Symphony 924’s Young Talents Project 2019.
Catch 10 of Singapore’s brightest, young and talented classical musicians on Toggle at https://tv.toggle.sg/en/channel5/shows/young-talents-project-2019
Young Talents Project 2019 – Profile of the five finalists in the Junior category
Casey Li Wei Xi, 10, piano
ABRSM: Grade 5
Casey is a Primary 4 student at Raffles Girls’ Primary School. She first started her musical journey at the age of four and has won several awards including:
Besides the piano, Casey is an avid reader and loves swimming, badminton and rollerblading.
Kaitlyn Tan Yu Xin, 10, harp
ABRSM: Grade 5 (Theory), Grade 5 (Harp), Grade 3 (Piano)
Kaitlyn started harp at six and has since won several competitions including:
In 2016, she was the youngest harpist to be invited to perform at the Rising Stars of Asia Concert in Seoul. Kaitlyn loves to bake and do arts and crafts.
Toby Tan Kai Rong, 10, piano
Toby started self-learning piano at three from watching Youtube videos, and he loves to improvise and compose.
He has won several awards with his original compositions. At seven, he won first prize at the American Protégé International Music Talent Spring Competition 2017. He also had a debut performance at the New York Carnegie Hall in that same year.
Toby loves all music genres and hopes to study at Berklee College of Music or The Julliard School to hone his classical music skills and to learn jazz, music composition and film scoring.
Anne Ying Altorfer-Ong, 10, pipa
ABRSM: Grade 5 (Theory)
Anne started learning the pipa five years ago when she was in Primary 1. Since then, she has performed with the Pipa Society at the National University of Singapore, and at various school and community events. Anne hopes to hone her skills as a true performer by continuing to develop her technical range and stage presence.
Michelle Zhu Manzhen, 11, cello
ABRSM: Grade 5 Theory, Grade 5 Piano
Michelle started learning cello at six, and won the first prize in the Strings category in the Singapore International Festival of Music three years later at nine.
In 2018, Michelle was selected as the youngest performer in the prestigious Cello-Akademie Rutesheim in Germany and was highly praised for her performance.
As the Cello section leader in her school orchestra, she enjoys performing at festivals and school events. Michelle would also take time to perform in various fund-raising concerts for charity organisations.
Young Talents Project 2019 – Profile of the five finalists in the Senior category
Ashley Foong Shu Yan, 13, violin
ABRSM: Grade 8 Violin Distinction, Music Theory Grade 5
Ashley has won top honours in many awards including:
A Secondary 1 student at Methodist Girls’ School, she made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2017 and performed in Australia, Taiwan, Malaysia, as well as the Esplanade and Victoria Concert Hall. She has also performed at the Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna and is a proud member of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra.
Vivian Li Wei Chang, 13, piano
ABRSM Grade 8 Distinction (Piano)
Vivian attained the Licentiate of the Trinity College London performance diploma at the age of 12. She has amassed a host of other awards over the years including:
Sun Yining, 14, piano
ABRSM: DipABRSM Distinction (piano)
Yining started taking piano lessons when she was five and obtained distinction in ABRSM Grade 8 piano in 2014 when she was nine. She joined the School of Young Talents at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) in 2015, and subsequently achieved DipABRSM at the age of 12 in 2017.
Besides playing the piano, Yining is also active in chamber music and enjoys swimming and playing table tennis.
Adrian Tang Zhi Feng, 14, piano
ABRSM: DipABRSM (piano), Grade 5 Theory
Adrian is a student at the Gifted Young Pianists Course in the School of Young Talents at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA).
He has won numerous top honours including:
Adrian also plays the double bass at the Singapore National Youth Orchestra.
Xu Ruojin, 13, piano
ABRSM: Grade 8 Distinction (Piano), Grade 6 Music Theory
Ruojin started his music learning journey at Yamaha Music School at a tender age of three. He started classical piano lesson when he turned five and joined the Gifted Young Pianists Course in the School of Young Talents at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) at six. He subsequently obtained his Grade 8 Distinction in piano at the age of nine.
Earlier this year, Ruojin won the first prize in Beethoven Sonata Class in the Singapore International Piano Competition.
Apart from playing the piano, Ruojin enjoys fencing and playing football.