An initiative of Steinway Gallery Singapore, Pioneering Pianists of Southeast Asia is a new concert series and platform that celebrates the legacy of a generation of pianists who has established a cultural identity and presence of the region in the international scene through the latest developments in piano technology.

Pioneering Pianists Of Southeast Asia Concert

Love Letters From Home featuring Steinway Artist Dr. Raul Sunico 

The long-awaited Singapore debut by internationally acclaimed Filipino pianist Raul Sunico

Love Letters from Home will take audiences on a dazzling and colourful musical journey from Romantic masterpieces by Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Liszt through his stylish transcriptions of melodious Filipino folk tunes before concluding with Gershwin’s ever-popular Rhapsody in Blue. Performing on Steinway’s SPIRIO|r finest resolution playback piano, Sunico will also show what is possible when the latest technological development come together with heritage and virtuosity.

Award winning pianist Sunico is a living legend in the Filipino arts scene today: highly revered as a pianist and teacher, Sunico was also former president of the Cultural Centre of the Philippines and contributed to various Filipino arts organisations.   With the more than 50 CDs to his name, Sunico recently performed all four Rachmaninoff piano concertos from memory in a single evening earlier this year, a repeat of the feat he first accomplished in 2003.The Commendatore Award (Order of the Star of Italy) pianist’s rendition of Filipino folk tunes and ballads, including Buhat and Bato sa Buhangin. These are among the folk tunes that Sunico has recorded for the Steinway Library.

To showcase Steinway and Sons’ latest SPIRIO|r, Sunico will play a four-hands duet on the piano which is capable of live performance capture and playback.

About Steinway Artist Raul Sunico 

Filipino pianist, educator and cultural advocate, Dr. Raul M. Sunico is best known for his achievement and efforts to promote Filipino music.

Dr. Sunico graduated from the University of the Philippines with the degrees of Bachelor of Music (cum laude), Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, and Master of Statistics. A scholarship from former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos through the Young Artists Foundation of the Philippines enabled him to finish his Master of Music of Music degree from the Juilliard School in New York and a Doctor of Philosophy degree, majoring in Piano Performance from the New York University.

For the past 40 years, he has been a beacon of hope in the Filipino music scene. He was awarded TOYM (The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines) Awardee for Music in 1986 and was conferred PAMANA Presidential Award for Overseas Filipinos in 1996. He was also conferred the Commendatore Award (Order of the Star of Italy) by the President of the Republic of Italy in April 2017. Dr. Sunico was the President of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) from 2010 to 2017. He is a faculty member of the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music, where he was the Dean from 2002 to 2016. Presently, he is the Chairman of Doctor of Musical Arts Program at St. Paul University College of Music and the Performing Arts. Dr. Sunico was conferred as the Steinway Artist title in March 2019.

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The Light Of My Homeland featuring Steinway Artist Nat Yontararak 

A rare treat for piano lovers!

Renowned Thai composer-pianist Nat Yontararak’s debut recital in Singapore will be the first such concert dedicated exclusively to contemporary Thai music for the piano, many of which will be making their Singapore premiere.

Audiences will be treated to movements from Yontararak’s piano sonatas which are based on traditional Thai folk melodies.  Highlights of the concert will also include Yontararak’s own arrangements of the late King Bhumibol’s attractive and melodious “Love in Spring” (ลมหนาว) and “Somewhere, Somehow” (ฝัน), as well as performances by traditional Thai dancers, who will accompany Yontararak in some of the works. Yontararak will be performing on Steinway and Sons’ latest piano SPIRIO|r, the world’s finest high-resolution player piano capable of live performance capture and playback, which will be launched at the concert.

The concert will culminate in a performance of an 8-hand piece by the Yontararak family on Steinway and Sons’ SPIRIO|r .

About Steinway Artist Nat Yontararak 

Thailand’s first Steinway artist, Nat Yontararak is a renowned classically trained pianist, composer and educator. His dedication to music has been recognised by the Thai Ministry of Culture with the “Silpathorn Artist” award, an annual award which recognises the contribution of living Thai contemporary artists. He is also a recipient of two “Decoration of Honour” awards, which were presented by the Ministries of Culture of both Poland and Italy. 

Yontararak is best known for his arrangements of the music of the late King Bhumibol as well as works inspired by Thai folk songs. He has made 17 arrangements (out of 48) of the late H.M. The King’s royal compositions for piano solo; of which some have been used as the compulsory pieces for the Siam International Piano Competition since 2009 in order to promote H.M. The King’s music.

Recognised for his compositions, Yontararak had also presented and world premiered his own compositions on many important occasions. One of his works, “Glory to Our Great Kings”, a piano sonata written in commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of HM King Bhumibol’s ascension to the throne, was performed at the 50th session of the UN General Assembly in October 1995.

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ABOUT SPIRIO | r

The STEINWAY SPIRIO | r is the world’s finest high resolution player piano capable of live performance capture and playback. A revolutionary blend of artistry, craftsmanship, and technology, SPIRIO | r provides powerful new tools of expression and new ways to access, share and experience performance — enriching connection and intimacy.

Part of the proceeds from tickets sales of Pioneering Pianists of Southeast Asia Concert and sales of the Steinway Spirio|r (from 1 Jun to 31 Dec 2019) will be donated to Global Cultural Alliance Ltd for its programmes that builds capabilities of marginalised groups (which include people with experiences of poverty, incarceration, offending and in need of mental health support) through arts and culture.