On 8 Dec 2015 11.30am, at the Steinway Gallery Singapore in Palais Renaissance, Orchard, Professor Yu Chun Yee, Nicole Tay, piano teachers, music school representatives, parents with their children, and other invited guests were present for the launch of the 3rd Steinway Youth Piano Competition 2016.
The International Steinway Festival is an important biennial event organized by Steinway & Sons in Hamburg, Germany, to identify, encourage, and promote young pianists in the formative stages of their careers. Various countries will concurrently be running national-level auditions to determine their representatives for the International Steinway Festival in Hamburg.
Hosted by Steinway Gallery Singapore, the Singapore Steinway Youth Piano Competition offers attractive prizes and the opportunity for one Grand Prize Winner to represent Singapore at the Southeast Asia Steinway Regional Finals in Penang from 29-31 July 2016. Regional winners from 9 countries including Brunei, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, will compete for the coveted spot to represent Southeast Asia at the International Steinway Festival 2016, held in Hamburg from 9-12 September 2016.
In 2014, the Singapore Steinway Youth Piano Competition and Steinway Regional Finals Asia Pacific featured a first-ever voting segment in a classical music competition. Members of the public were introduced to a voting platform where popularity votes were cast for their favourite contestants. Nicole Tay Wan Ni (Singapore, 12) was the youngest participant and was the winner of the 2nd Singapore Steinway Youth Piano Competition 2014. At the Asia Pacific Regional Finals, held at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall on 26 July 2014, she was "totally polished and all smiles in Glinka’s transcription of Alyabiev’s The Nightingale, a set of florid variations on a Russian folksong", Dr Chang Tou Liang remarked. She scored a tie for the 3rd prize with Thailand’s Kant Kosoltrakul, aged 17.
Today, she was present at the Steinway Gallery Singapore and shared with everyone her personal journey during the competition in 2014. She revealed, "It was an unforgettable and rewarding experience in my life." She delighted the audience with a performance of Beethoven Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31 No. 1.
Professor Yu Chun Yee, who was the judge in the Conservatory Concerto Competition 2015/2016 (Piano Category), conducted a competition elective training session. He shared his expert insight on how best to approach and prepare for the piano competition, which young musicians and teachers among the audience found invaluable.
The competition calendar is presented below. For more info, visit the Singapore Steinway Youth Piano Competition website.
- 8 December 2015
Registration Opens
- 1 February 2016
Registration Closes
- March 2016
Live auditions at Steinway Gallery Singapore
- 16 April 2016
Announcement of the 18 semi-finalists
- 11 June 2016
3rd Steinway Youth Piano Competition 2016* (Date To Be Confirmed)
