Ho Qian Hui, a third year BMus student was the Grand Prize Winner of this year’s annual Conservatory Concerto Competition. Accompanied by the Conservatory Orchestra led by Principal Conductor Jason Lai, Qian Hui performed Alfred Schnittke’s Viola Concerto (1985). Henk van der Meulen, principal of the Royal Conservatory in the Hague was the adjudicator. Two other grand finalists were Chen Pin-Jyun who played Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante and Luong Khan Nhi who played Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2, both first prize-winners in their respective departmental finals held in March this year.

How did you begin studying violin?

QH: I started playing the violin when I was four when my parents enrolled me in the School of Young Talents at NAFA and I passed the audition. I was a student there for seven years before going to the Yehudi Menuhin School to study in the UK. After that, I applied to study at YST Conservatory and came back to Singapore because of the facilities and support that the conservatory provided.

How did the switch to viola happen?

QH: I have always thought about switching to viola since I first started playing it back when I was 13. It was only here in YST, after a serious discussion about what I wanted to do in the future with Prof. Qian Zhou, did I finally just change. It felt right and I can’t believe it took so long!

Why Schnittke?

QH: I first learnt of the Schnittke concerto when I was researching viola concertos. I didn’t want to play a standard viola concerto (Bartok, Walton) and I really wanted to challenge myself. When I heard the Schnittke, I knew I have got to showcase this. I felt like the work really spoke to me as it is such a vivid and visceral work and I knew I had to perform it one day, so I then chose to play it for the Conservatory Concerto Competition.