- 24 JUNE 2010, THURSDAY, 1.00pm
- VENUE:
YONG SIEW TOH CONSERVATORY CONCERT HALL
- 90 MIN CONCERT FEATURING THE MUSICAL PRODIGIES
OF THE WORLD
- TICKETS ARE:
60SGD - ADULTS / 30SGD - CHILD
- PRODIGIES PERFORMING ARE:
SIMONE PORTER, 12(USA),
LEE SHUAN HERN, 7( AUSTRALIA),
NATHAN CHAN, ( CANADA),
MICHAEL PROVINCE, 13 ( USA)
VIOLINIST: SIMONE PORTER, 13, USA
Simone Porter, 13, began violin studies with Amy Evans in Salt Lake City at the age of three and a half.
Upon moving to Seattle in 2002, she joined the Margaret Pressley Violin Studio. Her summer musical studies
have included attendance at Indiana University's Summer String Academy, the Schlern International Music Festival and
the Aspen Music Festival. Currently Simone flies to L.A. weekly to study with renowned pedagogue Mr Robert Lipsett
of the Colburn Conservatory of Music.Simone had her orchestral debut when she was eight, and has performed with
more than 10 orchestras. She had her professional debut with the Seattle Symphony in October 2006.
Simone was a featured performer on From the Top's radio show in 2007, and, in March 2008, Simone had her Carnegie Hall
debut on From the Top's 'Live from Carnegie Hall.'
Last spring she opened a ceremony honouring the Dalai Lama in front of 55,000 people.Simone has won multiple
competitions, most recently the Seattle Young Artist Music Festival. As winner she performed with the
Philharmonia Northwest, playing Khachaturian's Violin Concerto in D minor.Simone is an active member of
the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra, where she is in the first violin section. Simone is in 6th grade at
Washington Middle School. In addition to playing and listening to music, Simone loves to draw, write stories
and play with her dog, a Tibetan Terrier called Olivia.
PIANIST : SHUAN HERN LEE, 7 AUSTRALIA
Just turned 7 on 19th July 2009, Shuan Hern Leee is considered to be the youngest ever to pass the grade 8 Australian Music Examination Board exam.
Shuan Hern learns to play the piano from 2 and a half, from his dad, Yoon Sen Lee, who is a musician. Throughout these years, Shuan Hern has won various prizes in many local and interstate piano competitions including Fremantle Eisteddfods, North of Perth Music Festival, South Suburban Eisteddfods, WA Music Teachers Association Awards, West Australian Pianists Competition and Sydney eisteddfods.
Shuan Hern has also won various prizes at international piano competitions including the Open competition in Hong Kong in 2006 and in 2009 at the Bradshaw and Buono piano competition and the Gold prize winner at the American Association for the Development of Gifted and Talented (AADGT) International Music competition in New York (USA).
Shuan Hern has also composed 10 pieces of piano music and has won many prizes with his own compositions.
Besides performing in concerts overseas including Europe, Malaysia and Singapore, he has also invited to perform at the Government House Ballroom concerts regularly for the governor and also for the public in Western Australia. Shuan Hern was also featured on channel Seven Today Tonight on Monday 16th Nov 09 and Sunrise Australia national channel 7 TV on 11th Jan 2010.
CELLIST: NATHAN CHAN, 16, Canada
Nathan Chan, 16, demonstrated a precocious talent for music at an early age but was too young for formal lessons, so he found an unusual way to express himself musically. Before age 2, he would mimic the conducting styles of great conductors he saw on music videos. When just a toddler, his imitations were so startlingly realistic and intuitively musical that he caught the attention of the San Francisco Opera's Assistant Conductor, Sara Jobin, who took a great interest in young Nathan's talent. Under her watchful eye, he made his debut as a conductor at the age of 3 with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra conducting a set of variations by Mozart. This was followed by a guest appearance with the Palo Alto Philharmonic a year later, conducting Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Soon after, he decided that he wanted to play either the cello or the double bass, and at the age of 5, he began formal music lessons with cellist Irene Sharp.
As a cellist, he is the winner of the James Denver Gary Award from the Pacific Musical Society. He also won an award from the California Junior Bach Festival, and is a three-time Command Performance winner at the California Music Educators Association. Nathan Chan has performed as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia (UK), San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra. Next year, he looks forward to his debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London at the Barbican Hall. He has performed for the San Francisco Symphony League, the Vancouver Recital Society, NAMM Convention, Museum of Music Making, Music at Kohl Mansion, Pacific Union College, the National Cello Institute, The American String Teachers Association, and California Summer Music. He has also performed on the Emmy Award-winning national radio program, "From the Top". Very giving of his time and his art, Mr. Chan has participated in many benefit concerts, including performances to raise awareness of Global Warming, the American Alzheimer’s Association, Friends of Children with Special Needs (autism), and the Foundation for the Fine & Performing Arts. He has also collaborated in string quartets with members of the San Francisco Symphony to raise funds for a local high school. In 2007, Mr. Chan won the Peninsula Arts Council’s Ray Lorenzato Diamond Arts Award for his contributions to the community.
