Upcoming Events
“Salmah” and the Tradition of Malay Asli Music: Performance and Pedagogical Perspectives
Discover the beauty of Malay Asli music through Salmah, a special workshop led by Syafiqah ‘Adha Sallehin. Explore performance, interpretation, and pedagogical perspectives through live demonstrations and insightful discussions at the 9th Singapore Performers’ Festival 2026.
SMTA Pedagogy Workshops (Session 1) - Professor Thomas Rosenkranz
Professor Thomas Rosenkranz invites piano teachers and students to rethink musical learning through deeper listening, creativity, and awareness. In this exclusive SMTA pedagogical workshop, participants will explore fresh approaches to teaching, artistic growth, and classical improvisation through practical insights and inspiring musical reflections.
9th SINGAPORE PERFORMERS’ FESTIVAL 2026
A performing platform to showcase your talent before a live audience and an international adjudicating panel. Open to all ages & levels, overseas participants are welcome!
Online registration opens:
Piano Registration: April 1st - 7th 2026
String Registration: April 1st - 12th 2026
SMTA Pedagogy Workshops (Session 2) - Dr Shaun Choo
Teaching Really Matters
A curated SMTA pedagogy workshop series celebrating teachers, creativity, and meaningful musical learning.
Workshop Overview
Join Dr Shaun Choo for an inspiring afternoon of musical insight, reflection, and creativity. This session invites piano teachers and students to explore music through the eyes of both a pianist and composer, while also reflecting on competence, competition, and long-term artistic growth.
Dr Shaun Choo
Dr Shaun Choo brings together the worlds of performance, composition, and education. Through his experience as an international prize-winning pianist and composer, he offers participants a fresh and thoughtful perspective on music learning, interpretation, and teaching.
A Composer’s Perspective on Compositions
Drawing from his experience as both pianist and composer, Dr Shaun Choo invites participants to explore classical repertoire from a fresh and insightful perspective.
This session focuses on recognising musical properties, compositional structure, and the subtle elements that shape the character and emotional direction of a work. Through analysis, discussion, and live demonstrations, participants will discover practical ways to bring greater clarity, intention, and imagination into interpretation and teaching.
Competence VS Competition
As a recipient of more than ten international prizes, Dr Shaun Choo shares candid reflections on competitions, examinations, and the pursuit of artistic growth.
This session explores how musicians can develop a healthy and balanced mindset towards competitive environments while maintaining focus on long-term musical development and personal excellence.
- Preparation and mindset for competitions and exams
- Managing pressure and expectations
- Understanding factors influencing jury and examiner decisions
- Distinguishing artistic growth from external results
Registration Fees
Teachers who entered students for the 9th Singapore Performers’ Festival 2026, as well as students, enjoy 50% off regular fees.
Teachers of 9th PF Students
Per session
SMTA Members
Per session
Non-Members / Public
Per session
Early bird fees till 1 June 2026. Registration closes when seats are filled.
Venue
Music Salon @ Yamaha Thomson Plaza
301 Upper Thomson Road #03-24
Thomson Plaza, Singapore 574408
MRT: Upper Thomson
SMTA Pedagogy Workshops (Session 3) - Dr Edith Widayani
Teaching Really Matters
An inspiring pedagogical workshop exploring Romantic-era interpretation, historical performance practice, and musical creativity with internationally respected pianist and educator Dr Edith Widayani.
Workshop Overview
The music of Chopin and the Early Romantic composers continues to shape piano pedagogy and performance around the world. Yet many stylistic conventions and historical performance practices remain misunderstood or underexplored in modern teaching.
This special workshop invites participants to revisit Romantic interpretation through a deeper historical and artistic lens, discovering how creativity, nuance, and stylistic understanding can enrich both performance and teaching.
Dr Edith Widayani
Dr Edith Widayani is a respected pianist, educator, and international music leader known for her thoughtful approach to Romantic piano literature and historically informed interpretation.
Interpreting Chopin and the Early Romantics: Performance Practice and Creativity
In this illuminating session, Dr Edith Widayani explores historical approaches to interpreting Chopin and Early Romantic repertoire, examining how stylistic understanding shapes artistic decisions.
Participants will discover how phrasing, rubato, articulation, sound colour, and expressive freedom were originally approached, alongside practical case studies demonstrating how these works were intended to be performed.
