RECENT HIGHLIGHTS & RESULTS
Dr Pipetius Quah continues to perform and play the piano, taking the stage with his mother Josephine Koh in this SHINE! Concerto festival.
RECENT RESULTS
RESULTS OF TRINITY COLLEGE OF LONDON - DIPLOMA GRADUATES 2023 to 2025
2025
Xavier Sheng Yichou LTCL (Distinction) Piano Recital
Brendon Lee Jie LTCL Piano Recital
Chew Shi Ya LTCL Piano Recital
Mirelle Quah ARSM (Distinction) Piano Performance
2024
Tyler Yu Chengtai FTCL Piano Recital
Ng Jin Rui ARSM Piano Performance
Arielle Ee AMusTCL - Music Theory
SHINE! CONCERTO IN PERSPECTIVE IV.
This event was held on 20 June 2024 at the Victoria Concert Hall.
JANUARY: Josephine Koh conducted 'Success Assured' seminar for piano teachers to effectively prepare students for ABRSM exams
MARCH: Josephine Koh represented Singapore to adjudicate in the Chopin International Piano Competition in USA.
MAY: Success stories of students. Another Distinction at LTCL
FEBRUARY: Students sat for both Recorded and LIVE diploma examinations - to achieve their ARSM, ATCL and LTCL diplomas
APRIL: Students took part in masterclasses of the Singapore Chopin International Piano Competitiom
JUNE: Josephine Koh conducted lectures for teachers in CHINA - Shanghai and Beijing
JULY - AUGUST: Students took part in various piano competitions. Claire Liang won GOLD in the Junior category of the Raffles Music Festival. Xavier Sheng achieved the highest score in the Youth category of the Kayserburg Competition and was selected to represent Singapore in the Grand Finals in China. Brendon Lee qualified as one of the 6 finalists.
AUGUST: National Day Celebration @ Binjai Park. Our students performed at the Street Bazzaar for Minister Sim Ann.
OCTOBER: Mirelle Quah won the 1st prize in the Kayserburg Piano Competition Grade 8 category. Many graded level students continue to achieve distinctions in the ABRSM exams.
NOVEMBER: Students once again prepare for their year end diploma exams. Dr Krystian Tkaczewski came by to conduct masterclasses.
SEPTEMBER: Students took part in the Joyeux Music International Competition and performed in the Gala Winners' Concert.
DECEMBER: The CHRISTMAS PARTY CONCERT gathered jolly musicians, as families together to share and enjoy the occasion.
OUR CONCERTS AND PERFORMANCES
JKPA holds regular concerts for students and performing staff members:
Young Students’ Concert is held annually in the November/December season which features students from the ages of 6 to 18.
Staff members and Advanced students perform in An Evening of Piano Music, which features solo, duo, and ensemble works.
Since 2017, the school developed into a diploma academy for part time and full time studies. In line with its musical excellence, a new series Piano Concertos in Perspective came into being. The orchestra Joyeux Sinfonietta was founded and premiered its first concert in June 2019
INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITIONS
11 Sept 2022, prize winners from JKPA were featured at the Alliance Francaise Theatrette
PIANO CONCERTOS IN PERSPECTIVE III
Held on 14th June 2022, at the Victoria Concert Hall.
Joyeux Music International Competition for Young Pianists 2021
Congratulations to the following students for winning prizes and awards at last month's Joyeux Music International Competition for Young Pianists 2021. It was a good showing with all the efforts and hard work. A selected number of students were featured at the JMI Gala Winners' Concert.
CHONG XIU QI: Gold (1st), Grade 8
ANTHEA PHUA: Silver (5th), Grade 8
NG JING RUI: Silver (6th), Grade 8
GUI GUO: Bronze (8th), Grade 8
DYLAN CHENG: Bronze (7th), Grades 4&5
ALYSA CHENG: Gold (2nd), Young Artist II
SHARLYZ NG: Silver (6th), Young Artist II
QIU BIXIN: Bronze (7th), Young Artist I
YICHOU SHENG: Bronze (5th), Young Artist I
TRINA TAN: Silver (1st), Licientiate Diploma
SIWEI FENG: Silver (1st), Associate Diploma
WANG JING YUAN: Silver (2nd), Associate Diploma
CHERRYLY CHIAH: Bronze (3rd), Associate Diploma
WANG JING YUAN & YICHOU SHENG:
Silver (3rd), Piano Duo
WEBINAR ON ONLINE PIANO TEACHING
TEACHERS' CHOICE Selected Piano Repertory 2021 & 2022 series (Grades 1-8]
PIANO CONCERTOS IN PERSPECTIVE II
Held on 30th June 2019, at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Hall.
