9th PF 2026 — Awards & Prizes

CHUREN Prize for Young Musicians

CHUREN Prize · Celebrating Singaporean Contemporary Piano Music

The CHUREN Prize, founded and donated by pianist-composer Churen Li, honors young pianists who perform newly commissioned Singaporean piano works. Presented as part of the Singapore Music Teachers’ Association Singapore Performers’ Festival, the Prize recognizes artistic excellence and encourages students to explore contemporary local repertoire, develop interpretive depth, and contribute to Singapore’s growing body of music.

If you’re looking to stand out with something fresh, meaningful, and uniquely Singaporean, this is an exceptional opportunity to champion new music and have the chance to present your work at the Gala Concert — a distinguished platform to shape the next chapter of Singapore’s musical legacy.

Commissioned Composers

Syafiqah ‘Adha Sallehin
Composer – Junior Category
Salmah

Shaun Choo
Composer – Intermediate Category
Nostalgie

Churen Li
Composer – Senior Category
Moonrise

Award: Trophies and a total of SGD$1,500 cash prizes will be awarded to six outstanding pianists.

Categories & Prizes

• Participants can only join one category according to their birth year. No crossing of categories.
• Please present your student pass at the registration table on performance day for verification.

*Performers need not perform from memory.

Synopsis of the Commissioned Works

Please download and print the scores.

• Junior Category (Age 11 & below): Salmah for Piano Solo by Syafiqah ‘Adha Sallehin

Score download: Download “Salmah” (Piano Solo) – Syafiqah 'Adha Sallehin


"Salmah" is inspired by the composer's memories of her late maternal grandmother, and this namesake composition is dedicated to her. The melody of the composition's theme is based on a tune that the composer's grandmother often played on the piano, which the composer fondly remembered as a child. Salmah, who taught herself the piano, claimed the tune was a Japanese song, yet the composer still could not verify the true origins of the tune. Besides this peculiar tune, the composer uses Malay melodic motives and embellishments to reflect other nostalgic memories of her grandmother in her batik sarong, floral top, speaking in Bahasa Baku (formal Malay) and making Hari Raya cookies.

• Intermediate Category (Age 12–15): Nostalgie for Piano Solo by Shaun Choo

Score download: Download “Nostalgie” (Piano Solo) – Shaun Choo


Composer Video: https://youtu.be/Hf3tFCePR8E

Nostalgie originated as an improvisation, reflecting the composer’s affinity for the Romantic piano tradition. With gentle nods to his favourite Romantic composers — Felix Mendelssohn, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and especially Frédéric Chopin — the work draws on lyrical expressiveness and poetic character.

Encouraged by his partner Rebekka, Shaun later refined the sketch into a miniature work, which he dedicated to her. Structured in ternary form, the piece evokes a reflective atmosphere and a gentle sense of remembrance. The German title “Nostalgie”, translating to nostalgia, points to the idea of sentimental memory, inviting performers to explore cantabile tone, nuanced phrasing, and musical storytelling within a Romantic idiom.

• Senior Category (Age 16–18): Moonrise for Piano Solo by Churen Li

Score download: Download “Moonrise” (Piano Solo) – Churen Li


Moonrise began, as many of my works do, at the piano—through a kind of intuitive wandering. In this case, I found myself returning to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, but hearing it differently: reimagined in E major, as though the same landscape were illuminated under a gentler, more luminous sky.

What emerged was not an arrangement, but a transformation. The familiar contours of Beethoven’s theme remain, but they are refracted through a shifting harmonic language—at times distant, at times tenderly recognisable. As the piece unfolds, it drifts into more fluid, impressionistic textures, drawing inspiration from the second movement of Ravel’s Piano Concerto, where long melodic lines float over delicate, undulating accompaniment. These passages feel to me like a kind of suspension—time stretching, memory loosening its grip—before the music gradually finds its way back. In the coda, the original Moonlight Sonata theme reappears, not as a return to where we began, but as something quietly altered by the journey.

Moonrise is, in many ways, a meditation on transformation: how a single musical idea can hold within it multiple emotional worlds, depending on how we choose to listen.

Piano & String Scholarships to Fiestravaganza International Music Academy (FIMA), Berlin (22 -31 Jul 2026)

Fiestravaganza International Music Academy
Berlin, Germany (22 -31 Jul 2026)

• A total value of €3,000 of Tier 1 Basic scholarships will be awarded to selected deserving pianist(s) and string player(s) (violin/viola/cello) identified for further development to participate in FIMA in Berlin.
• Scholarship is non-transferable and not exchangeable for cash.
• Selected recipient(s) must confirm attendance within five days after receiving the scholarship; otherwise it will be cancelled.
• Airfare, accommodation, and expenses are not covered.

Useful links:

• FIMA official trailer: https://youtu.be/aBMFBve-Ugo
• FIMA 2026 – Piano https://fiestravaganza.com/academy/fima-2026/piano/
• FIMA 2026 – Strings https://fiestravaganza.com/academy/fima-2026/strings/
• FIMA 2025 program book: https://fiestravaganza.com/web-stories/fima-2025-program-book/
• FIMA 2024 (Singaporean participant reflections): https://youtu.be/jyMf3lrEQGU
• FIMA 2023 post-festival reflections (featuring Lena Ching): https://youtu.be/3ZYyTE7wsuE