This piece is a translation of the original Mandarin article by Zhang Heyang, ‘像哲学家的音乐家 ‘, which was published by Lianhe Zaobao on 19 March 2021.

YST Dean Prof Bernard Lanskey steps down in July. Speaking to him in an interview, one feels he is more like a philosopher, with music being his language for dialoguing with truth. YST Viola student Cao Lan says, “Prof Lanskey’s class doesn’t improve your technique within an hour, but instantly brings your sound to a next level in a way that is amazing for the musician – such is his aura.”

The Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music is Singapore’s first university-level higher music education institution. Since its establishment in 2003, it has nurtured close to 700 talents in the local and global scene, with specialisations across performance, composition, conducting, recording and other cross-disciplinary fields.

Prof Bernard Lanskey, who joined in 2006, set the school’s direction during its founding years and has seen the growth and graduation of every alumnus over the past 14 years.

This July, he returns to the Queensland Conservatorium in Australia. Before his departure, Zaobao interviewed this eminent music educator and through speaking to this founding figure, got to understand the growth and evolution of Singapore’s top music education institution.

An advocate for performance degrees
Born in 1960 in Cairns, Australia, Lanskey learned the piano from young. Driven by his passion for music, he practised hard and also played the organ in church; yet unlike many who aspire to be musicians from young, he never imagined becoming a career musician. He recalls, “My high school academic grades were good and I was well on the way to going to medical school. At the final juncture, I still chose music.

Lanskey remembers his first musical inspiration being at age four or five, when he was moved by Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Chopin’s piano works. He says, “Though I wasn’t conscious of it at the time, I strongly felt the power of music, like a linkway to eternity and the internal spiritual realm.”

Indeed, in this conversation, one feels that Lanskey is more like a philosopher, with music being his language for dialoguing with truth. He loves reading and writing essays, and his first job was being a student tutor for a university class in moral and political philosophy.

After graduating from University of Queensland with a major in piano performance and minors in philosophy and mathematics, the 21-year-old Lanskey received a French government scholarship to pursue piano performance at the Schola Cantorum in Paris. There, in a school steeped in European historical music research, he further explored musical connection with ancient Greek philosophy. A year later, he returned to Australia and served as head of the music department in a public secondary school, creating a musical with Homer’s Odyssey as a backdrop for students to present.

Two years later, the 24-year-old Lanskey returned to London to study at the Royal College of Music, becoming one of the first six Master’s degree graduates in piano performance in 1987. He says, “In 1980s England, instrumental performance students mostly received diplomas instead of degree. The education world generally saw performance as a non-academic field and performance students often did not have the academic abilities required in theses, hence few could receive degrees. At the time, a scholar even published a piece titled ’The Devaluation of Degrees’, expressing that the value of degrees would be undermined if performance students could receive them.

In 1992, while teaching at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Lanskey wrote an essay ‘Degrees of Value’ refuting the earlier piece, philosophically explicating the academic value of performance as well as exploring whether and how to further establish the degree system in performance.

With this theoretical foundation, Guildhall officially conferred degrees for its performance students in 1993. In another year, Lanskey was promoted to Deputy Director until he came to Singapore in 2006.

Creating a leading, culturally diverse music school
Lanskey’s YST story is related to cellist Qin Li-Wei (who is Associate Professor in Cello at the Conservatory). In 2004, Qin studied under Lanskey for a period while pursuing a Master’s at Guildhall. At the time, Qin was already a globally sought-after young star; Lanskey wanted to invite him to join the Guildhall faculty, but Qin had already committed to YST.

A year later when YST was recruiting a deputy director, Qin immediately thought of Lanskey. Qin says, “Be it in terms of credentials or capabilities he was the best choice, and Singapore would be closer to home for him as well.”

Lanskey, on the other hand, saw Qin’s growth over this year particularly in his insights on music education. He says, “This got me interested in YST. Its smaller student population also meant I could spend more time with each student.”

During his over-ten years here leading YST, Lanskey has continued to teach personally, bringing his musical and philosophical identities as a chamber music coach. Year 3 Viola student Cao Lan says, “Prof Lanskey’s class doesn’t improve your technique within an hour, but instantly brings your sound to a next level in a way that is amazing for the musician – such is his aura.”

Lanskey says, the first thing that impressed him about YST was the students’ strong performance standard; the first thing that drew him was YST’s immense potential. “Looking at prominent music schools in Asia, most of them are domestically focused in their admissions (e.g. China’s Central and Shanghai Conservatory, and Japan’s Tokyo University of the Arts and Toho Gakuen College). Singapore’s status as an economic hub in Southeast Asia and vibrant culture imbue it with huge potential.”

Lanskey believes that the core of music is connecting people and the world; an excellent musician needs to be sensitive to the surrounding environment, have empathy with fellow performers and the audience, be true to their inner beliefs, and convey their inner voice meaningfully. The intersection of diverse cultures encourages students to go beyond their comfort zone and actively consider music’s connections with society, the self, and others.

In 2018, YST established its majors in Music & Society and Music, Collaboration & Production, seeking to nurture musicians who can advance classical music practice in contemporary contexts while also offering a more well-rounded education for students of other majors.