30th June 2019 marks a most memorable evening at the NUS Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall. A team of outstanding pianists from the academy performed concerto movements of Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Shostakovich. Paired pianists worked together during the week, with the newly formed orchestra - Joyeux Sinfonietta, under the baton of award-winning guest conductor Lien Boon Hua. Rehearsals were held at The Music Platform at Marina Square with pianos supported by Chiu Piano Co. Ltd. The pianos used at the YST Concert Hall were the Bosendorfer Imperial Grand 290 and Yamaha CFX, courtesy of Yamaha Music (Asia) Pte Ltd. The event was attended by corporate representatives including Fumuhiro Horie, Shuhei Yahagi, several musicians, music teachers, friends, music lovers and conservatory students.
The evening's concert opened with Colette Tan and Chua Siew Joo, both teachers at JKPA, with the Romanze and Allegro movements of Mozart's Concerto in D minor K466. Watch video: https://youtu.be/lyXW3y94-J8
Evelyn Goh with poise and confidence, delivered the first movement of Beethoven's Concerto No. 1 supported by Tyndale Choo on the orchestral piano.Watch video: https://youtu.be/flek-WZyK0U
12-year old Qiu Bixin presented a vibrant performance of Ravel's final movement from the Sonatine before the youthful and exciting 3rd movement of Shostakovich's 2nd Concerto was brought forth by Alysa Cheng supported by Siauw Yu Chuan.
Watch video:https://youtu.be/N0reCzxDtj4
Joyeux Sinfonietta, with its sonority of 11 strings, 6 winds and percussion, has doubled and filled piano parts arranged by Josephine Koh for the orchestral pianists. The result was a fresh and wholesome timbre - an efficient orchestra, with clearly defined lines and tone colours, with the Yamaha CFX piano blending perfectly to enrich the orchestral texture. These professional musicians were led The Libitum Quartet with Albert Shagimardanova as concertmaster.
Brian Tan took stage after the intermission, with his solo performance of the first movement of Schubert's Sonata in C minor, D 958. While the young Bixin has earlier impressed with her agility, Brian's energy and intrepretation of this Schubert movement was highly commendable. Soon, the audience certainly felt moved by the beauty of the slow movement of Chopin's Concerto No. 1. Trina Tan resonated her solo part with lyricism and expressive flow while Louise Chua filled in the soulful harmonies alongside the sustained and vibrato strings.
The highlight of the evening, was non other than the performance by Bosendorfer artiste Ms Josephine Koh. The rendition of the 20-minute Concerto for the Left Hand was powerful and gripping. The misterious mood of the orchestra in the low registers sets the entrance for the intense cadenza by the soloist. The second theme was intimate, expressed with great depth of musical thought within the orchestral web. The contrasts of musical ideas were clearly presented, which captured the attentive audience. Rhythmic moments were articulated with much confidence and energy, often matched in turn by equally pulsating drive of Dr Jipson Quah on the orchestral piano. The orchestra sustained the character of the work with unyielding intensity - convincing solo entries and full crescendos that emphasised the highly dissonant climaxes. The final cadenza was another captivating moment. It revealed a determined personality within the pianist. After an unfortunate fall that rendered her right wrist fractured, followed by a surgery in early January, it is amazing how Josephine had learnt this piece, taken on all the efforts to train the performers, founded the orchestra and presented a spirit so positive that everyone took home a lesson learnt in our own ways. It was undoubtedly an eventful evening that presented many fine pianists and the audience simply loved it.
PIANO CONCERTOS IN PERSPECTIVE I
Held on 25th June 2017, at the Victoria Concert Hall.
The concert featured various concerto movements performed by talented diploma soloists, each accompanied by an orchestral pianist and a string quintet. The works were transcribed, arranged and conducted by Maestro Josephine Koh, along with Adrian Chiang.
Experience the amalgamation of piano concerto movements and solo works performed by prize winners of the 1st Beethoven International Piano Competition (Singapore) – Xavier Sheng and Ian Teh. Singapore’s Bösendorfer Artist Josephine Koh will conduct Joyeux Sinfonietta, in a unique orchestral setting led by The Libitum Quartet. Guest artists include pianists Christine Octaviani, Quah Jiezhi and violinist Albert Shagimardanov.
Programme includes:
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 (1st movt)
BEETHOVEN Violin and Piano Sonata No. 9 ‘Kreutzer’ (1st movt)
SCHUMANN Piano Concerto in A minor, (3rd movt)
CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21 (1st movt)
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor (1st movt)
The Libitum Quartet:
Albert Shagimardanov, Rodion Synchyshyn, Elena Shagimardanov, Oleg Vasilevskiy
FLASHBACK 2018!
