Hi there. If you’re looking for the best concert pianist in Singapore, look no further. The greatest genius savant? That’s me, Cannon Fairy. I have decades of experience and have been playing since the last century. Having performed in multiple countries worldwide, including on the Steinway at the main lounge of the Island Shangri-La Hong Kong plus the Yamaha at the ballroom of the Conrad Singapore(where all visiting ABRSM examiners stay), Cannon Fairy can play anywhere on any piano. Most times when you sign up with a music school or academy, you don’t know what you’re getting. All you see is a multitude of degrees or diplomas full of acronyms. Most people can’t tell ARSM from LRSM or FMusTCL from MMus. But they can tell a skilled pianist from garbage just by hearing them play.
Many teachers don’t even showcase their playing. Not so for Cannon Fairy. I can even play in the dark. No score needed. Chopin’s Ballade No 1 or Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata? No problem. All hallmarks of a great concert pianist. You can get a decent diploma or degree by going for exams and peeking at the score. But you can’t be a concert pianist.
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Take the snippet below (2020).Ain’t looking at the score.
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Or A Comme Amour (2020)by Clayderman
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Moonlight Sonata 3rd Movement(2022)
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And Fantaisie Impromptu (2024)
Obviously, diplomas are just a piece of paper and you can make life easy if you know your way about the system. Diploma piece? Peter Sculthorpe’s Night Pieces. Playable, right? Now you know how some people get their papers!
This is the same for ABRSM Grade exams. There are easy ones, and there are hard ones. If all you want is the paper, choose the easiest. Less effort! There are people with ABRSM Grade 8 who sit down in front of the piano and you wonder if a friend took the exam for them.
But with Cannon Fairy, you get the real deal. No bull. Qualifications? Not important. If you insist, there’s one sitting on top of the piano as seen in my video. Here’s a pic of it. Not your run-of-the-mill few hundred dollar ARSM diploma. This one is usually given to accomplished musicians with Masters, Doctorates, Professorships and the like. Don’t believe? Google it for yourself.
Convinced now? So if you need a concert pianist, here I am. I might be way behind Japan’s Nobuyuki Tsuji (don’t know how the fella can even learn if he can’t see!), but head and shoulders above the next one in line.
ps. the above is written in jest & the certificate belongs to a relative. Cannon Fairy has yet to perform in any individual concert, and probably never will
Jokes aside, the number of concert pianists in Singapore is severely lacking. Appreciation is limited, remuneration is low, and the effort needed to maintain a repertoire is immense. Lee Kuan Yew remarked at the opening of the Victoria Concert Hall in 1980 that any Singaporean with an ability to be a concert pianist would easily fulfil the demands of a surgeon, doctor, lawyer or engineer with much less effort. And it seems to be that 40 years later, pragmatic Singaporeans did follow the less demanding route. The barriers to becoming a full time pianist are so high in Singapore that talent and drive alone are not enough. They need solid financial support—the ones who choose to do so usually hail from at least upper middle class families. In my research, there are a number of notable pianists from Singapore since the 1960s
1. Margaret Leng Tan
She is a Singaporean citizen who is most well known for her experimental music and toy piano performances. Born in 1945, she won a scholarship to study at the Julliard School at age 16, and in 1971 was the first woman to earn a Doctorate of Musical Arts at Juilliard. She is now a USA resident.
CD Cover of Margaret Leng Tan
2. Seow Yit Kin
Data is scarcer on Seow Yit Kin. Born a Singaporean, he is now a British Citizen. Born 1955, he enrolled at the Yehudi Menuhin School at age 12 and went on to The Royal College of Music. In 1974, he won the BBC piano Competition, and in 1977 placed 3rd at the Artur Rubinstein Piano Competition. He has performed with the SSO on multiple occasions. He made the local news for selling his Chancery Lane bungalow for S$21m in 2017, and used to live down the road from Margaret Leng Tan.
3. Melvyn Tan
Born a Singaporean in 1956 but who migrated to the UK at age 12 to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School, he is best known to younger Singaporeans for being fined in 2005 for skipping his National Service. This was despite the fact that he had already been a British Citizen for many years. He is an alumnus of the Royal College of Music and has performed in concerts worldwide. He has a special interest in the fortepiano, but now performs largely on the piano. His website has updated data on his upcoming concerts and bio.
CD cover of Melvyn Tan
4. Ong Lip Tat
He was a childhood prodigy and studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music in London after his O levels. Having studied overseas, he decided to return to Singapore in 1979 to be with his parents. He was the first solo pianist to perform with the SSO in 1979, and dedicated most of his later life to nurturing new musicians. He was considered by many locally trained pianists as Singapore’s best pianist and teacher, and had the greatest influence amongst local pianists of all those mentioned here. He passed away in 2013.
CD cover of Ong Lip Tat
5. Abigail Sin
Born in 1992 and by far the youngest on this list, she was incredibly talented both academically and musically as a child. Choosing to do her undergraduate degree in Singapore and a later phD at the Royal Academy of Music, she has also declined offers from Singapore’s Gifted Education Programme, Britain’s University of Cambridge and New York’s Juilliard School—all of which are represent the pinnacle in their field. Unlike most of the abovementioned pianists, she is based in Singapore and has many more years of performing left. She performs regularly as part of the concert series with More Than Music , and is also currently on the faculty of the YST Conservatory.
A very early CD cover of Abigail Sin
