Acclaimed Singaporean-born, London-based pianist Melvyn Tan reflects on his journey to classical music stardom and his devotion to impacting the next generation of talents. Zara Zhuang listens in.
MELVYN TAN GOT his start on the piano at age four with the Mexican waltz Over the Waves. He also got his knuckles rapped with a ruler by a strict and terrifying piano tutor whenever he made mistakes, but by the age of 12, the piano prodigy was on his way to the UK, crossing continents to enrol at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey, England. The determined youth brooked no opposition from his parents, who were concerned for the self described protected child who had never travelled far from home. “I knew [attending the music school] was what I wanted to do,” Tan says of his decision. “I knew if I didn’t go, I wouldn’t have another opportunity.”
Feeling completely at home when he arrived, Tan took to the school culture like a fish to water, working closely with classmates within the 45-member student body to rehearse pieces and play chamber music, a 180-degree change from how he was first taught music in Singapore, playing piano and taking The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) exams. “It was completely collaborative, and I couldn’t believe it,” he shares of the ethos at Yehudi Menuhin. “It was exactly what I wanted.”
This story is from the January 2018 edition of Prestige Singapore.
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This story is from the January 2018 edition of Prestige Singapore.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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