Singaporean pianist Churen redefines classical pianism by blending different musical genres in her personal musical voice. Hailed as “the closest thing I know to be the ‘complete’ pianist” in Singapore by a leading music critic and a “well rounded, versatile performer” by another, she tours internationally as a classical recitalist and orchestral soloist, playing her own compositions and improvisations in concert, in addition to an eclectic repertoire from ranging from Chopin and Debussy, to Michael Jackson, John Williams, and George Crumb.
Praised for her “poise, expressiveness and keyboard abilities”, she opened the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s 2022/23 season in July ‘22 with Grieg’s Piano Concerto conducted by Han-Na Chang. Churen has also been featured in the Singapore International Piano Festival and Singapore International Festival of Arts. In the same year, her debut album Ephemory revealed a composer-pianist of contemporary and post-modern sensibilities adept in a variety of musical languages, delivering original takes on well-known classical themes as well as her own original compositions. In 2018, Churen produced and performed in a concert at Singapore’s well known Zouk nightclub, juxtaposing the Western art songs within a pop culture setting. She was among the ten pianists selected in 2018 to participate and perform in the Darmstadt International Summer Course for New Music, and in the same year, at the prestigious Roche Continents programme in Salzburg, an interdisciplinary programme of workshops and lectures in the arts and in science.
Graduating at the age of 19 with a Bachelor’s Degree from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (National University of Singapore) as the youngest in her cohort, Churen subsequently studied with well-known pianist Peter Frankl and Hung-Kuan Chen at the Yale School of Music where she obtained a Master’s Degree. She later went on to obtain a Master of Philosophy in Music from Cambridge University with a dissertation on George Crumb. Since then, Churen continues to be active in the performance and production of new music, working in inter-disciplinary collaborations and across genres.
A prize winner at numerous international piano competitions, Churen has also been invited to perform at music festivals and recital halls all over the world, often appearing in partnership with luxury brands such as Cartier, Chanel and Richard Mille. She was also honoured in Singapore Tatler's Generation-T List in 2018. In 2015, she performed as soloist in a tour of Macau and Hong Kong with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music Orchestra, at the invitation of Singapore’s High Consulate in Hong Kong as part of Singapore’s 50th jubilee celebrations of independence. Other concerto engagements include performances with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Cambridge University Orchestra, Klassische Budapest Philharmonic, Metropolitan Festival Orchestra Singapore, Mikhail Jora Philharmonic of Bacau and National University of Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
She is also the recipient of prestigious grants, including the Tan Kah Kee Postgraduate Scholarship (2015), the FJ Benjamin-Singapore Symphony Orchestra Bursary (2013) and the National Arts Council Arts Scholarship (2011-15).
Churen currently teaches at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music as an Artist Faculty and was previously an Academic Faculty at Yale-NUS College. She is the founder of the Classical Music Adventures initiative, a series of interactive classical music shows that work with community venues.
Her past teachers include Albert Tiu, Bernard Lanskey, Paul Liang, Peter Frankl and Hung-Kuan Chen.
Straits Times Singapore: Pianist Li Churen goes for big meals before a performance
Gina Peh
9 AUG 2016
"Li Churen faced a tough choice at age 16: follow convention and climb the academic ladder or follow her heart and train as a concert pianist?"
Li Churen faced a tough choice at age 16: follow convention and climb the academic ladder or follow her heart and train as a concert pianist?
The former student of Raffles Girls' School eventually joined the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and earned a Bachelor of Music degree, instead of completing the six-year integrated programme at Raffles Institution (Junior College).
"We've always had a piano at home and my mum would play CDs of classical music when I was young," says Li, now 21 and pursuing her Master of Music at Yale University.
"My parents found out early that I had perfect pitch and a good sense of hearing, so they decided to send me to music classes. I complied by playing random tunes on the piano whenever I could. That's how I began falling in love with my craft."
Her accomplishments include receiving the first prize at the Barlassina Young Talents Competition (2014), and winning third prize at the Aarhus International Piano Competition (2011) in Denmark.
BOOK IT /DICHTERLEBEN: A POET'S LIFE
WHERE: Victoria Concert Hall, 11 Empress Place
WHEN: Aug 21, 7.30pm
ADMISSION: $20 from Sistic (go to www.sistic.com.sg or call 6348-5555)
She will perform with Singaporean violinist Yang Shuxiang, 27, in the recital, Dichterleben: A Poet's Life, which reflects on the passage of life via musical pieces inspired by poetry.
What do you love about your craft?
What I try to do as a musician is be a window through which the audience can perceive the world of the composer.
As the window, I am offered a first-hand view into the world of the composer to give my account of the music. So I am constantly discovering something beautiful, new and sublime.
What was your first performance like?
When I was seven, I played my own composition, titled To Mother With Love, at the Esplanade Recital Studio. It was a performance with the Yamaha Music School and a Mother's Day present for my mum.
I feel a great sense of responsibility every time I go on stage because I have to be accountable for the time people are spending to listen to my work. It makes me feel like I have a very special role to play.
How do you overcome your nerves before going on stage?
I have to eat a lot. Most people do not eat before performances, but I have to eat like two McDonald's meals. I also pray because that is how I find my balance.
What is the funniest incident that happened while you were on stage?
It happened during Shuxiang's graduation recital at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. He is a very expressive musician, so he likes to move a lot on stage.
I remember being immersed in the music we were playing.
As I was closing my eyes, I felt something ram into the right side of my head. He was moving so much that the scroll of his violin hit my head.
I blacked out for a few seconds and we both probably missed a note. We could hear snickering from the audience, but we recovered and continued playing.
Was there a time when you felt like giving up on your pursuit of classical music?
Some semblance of self-doubt is essential to a musician because you always have to question yourself and dig deeper into your identity to find out how you relate to the world, to yourself and to the music.
But if you are talking about giving up, I do not think I could do that because music is such an important part of who I am.
When I have self-doubt, I remind myself of small successes I have had and to be positive.