In 2006, Mr. Chan appeared in the documentary "The Music in Me", a program featuring talented young musicians that aired on the HBO network. It was directed by Amy Schatz, a six-time Emmy Award-winning director, and it won the prestigious Peabody Award for 2007. This HBO telecast led to invitations to perform at Carnegie Hall, at the National Association of Music Merchants Convention in Los Angeles, and it caught the attention of legendary singer Roberta Flack, who invited Mr. Chan to collaborate on her next project of Beatles songs for Sony Records. In 2008, Mr. Chan performed in San Diego at a gala honoring international sitar artist Ravi Shankar for the Museum of Music Making. Mr. Chan has also been featured in "Teen Strings" and "Arts & Living" magazines, San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, CCTV International (Beijing), and has been a television guest of popular San Francisco Bay Area sportscaster Gary Radnich.
In 2009, Nathan Chan won a world search of young talented musicians sponsored by British company RDF Media — a documentary project in which they searched the globe for brilliant prodigies under the age of 15. Another prodigy, Alexander Prior composed a Quadruple Concerto "Velesslavista" for these specially chosen kids and it was premiered in England in April 2009. This performance also included a solo concerto performance by Mr. Chan and it marked his debut with the Northern Sinfonia at The Sage in Gateshead, UK. This project also included a performance at the Broward Center in Miami under the auspices of the Miami International Piano Festival. The entire project was documented in a 3 part documentary series entitled "The World's Greatest Musical Prodigies" and was aired to great acclaim in the UK in June 2009. Toccata Classics released the premiere of "Velesslavista" on CD in the Fall of 2009. Also in 2009, Mr. Chan was invited to perform a 4th of July Fireworks Concert with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra for a capacity audience of over 20,000 people at the Shoreline Amphitheatre.
Placing no limits on his love of music, Nathan Chan also plays the saxophone, piano, electric cello, and enjoys golf, ping-pong, badminton, computer games and being in the television cast of a local community news show, "Hillsborough Community News". He goes to Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco, and is a member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra.
VIOLINIST: MICHAEL PROVINCE, 14, USA
Michael Province is 14 years old and last December gave his solo recital debut at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in Palm Beach, Florida. In the same week, he was invited to the Menuhin 2010 Competition in Oslo, Norway. He recently soloed with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Barbican in London. In April 2009, he completed filming a three-part British TV Documentary where he is featured as one of the world's outstanding young musicians. As part of this series, he made his professional debut with the Northern Sinfonia Orchestra at the Sage, Gateshead, UK performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and the premiere of Alexander Prior's "Velesslavitsa." Michael won rave reviews for his appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show featuring The World's Smartest and Most Talented Kids. At age 10, he made his debut with the Treasure Coast Symphony after being awarded the Young Artist Scholarship playing Mozart's G Major Concerto. Michael has been a Florida Federation state winner in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008. Also in 2008, he was granted the esteemed Irene Muir Award for extraordinary talent and potential after being chosen from 1300 entrants as one of the fifteen nominees, and then went on to win, playing Haydn's G Major Concerto.
IHe has been studying violin for eight years and is currently a student of Professor Carol Cole at Lynn University in Florida and Gerardo Ribeiro at Northwestern University in Chicago. In summers he has attended the prestigious Meadowmount School of Music and the String Academy at the Indiana University Jacob School of Music as one of the youngest participants. He was awarded 1st place in the 2009 Palm Beach Youth Orchestra concerto competition, 1st place in the 2004 Stars of the Future instrumental competition, 1st place in the 2006 Palm Beach Idol contest and has been heard on WQCS Art Spotlight. He has played in master classes for Ida Haendel, Elmar Oliveira, Barnabas Kelemen and Mimi Zweig.
Michael idolizes Joshua Bell and in a recent interview Bell was referring to Michael when he said, "What I look for when I get excited by a young person is that factor that's hard to put your finger on, that presence and he seems to have it. Michael becomes the music and that's very rare and really great when you do see it." Michael is home-schooled and currently studies Ballet, Modern, Tap, Acting and Piano and has also starred in several plays. In his own words, "Performing makes me feel alive!"
