Melvyn Tan Ban Eng (; born 13 October 1956) is a

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

-born British classical

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, noted for his study of

historical performance practice Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of the musical era in whic ...

. From a young age, he went to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to study, first at the

Yehudi Menuhin School The Yehudi Menuhin School is a Specialist school, specialist music school in Stoke d'Abernon, Surrey, England, founded in 1963 by violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin. The current director of music is the British classical pianist Ashley Wass. ...

when he was twelve years old, later enrolling at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

where he studied with Angus Morrison. At the Royal College, he was told by the then director

Sir David Willcocks Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambrid ...

that he would have to study a second instrument; so he chose the harpsichord, which began his interest in early keyboards. Upon returning to Singapore in 2005, he was fined for not having done

National Service in Singapore National Service (NS) is the national policy in Singapore mandated by statutory law that requires all male Singaporean citizens and second-generation permanent residents to serve a period of compulsory service in the uniformed services. It was ...

, although he was studying in London during the time he was required to serve, he had already started a busy concert career, and he had already acquired

British citizenship British nationality law prescribes the conditions under which a person is recognised as being a national of the United Kingdom. The six different classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the ...

. During his development as a pianist, Tan developed a passion for the

fortepiano A fortepiano , sometimes referred to as a pianoforte, is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1698 up to the early 19th century. Mo ...

, which he has promoted throughout his career, and thereby changed other musicians' perceptions of this instrument. He has now returned mainly to the pianoforte and performs a wide-ranging repertoire from Bach to Messiaen. Of Messiaen, Tan has announced that mastering the composer's '' Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus'' has been his proudest accomplishment: "It took me nearly two years to learn it, but it was the most life-enriching, the most life-changing experience because it was so spiritual and it changed the way I performed." He has lived in London since 1978, and continues to give concerts worldwide. In 2007, he performed at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

for

Jasper Conran Jasper Alexander Thirlby Conran (born 12 December 1959) is an English designer. He has worked on collections of womenswear and for the home, as well as productions for the stage in ballet, opera and theatre. Early life He is the second son of ...

's London Fashion Week collection.

References

External links

Melvyn Tan - Pianist
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Melvyn Singaporean classical pianists British classical pianists Male classical pianists British fortepianists Musicians from London Alumni of the Royal College of Music People educated at Yehudi Menuhin School British people of Chinese descent People who lost Singaporean citizenship Singaporean people of Chinese descent 1956 births Living people 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century British male musicians