Dec. CHRISTMAS PARTY CONCERT @ The JK Concert House, Jalan Keria, on 22nd Dec. 2018
The last event of the year ended on a most cheerful note. It was a wonderful exchange with piano students from Malaysia and students from the JKPA Diploma Programme. Food was great, so was the music and all the sharing of learning and experiences.
Nov. YOUNG STUDENTS' RECITAL @ Yamaha Thomson Plaza on 30th Nov. 2018
was a great success. All these students in the Gifted Music Programme played beautifully with their solo and duet pieces.
Nov. International Classical Music Festival
Ms Josephine Koh performed at the International Classical Music Festival in Ukraine on 20th Nov. 2018 with her rendition of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor.
Aug. Newly uploaded youtube videos are now streaming, just click the images below to watch.
1. Soiree 2018, where Ms Josephine Koh performed the Yellow River Concerto at NUS, University Cultural Theatre.
2. Maestra Josephine Koh conducts a Mozart concerto at the 5th Alion Baltic International Music Festival in Tallinn, Estonia.
Masterclass with Michael Bulychev-Okser 2018
December 2017
Synopsis for Young Musicians’ Festival 2017:
Once again, talented students at Josephine Koh Piano Academy proudly presented their annual Young Students' Recital 2017. As part of the Young Musicians' Festival 2017 organized by the Esplanade Library, this programme of solo piano works was performed by students from the tender age of 6 to teenagers at their advanced diploma levels. The wide spectrum of repertoire in this 1.5 hour lunchtime concert included Baroque sonatas by Scarlatti, the classics - of Mozart and Schubert; the Romantic charms of Chopin and Liszt; the appealing French works of Debussy and Poulenc; and the exciting and captivating modern works of Copland and Khachaturian.
Concerto concert of Josephine Koh recorded live on 2nd Dec 2016 in Sumy Ukraine:
SOIREE 2016 - In Commemoration of Mr Lee Kuan Yew
Led by Music Director and Conductor, Maestro Josephine Koh, the NUS Harmonica Orchestra (the only award-winning orchestra of its kind in the region) opened with a tribute medley to celebrate Singapore’s golden jubilee. The evening's performance held on 25th March 2016 at the Victoria Concert Hall included major orchestral works such as Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Shostakovich’s March, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, and a duo to perform The Prayer. The concert depicted the life journey of Mr Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore's first Prime Minister), his love story with Mrs Kwa Geok Choo, his political endeavours and his dedication to Singapore. All works are specially arranged by members of the orchestra to commemorate Mr Lee’s legacy and the success of Singapore’s nation building as a city-state that strives towards excellence. The event was well attended by representatives from various organisations.
JKPA pianists featured in Soiree 2016:
Diploma students from right:
Evelyn Tan, Elijah Chew, Joshia Seam and Joy Chua.
Other performers from JKPA:
From left:
Benjamin Foo (alumnus of NUS and JKPA) as Emcee
Sandy Soh and Liscoln Quah (cellists)
YOUNG STUDENTS' RECITAL 2014
ASIA PIANO COMPETITION (2013)
Elijah Chew 12, and Kellerine Quah 14, won the Outstanding Performance Prize at Asia Piano Competition 2013 held in Taiwan.
YOUNG STUDENTS' RECITAL 2013
This event was held on 24th November 2013 at the Recital Studio, Music Avenue, Marina Square #03-321 from 5.30pm to 7pm.
YOUNG STUDENTS' RECITAL 2012
Featured solo and chamber works by talented JKMS students on the piano and their second instruments. Held at the Arts House, Singapore, on 2nd December 2012.
PIANO RECITAL BY JOSEPHINE KOH (2012)
This event was held on 24th February 2012 at the Esplanade Recital Studio.
It was supported by Bösendorfer and Yamaha Music (Asia) Pte. Ltd.
PIANO DUO CONCERT 2011
This collaborative concert held on 28th February 2011 involves various artists - Arkadiusz Bialak (Poland), Cindy Yan (Australia) and Natasha Liu (China) and our very own Josephine Koh.
YOUNG STUDENTS’ CONCERT 2010
YOUNG STUDENTS’ CONCERT 2009
YOUNG STUDENTS’ CONCERT 2008
AN EVENING OF PIANO MUSIC 2006
Held on 7th November 2006 at the Esplanade Recital Studio, An Evening Of Piano Music 2006 saw performers aged 11 to 18 showcasing their musical and virtuosic piano playing, with solo works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Debussy. Guest performances by Harpist Mifiona Quah and Piano Duo Josephine Koh and Arkadiusz Bialak were also featured.
