Our 25th anniversary celebration concert on Founder’s Day received a warm reception from parents, teachers, students and special guests as well as our live stream audience. Full credit to Director of Music Mr Gordon Robb’s team and to all our talented performers.

After weeks of challenging rehearsals, harmonising, memorising lyrics and notes, our students delivered an extraordinary performance before their appreciative schoolmates.

Embracing each child’s unique talent is an important feature of our school’s ethos and the performances by the choir, soloists and duet ensembles were rich testament to this. With the help of both parents and school staff, students collaborated and performed in some unusual settings to deliver a varied and engaging performance.

Said one organiser, “After such a tremendous amount of preparation, Founder’s Day was a fantastic achievement.”

We interviewed some of the soloists to tell us more about themselves and what the performance meant to them.

Melody Su, Y12Melody Su has been playing the piano for 10 years now and on Founder’s Day she had the opportunity to perform a duet on ‘River Flows in You’ (by Yiruma) with her younger sister Polly Su (Y9). Played on a double piano, she describes the moment as “a precious memory”. She also played with the orchestra that accompanied the school choir. “I’m much honoured to have had this opportunity,” she says. She has also participated in and won the YCYW music competition and plans to continue playing in future.

Bryan Cheah, Y8Malaysian Bryan Cheah started playing the piano in 2015 at the age of seven. This was followed by the cello, which he took a great liking to, a year later. He went on to receive a distinction in his first ABRSM exam, a prestigious recognition by the board of the Royal Academy of Music.

For Founder’s Day he performed ‘The Swan’ from The Carnival of the Animals by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns with Mr Robb on piano. This was inspired by the musical style of the popular Brooklyn Duo.

Unable to attend lessons due to the pandemic disruption – but eager to invest time and commitment – Bryan taught himself the music.

The most memorable moments for him were the rehearsals and mingling with fellow students of the YCIS Beijing band that gave him a sense of participation and fulfilment.

Patrick Liu, Y9AHaving played the clarinet since Year 2 and currently taking lessons at the renowned Tianjin Juilliard pre-college, Patrick performed a solo of the ‘Concertino for Clarinet’ by Weber.The Founder’s Day performance was daunting as it had been a while since he played in front of audience. But it was all worth it as the applause came in and the spotlight picked him out.Patrick Liu has his eyes set on charming the world with his beloved instrument. “My plan is flexible. Maybe I will be a clarinettist, join an orchestra and perform all over the world,”  he says.

Charlie Leung, Y10Vocalist Charlie Leung and her co-performers on the band Rivulet – Alice Su and Jenny Qiu – did a song by Sam Fischer, ‘The City’. Along with the piano, Charlie took up singing in Year 5 and has performed with Rivulet since Year 8 at school assemblies and our popular Welcome BBQ.

Says Charlie, “Founder's Day was definitely a more serious and professional event than what we were used to… a stepping stone for us.”

Although she is still uncertain about what the future holds, she is open to pursuing a music related course as it plays such a pivotal part in her life.

Catherine Chu, Y13Catherine has been playing the piano for nine years and performed the solo ‘Liu Yang He’ by Wang Jian Zhong. Although this was not her first experience performing with an orchestra – something she has done regularly between Year 7 and Year 9 – she felt nervous before an audience of all the YCYW schools. Thanks to the distractions of special effects, the lighting and artificial smoke, it made the experience a little easier. With four years as a soloist, Catherine will not pursue music professionally but intends to continue playing.

Vladimir and Sofia Dementyeva also delivered a creative and fun performance of a ballroom dance from Vietnam where they have been since the beginning of the pandemic. We were glad to have witnessed their talent as well.

Below is a list of all our performers.

Congratulations to all and we look forward to seeing more of your special talent in upcoming events.