international PIANO COMPETITIONS

11 Sept 2022,  prize winners from JKPA were featured at the Alliance Francaise Theatrette

CONCERT: SHINE! CONCERTO IN PERSPECTIVE III

The Libitum Quartet:
Albert Shagimardanov, Rodion Synchyshyn, Elena Shagimardanov, Oleg Vasilevskiy
Experience the amalgamation of piano concerto movements and solo works performed by prize winners of the 1st Beethoven International Piano Competition (Singapore) – Xavier Sheng and Ian Teh.  Singapore’s Bösendorfer Artist Josephine Koh will conduct Joyeux Sinfonietta, in a unique orchestral setting led by The Libitum Quartet. Guest artists include pianists Christine Octaviani, Quah Jiezhi and violinist Albert Shagimardanov. 

Programme includes:
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 (1st movt)
BEETHOVEN Violin and Piano Sonata No. 9 ‘Kreutzer’ (1st movt)
SCHUMANN Piano Concerto in A minor, (3rd movt)
CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21 (1st movt)
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor (1st movt)

HIGHLIGHTS & UPDATES

Congratulations to the following students for winning prizes and awards at last month's Joyeux Music International Competition for Young Pianists 2021. It was a good showing with all the efforts and hard work. A selected number of students were featured at the JMI Gala Winners' Concert.
CHONG XIU QI: Gold (1st), Grade 8
ANTHEA PHUA: Silver (5th), Grade 8
NG JING RUI: Silver (6th), Grade 8
GUI GUO: Bronze (8th), Grade 8
DYLAN CHENG: Bronze (7th), Grades 4&5

ALYSA CHENG: Gold (2nd), Young Artist II
SHARLYZ NG: Silver (6th), Young Artist II
QIU BIXIN: Bronze (7th), Young Artist I
YICHOU SHENG: Bronze (5th), Young Artist I
TRINA TAN: Silver (1st), Licientiate Diploma
SIWEI FENG: Silver (1st), Associate Diploma
WANG JING YUAN: Silver (2nd), Associate Diploma
CHERRYLY CHIAH: Bronze (3rd), Associate Diploma

WANG JING YUAN & YICHOU SHENG:
​Silver (3rd), Piano Duo

WEBINAR ON ONLINE PIANO TEACHING

TEACHERS' CHOICE Selected Piano Repertory 2021 & 2022 series (Grades 1-8] 

HIGHLIGHT OF 2019
​PIANO CONCERTOS IN PERSPECTIVE II

30th June 2019 marks a most memorable evening at the NUS Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall.  A team of outstanding pianists from the academy performed concerto movements of Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Shostakovich.  Paired pianists worked together during the week, with the newly formed orchestra - Joyeux Sinfonietta, under the baton of award-winning guest conductor Lien Boon Hua.  Rehearsals were held at The Music Platform at Marina Square with pianos supported by Chiu Piano Co. Ltd. ​The pianos used at the YST Concert Hall were the Bosendorfer Imperial Grand 290 and Yamaha CFX, courtesy of Yamaha Music (Asia) Pte Ltd.  The event was attended by corporate representatives including Fumuhiro Horie, Shuhei Yahagi, several musicians, music teachers, friends, music lovers and conservatory students. 
The evening's concert opened with Colette Tan and Chua Siew Joo, both teachers at JKPA, with the Romanze and Allegro movements of Mozart's Concerto in D minor K466.   Watch video: https://youtu.be/lyXW3y94-J8

Evelyn Goh with poise and confidence, delivered the first movement of Beethoven's Concerto No. 1 supported by Tyndale Choo on the orchestral piano.
Watch video: https://youtu.be/flek-WZyK0U

