Wednesday, 30 January 2013

Wong Chee Yean

AMPAC Piano Teacher


Mr. Wong Chee Yean



Chee Yean graduated as a piano performance major from Indiana University, Bloomington in the USA, where he benefited tremendously under the tutelage of Emile Naoumoff, who himself was a student of the great pedagogue Nadia Boulanger.

As a performer, Chee Yean has collaborated with some very fine musicians from the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in their Chamber Music Series, both as a pianist and a harpsichordist. His solo repertoire includes some of the most challenging repertoire of the 19th century such as the Liszt and the Chopin B minor Sonatas. He also frequently works with instrumentalists and singers alike, notably, with the internationally renowned clarinetist Ronald van Spandonck during his concert tour to Malaysia.

As a composer, though never been formally trained, two of his orchestral works, Six Sketches and Triptych, were performed by the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra; and one, On Huygen’s Aria, commissioned by Joost Flach for High Winds Ensemble was published in Germany by Floricor Edition in 2010. He also arranges music for the wind ensemble on numerous occasions, one of the highlights, was the arrangement of Mozart 25th Piano Concerto with himself as the soloist, performed at the Georgetown Festival of Penang in 2011.

As a lecturer, Chee Yean has taught piano as well as theory at a number of institutions such as Universiti Malaya and Uiversiti Putera Malaysia. Two of his private students have won full scholarship to study at a music specialist school in the UK.