singapore that happened on 23 April 2016.
Since the Semifinals, competition has only stiffened as the Regional Finals saw a plethora of young talents under 17 from countries all around Southeast Asia such as South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Brunei and Vietnam. ThePiano.SG contacted the organiser and managed to obtain a complimentary ticket to cover the Regional Finals and in particular, to support Singapore’s representative.
The atmosphere at the event was electric as everyone was excited and thrilled to see who would represent Asia Pacific and their country at the International Steinway Festival. Industry veterans from all over the Asian Pacific region, including Celine Goh, the GM of Steinway Gallery Singapore and Albert Tiu, Associate Professor of Piano from the Philippines, were present at the event, showing their support and giving encouragement to all the young, passionate individuals. Also present were the various Steinway dealers from Asia Pacific.
Our fellow Singaporean, Wang Huang Hao Jia, aged only 15 and accompanied by personal guardian from Steinway Gallery Singapore, Dennis Chiam, managed to clinch Third place in the Regional Finals while Dohyun Lee from South Korea and Chia-Ying Shen from Taiwan came in Second and First respectively. Being the winner of this Regional Finals, Chia-Ying Shen will go on to participate in the International Steinway Festival in Hamburg, Germany in September 2016.
The enthusiasm for such events has grown tremendously with each passing year, making this year’s competition one with a large number of Singaporean applicants and competitors. It is incredibly delightful to see so many Singaporeans who share a common passion in music step up to the global stage, and with encouragement, we might see even more in the future.
On that note, ThePiano.SG would like to extend our heartiest congratulations to all the winners and express how incredibly proud we are of Wang Huang Hao Jia for coming in Third in the Regional Finals. We wish you all the best! We hope that everyone is just as excited as we are and looking forward to witnessing all the brilliance at the biennial International Steinway Festival!