​12-year old Qiu Bixin presented a vibrant performance of Ravel's final movement from the Sonatine before the youthful and exciting 3rd movement of Shostakovich's 2nd Concerto was brought forth by Alysa Cheng supported by Siauw Yu Chuan. 
​Watch video:https://youtu.be/N0reCzxDtj4
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Joyeux Sinfonietta, with its sonority of 11 strings, 6 winds and percussion, has doubled and filled piano parts arranged by Josephine Koh for the orchestral pianists.  The result was a fresh and wholesome timbre - an efficient orchestra, with clearly defined lines and tone colours, with the Yamaha CFX piano blending perfectly to enrich the orchestral texture.  These professional musicians were led The Libitum Quartet with Albert Shagimardanova as concertmaster.  
Brian Tan took stage after the intermission, with his solo performance of the first movement of Schubert's Sonata in C minor, D 958. While the young Bixin has earlier impressed with her agility, Brian's energy and intrepretation of this Schubert movement was highly commendable.  Soon, the audience certainly felt moved by the beauty of the slow movement of Chopin's Concerto No. 1.  Trina Tan resonated her solo part with lyricism and expressive flow while Louise Chua filled in the soulful harmonies alongside the sustained and vibrato strings. 
The highlight of the evening, was non other than the performance by Bosendorfer artiste Ms Josephine Koh.  The rendition of the 20-minute Concerto for the Left Hand was powerful and gripping.  The misterious mood of the orchestra in the low registers sets the entrance for the intense cadenza by the soloist.  The second theme was intimate, expressed with great depth of musical thought within the orchestral web.  The contrasts of musical ideas were clearly presented, which captured the attentive audience.  Rhythmic moments were articulated with much confidence and energy, often matched in turn by equally pulsating drive of Dr Jipson Quah on the orchestral piano.  The orchestra sustained the character of the work with unyielding intensity - convincing solo entries and full crescendos that emphasised the highly dissonant climaxes.   The final cadenza was another captivating moment.  It revealed a determined personality within the pianist.  After an unfortunate fall that rendered her right wrist fractured, followed by a surgery in early January, it is amazing how Josephine had learnt this piece, taken on all the efforts to train the performers, founded the orchestra and presented a spirit so positive that everyone took home a lesson learnt in our own ways.  It was undoubtedly an eventful evening that presented many fine pianists and the audience simply loved it.

FLASHBACK 2018!

Dec. CHRISTMAS PARTY CONCERT @ The JK Concert House, Jalan Keria, on 22nd Dec. 2018
The last event of the year ended on a most cheerful note.  It was a wonderful exchange with piano students from Malaysia and students from the JKPA Diploma Programme.  Food was great, so was the music and all the sharing of learning and experiences.
Nov. YOUNG STUDENTS' RECITAL @ Yamaha Thomson Plaza on 30th Nov. 2018 was a great success.  
All these students in the Gifted Music Programme played beautifully with their solo and duet pieces.  
Nov. Ms Josephine Koh performed at the International Classical Music Festival in Ukraine on 20th Nov. 2018 with her rendition of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor.
Aug. Newly uploaded youtube videos are now streaming, just click the images below to watch.  
1. Soiree 2018, where Ms Josephine Koh performed the  Yellow River Concerto at NUS, University Cultural Theatre.
2. Maestra Josephine Koh conducts a Mozart concerto at the 5th Alion Baltic International Music Festival in Tallinn, Estonia.

Masterclass with Michael Bulychev-Okser 2018

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December 2017
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Synopsis for Young Musicians’ Festival 2017:
Once again, talented students at Josephine Koh Piano Academy proudly presented their annual Young Students' Recital 2017. As part of the Young Musicians' Festival 2017 organized by the Esplanade Library, this programme of solo piano works was performed by students from the tender age of 6 to teenagers at their advanced diploma levels. The wide spectrum of repertoire in this 1.5 hour lunchtime concert included Baroque sonatas by Scarlatti, the classics - of Mozart and Schubert; the Romantic charms of Chopin and Liszt; the appealing French works of Debussy and Poulenc; and the exciting and captivating modern works of Copland and Khachaturian.
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