When we at Augustman hear people complain that Singapore doesn’t produce internationally renowned creative talent of her own, we are thankful for our jobs and the opportunity to learn, first hand, that the notion hardly has any truth in it.
Take Wang Congyu, for example.
The piano soloist has built quite a reputation beyond our shores as a recitalist, accompanist, and chamber musician. The classical music community in Singapore has a lot of respect for him as well – and many more Singaporeans would, too, if they only knew the depth and breadth of his achievements.
Congyu left school to study music in Paris half his life ago at the age of 16 — without the approval or support of his parents or those around him. It helped that he received a scholarship to study at the prestigious Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, where he studied with renowned French pianists Jean-Marc Luisada and Odile Catelin-Delangle. But what his friends and family thought was a pipe dream turned into a breathtaking musical career.
Congyu has performed at some of the most prestigious classical music festivals, including the Ernen Music Festival (Switzerland), the Geza Anda Piano Festival (Berlin), the International Isang Yun Academy (Paris), International Hammer Klavier Piano Series (Barcelona), and the Algarve Music Series (Faro). He’s known for delivering stunning performances of extremely demanding repertoire, which includes 30 piano concertos, as well as the complete solo piano oeuvre of Chopin and Poulenc.
When we asked how he picks his concert repertoire, he opens his reply with some philosophy and profundity, something we came to learn is somewhat characteristic of the pianist. “I think life is too short to live with regret,” he says. “I pick my repertoire very carefully, and I tend to choose pieces that are close to my heart. In the traditional piano festivals, I usually choose a more romantic program — Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Ravel. For private concerts, I choose a more relatable program — Gerhswin, Debussy and modern arrangements of famous tunes.”
He continues: “A few weeks ago, I performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 at the Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore with the Musician’s Initiative Orchestra. I chose this music because it was the first concerto I learnt after I moved to Paris, and I had learnt it with teachers who were in direct contact with Rachmaninoff himself. I tend to choose music that embrace my childhood and resonates with my personality.”
Congyu also has two critically acclaimed albums to date: ‘Charme,’ which features the works of Francis Poulenc, and ‘Reflets,’ commemorating the 100th death anniversary of Claude Debussy. He will be releasing a new EP, featuring his own compositions, next month on Apple Classical. In 2022, he was afforded the title of Steinway Artist, a prestigious designation for pianists that he shares with Chinese pianist Lang Lang, Argentinian classical pianist Martha Argerich, and American singer-songwriter Charlie Puth.
This interview with him was done remotely. Congyu was on board a Seabourn Cruise travelling through North Africa and Spain. That morning, he had a stop in Cartagena. “Since January this year, I’ve been performing on four different continents, travelling through 60 different cities,” says the clearly well-travelled pianist. “With Seabourn, I try to pick different destinations each time. This year, I’ll be on six diffeent itineraries to Iceland, the UK, Croatia, Philippines, Africa and Antarctica — the fifth continent of my tour!”
Congyu is a rare gem — somebody who has kept classical music relevant against an onslaught of mass-produced pop music. But he doesn’t see them as two opposing forces.
“Music is a universal language,” he says. “I believe there shouldn’t be any barriers between genres. Classical music is widely catalogued as music from before 1940, but so many modern composers today are getting inspiration from classical composers to write melodies. The technique taught in classical music will always be a good base for any instrumentalist.”
