SIM YI KAI
Piano
Described by Alexey Sokolov as “a deep and sensitive musician with a noble, delicate tone quality”, Singaporean pianist Yi Kai Sim was unanimously awarded the Second Prize in the Open Category at the 2006 International IBLA Piano Competition by an international panel of professors from Russia, Italy and Japan.
As a student of Ong Lip Tat and Lena Ching, Yi Kai received the NAFA scholarship and a Bachelor degree in Piano Performance from the University of Wales. Graduate fellowships paved the way to a Masters in Music degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In a highly specialized field, he studied both collaborative piano and solo piano under acclaimed pianists Robert Koenig and Paul Berkowitz.
After a competitive nationwide audition at the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Centre, Yi Kai was invited as an artist for the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar in New York, concertizing and working with renowned mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and pianist-composer Alan Smith. As an opera répétiteur, he took on the triple role of assistant conductor, vocal coach and continuo harpsichordist in the entire production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville in California.
As a collaborative pianist, Yi Kai has performed in a series of chamber recitals with international prize-winning soloists such as Lim Yan, Edward Tan, Hidehiro Fujita, Jacek Mirucki and Pascal Saloman. He has collaborated with contemporary music ensembles in Los Angeles, performing Sebastian Currier's Whispers and frequently premiering the works of contemporary composer Joel Feigin, who counts Nadia Boulanger as his mentor.
Now based in Singapore, Yi Kai has collaborated in two sold-out recitals at the Esplanade with prize- winning Yale violinist and concertmaster of the Orchestra of the Music Makers, Edward Tan. Their dynamic partnership was described as “equal, with both opportunities for each to shine” by the Straits Times newspaper.
His ongoing piano duo series with Lim Yan has been hailed as "intrepid" and "risk-taking" by the local press.
Yi Kai was invited as a guest artiste with musicians Jacek Mirucki and Hidehiro Fujita in a joint chamber concert for the Japan Tsunami disaster.
An advocate of the classical arts amongst the local community, he pledges to make his artistry relevant to the music culture in Singapore and promote local composers in upcoming solo and chamber recitals in Japan and China.