David's recent performances of Schubert's Impromptus inspired Erika to look into Schubert's pieces and convinced her to learn and performed one Impromptu for us today! Pianovers Meetup certainly gives us the opportunity to learn about other pieces that we may not have come across, motivates us to learn pieces which we might never would, and encourages us to learn from one another!
In the first part of this article, we looked at some of the most popular music from the Role-Playing game genre. This time round, we shall be covering two other game genres - namely Action and Strategy - which features music that has won Grammy Awards, including Best Classical Crossover album and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s). To have the very first piece of music from a video game to be lauded with such a lofty distinction, the implication is truly profound. So, where will video game music take us next?
This evening, ThePiano.SG is honoured to have Dr Quek and his wife, from Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, grace our event. Three of our Pianovers, Albert, Siew Tin, and Jia Hui, had recently visited Khoo Teck Puat Hospital to play the piano for the patients, care-givers, and passers-by. They had told Mrs Quek about our Pianovers Meetup, and she was keen to join us! We shared with them that our Pianovers Meetup platform is made accessible to every person in Singapore. No person, because of his financial background, should be denied a chance to discover his potential, and we will continue to keep Pianovers Meetup a free event for everyone in Singapore. Thank you Dr Quek, and Mrs Quek for your support!
ThePiano.SG Online Store was launched in January 2018, and features the largest collection of piano-themed piano products and gifts, including jewelleries, stationeries, fashion accessories, fashion apparels, bags and travel-related items. Today, we are proud to announce that our Online Store now sells pianos! As a start, we have put up four Steinway-Essex pianos for your immediate purchase at an exclusive price!
Albert played 母亲你在何方 which was timely as Mother's Day is approaching and Albert wanted to dedicate this piece to all mothers and mothers-to-be! It was also heartwarming to see Brandon’s sister sitting beside him while he played and even exchanging glances with him. In fact, this Meetup saw the most number of duet performances!
Eleven-year-old Jessie Meng Yi Rui Xue, emerged as the grand prize winner of 4th Steinway Youth Piano Competition (SYPC) this evening. Jessie is the youngest grand prize winner of the competition since its inaugural event in 2012. She topped eight other finalists aged between 9 and 16 years old at the competition which was held at School of The Arts Concert Hall. Jessie will represent Singapore at the Regional Finals of the competition in Taiwan.
The Rose Hill Cemetery in Tyler contains a piano-shaped tombstone of Dr Madge Ward that may well be the only one of its kind in the world. Sleek and black, this 8-foot tall, 25-foot wide granite piano weighs 25 tonnes and is so prominent that people come from afar just to see it. When planning for this tomb, she initially faced objections from the local officials.
This evening, Jia Hui, Michelle, Zhi Quan, and Zi Huan from the alumni of NUS Piano Ensemble were here to perform pieces that will be also played in their upcoming alumni concert "Touched: Appassionata", on 5 May 2018, comprising pieces to be played on two pianos. At ThePiano.SG, we encourage performers to visit Pianovers Meetups to perform, before their actual concert, so as to gain more confidence and showcase their pieces to the our piano community.
This evening, apart from the usual group photo, we also had one specially with the teachers. This was the first time we had such a big turnout of piano teachers, part-time or full-time, and it was only right that we took a photo to remember the occasion! There was a total of 8 of us! At ThePiano.SG, we always believe that it is important to expose piano students to out-of-classroom experiences and we are glad that our piano teachers are aligned with us!
Over two days, 7-8 April 2018, a most elaborate pop-up stall, complete with the offerings from ThePiano.SG Online Store, was set up to showcase the wide range of piano-themed products and gifts that ThePiano.SG carries. Moving on, there are two more upcoming Pop-Up Stall events we are also involved in, and we would love to see you there - (i) 7 - 13 May 2018, Bedok Point, and (ii) 9 June 2018, Serangoon Gardens Country Club.
Chronicling an 18-year journey in making pop-ish tunes that resonate with Singaporeans of all ages, local pianist, composer and founder of Intune Music Peng Chi Sheng’s newest piano instrumental album The Runaway Pianist tells an inspirational story of entrepreneurship, friendship and success.
David delighted Chopin’s fans by playing Etude Op. 25, No. 2 by Chopin. Incidentally, this piece was only the first of many of Chopin’s compositions to be played tonight! This makes tonight’s Meetup session a seemingly Chopin-themed night, not unlike the Bach-themed Meetup #72 several weeks back.