The session encourages teachers and performers alike to cultivate more imaginative, historically aware, and musically authentic interpretations.
Registration Fees
Teachers who entered students for the 9th Singapore Performers’ Festival 2026, as well as students, enjoy 50% off regular fees.
Teachers of 9th PF Students
Per session
SMTA Members
Per session
Non-Members / Public
Per session
Early bird fees till 1 June 2026. Limited seats available.
Venue
Music Salon @ Yamaha Thomson Plaza
301 Upper Thomson Road #03-24
Thomson Plaza Singapore 574408
MRT: Upper Thomson
SMTA Pedagogy Workshops (Session 4) - Toh Chee Hung (Part I)
Discover the foundations of expressive piano playing in this special pedagogy workshop with renowned concert pianist and teacher-mentor Toh Chee Hung. “Back to Basics – The Introduction to the Art of Piano Playing” explores piano tone production, touch, sound colour, and musical interpretation through insightful demonstrations, hands-on participation, and deep artistic reflection. A rare opportunity for piano teachers, students, and performers to reconnect with the essence of truly musical piano playing.
SMTA Pedagogy Workshops (Session 5) - Toh Chee Hung (Part II)
Back to Basics — Part 2
The continuation of a special pedagogy workshop exploring piano tone production, touch, musical sound, and expressive playing.
Workshop Overview
This special two-part workshop explores the foundations of piano tone production and the many touches that form a pianist’s expressive “toolbox”.
Participants will learn how different touches produce different colours and characters of sound, and how these sounds may be applied meaningfully within musical interpretation.
Participants must attend Part 1 as Part 2 is a continuation.
Toh Chee Hung
Join Toh Chee Hung — concert pianist, highly respected teacher-mentor, and adjudicator — for a rare pedagogy workshop sharing profound insights into the art of producing a truly musical tone at the piano.
Back to Basics — The Introduction to the Art of Piano Playing (Part 2)
From this understanding of tone production and physical freedom at the instrument, Chee Hung explores how sound can become eloquent, cantabile, heroic, stirring, multi-layered, and deeply expressive — capable of conveying the full emotional spectrum demanded by the piano repertoire.
This is not merely technical training, but a lifelong artistic journey requiring patience, openness, humility, and deep listening.
Workshop Contents Include
- Making a musical tone at the piano — the fundamental touch
- Enjoying the physical forces of nature
- Explanation and demonstration of the various possible touches that can make up a pianist’s “toolbox”
- Hands-on participation and exploration
- Mindful listening and awakening the inner ear
- Clinic on touches
- Applying what has been discussed to repertoire that is “work in progress”
- Musically informed considerations for interpretation of style, phrase-structure, form, texture, rhythm and harmony
About Toh Chee Hung
Toh Chee Hung left her native Singapore to pursue advanced studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she was awarded the Gold Medal in Piano Performance together with postgraduate scholarships.
She later studied European pedagogical traditions with disciples of Alfred Cortot and Ernő Dohnányi, and has performed internationally across Europe, the United States, and Asia.
Widely respected as a pedagogue, adjudicator, and mentor, she has conducted masterclasses and workshops extensively, inspiring generations of pianists and teachers through her deep musical insight and artistic integrity.
Registration Fees
Teachers who entered students for the 9th Singapore Performers’ Festival 2026, as well as students, enjoy 50% off regular fees.
Teachers of 9th PF Students
Per session
SMTA Members
Per session
Non-Members / Public
Per session
Early bird fees till 1 June 2026. Limited seats available.
Venue
Music Salon @ Yamaha Thomson Plaza
301 Upper Thomson Road #03-24
Thomson Plaza Singapore 574408
MRT: Upper Thomson
NOTICE OF THE SMTA 60th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2026
Members are invited to attend the SMTA 60th Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2026 on Sunday, 12 April 2026 at 3:00pm at Forte Musicademy – Recital Hall. The AGM will review the President’s Report, financial accounts for the year ended 31 Dec 2025, and other association matters. Sign-in begins at 2:45pm, and refreshments will be served after the meeting. RSVP by 7 April 2026.
Meet the Composers for 9th SINGAPORE PERFORMERS’ FESTIVAL 2026
Piano Teachers’ Morning Meet-Up 🎹 – Meet the Composers for 9th SINGAPORE PERFORMERS’ FESTIVAL 2026
Time: 10:00am-12:30pm
Venue: Forte Musicademy