Because it was April Fool's Day, Gavin had first jokingly said that he would be playing 4'33'' by John Cage, a piece that would involve sitting by the piano doing nothing, and letting the audience listen to 4 min and 33 seconds of silence, or rather, the ambient sounds around them. He played Concerto in F by George Gershwin.
This evening was different from other Pianovers Meetups, as the first part of the Mini-Recital was reserved for the celebration of Johann Sebastian Bach’s 333rd birthday. Every year, in March, Bach’s music and talent are celebrated in a global Bach In The Subways event, which sees performers going to public places, like metro stations, and play Bach’s works.
This evening, we have another senior, Henry Wong, who joined us for dinner earlier. Uncle Henry stopped learning the piano at age 15 but picked it up again only eight months ago, after a 55-year-old hiatus. Both Uncle Albert, and Uncle Henry exemplify the quality of 活到老，学到老 (One is never too old to learn)!
In recent years, people have devised methods to take care of the body to ensure that it stays in top form. Just as professional athletes watch their diets and have enough sleep so that they are in tip-top condition during training and on the track, pianists have their unique ways with which they take care of their bodies to ensure they are on top of their game. One such approach is known as Piano-Yoga, a relatively recent technique developed by virtuoso pianist Génia.
Albert is a helpful member of the community. He had asked if he could offer to help with anything this evening and offered to arrive at 4pm if necessary. On hearing that we needed drinks, he proceeded to buy four large sets of drinks for us (24 individual packs in all). What was amazing was that instead of buying the drinks from the Orchard area, he actually purchased them near his home, where they were cheaper, and transported them all the way by train to Orchard Central. Thank you so much, Albert, for your thoughtfulness and your kind effort!
It was with great honour that ThePiano.SG was involved in the unveiling of two pianos at Tanjong Pagar Centre on 4 February 2018. We were interviewed, and we are delighted that the interview has appeared in the Tanjong Pagar Centre’s online magazine, Stories By TPC, titled "Music In The Key Of C".
This episode showed the power of music for people suffering from dementia. While music has been known to bring joy to people, it can certainly be said that music brings immense joy to people who are suffering from cognitive disorders. Music has its own curious way of finding its way into people’s hearts and bringing limitless enjoyment to them.
Being the final Meetup before the Chinese New Year, Pianovers contributed snacks and those who attended this evening were greeted by a table full of Chinese New Year goodies. The food galore certainly gave a festive tinge to the already joyful event. To enhance the festive mood, many Pianovers even appeared in red! Today's group picture was different as well, with the loud shout of “Huat ah!”, reflecting the buoyant CNY mood!
Pianovers Meetup #68 was like none other, and was conducted at Tanjong Pagar Centre, a new commercial and residential complex located above Tanjong Pagar MRT. It marked another milestone in ThePiano.SG’s history, as we had been invited to unveil two pianos placed at Tanjong Pagar Park, a large, sheltered space in front of Tanjong Pagar Centre. The two pianos were from Play It Forward Singapore, now currently in its Season 7.
Since Beethoven’s time, the face of music changed forever. Beethoven made it possible for one to break the traditions of music. And by casting away the dogmatic conventional approaches of music from the past, great composers after Beethoven (many of whom modeled their own compositions after Beethoven) carried on his legacy of musical innovation. Other composers too inspired others to push the boundaries of music and the cycle of inspiration goes on and on till present times. And true enough, the cycle will still continue; the music of today: Pop, Rap etc. will irrevocably inspire a new music movement.
While Janice’s performance was going on, Pianovers present noticed bubbles floating around The URA Centre’s premises. It turned out that Jenny had brought a bubble gun and was spraying bubbles out of sight of Pianovers! It was a surreal experience to have bubbles floating freely around the Pianovers just when a song about peace and hope was played. This thrilled not just children like Gwen and I-Wen but also adults. A really magical experience!
Brandon, one of our youngest members, played "If You're Happy and You Know It". Although Brandon is young, he was most comfortable facing a crowd of adults. Pianovers who were present instantly felt a rapport with him and did not hesitate to lend him their support. The only reminder that he was, after all, a boy, came when he clutched his Pikachu soft toy at the end of the performance. That aside, we could all instantly identify with Brandon! Check out how he engaged the audience, and displayed amazing showmanship!