8th LPPF Adjudicators

Piano Adjudicator

Dr. Nicholas Ong

Dr Nicholas Ong is the recipient of many international prizes, including First Prize at the Yvonne Lefébure International Piano Competition in France and finalist at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland. The New York Times praised him for his “firm rubber-ball touch and bounce” and Le Figaro for his “astonishing virtuosity.” He has performed in numerous concert halls across the United States, Europe, Asia – Alice Tully Hall, Miller Theatre in New York, Salle Gaveau, Salle Cortot in Paris, Seoul Arts Center, Tainan Cultural Centre, and in Festivals such as the Castleton Festival, Focus! Festival, Chopin Festival in Paris, Festival de l’Orangerie, Jeunes Pianistes Virtuoses in Lyon, “Piano en Saintonge” in Cognac, and the Villa Medicis Festival in Rome. He has performed as soloist with the NAFA Orchestra, The Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Penang Symphony Orchestra. As a versatile chamber musician, he has collaborated in chamber concerts with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra musicians, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts faculty chamber concerts, and concert tours with principals of major orchestras and young talented musicians.

He received a Doctorate in Piano Performance at the Juilliard School in New York. Prior to that, he studied at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris under a French Government Scholarship, and Master of Music degree at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.

Dr Nicholas Ong is Head of Keyboard at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), University of the Arts Singapore. He was on the jury for the Singapore International Young Pianist Competition 2024, Steinway Youth Piano Competition, Ananda Sukarlan Award International Piano Competition, Singapore Raffles International Music Festival and Music Singapore International Piano and Violin Competition. He is in demand for masterclasses and a frequent guest faculty at the Asia International Piano Academy Festival (AIPAF) in South Korea.

Piano Adjudicator

Dr. Khoo Hui Ling

A pianist, music educator, researcher and entrepreneur, Dr. Khoo Hui Ling seeks and maintains diverse interests in life which nourish her artistic soul. Hui Ling is currently Lecturer at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YST), where she has taught courses in community engagement, contextual studies, pedagogy and piano performance. Having a strong conviction to positively impact the music teaching community, she has served as the Vice President of the Singapore Music Teachers’ Association and in the executive committee of the Southeast Asian Directors of Music (SEADOM). In 2018, Hui Ling founded The Music Studios, a collective of private music teachers in Singapore with a mission to help every music learner build a lifelong friendship with music. The Music Studios has since grown with her creations of innovative programmes for both students and teachers, and she has been invited to share her research in piano pedagogy at the International Society for Music Education World Conference, Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) Music Teacher Conferences, and the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference.

Constant musing on the interconnectivity between art and the world around us has inspired Hui Ling’s eclectic array of musical projects. Her artistry at the piano has been heard in creatively programmed recitals in the United States, Europe and Singapore. Forays into multidisciplinary performance have led to inter-cultural collaborations and productions with dancers. In her spare time, Hui Ling is a hobby potter and enjoys trekking. She also fiddles around on the erhu, which she picked up upon joining the Chinese orchestra as a teenager..

Violin & Viola Adjudicator

Edward Tan

Edward Tan holds a Master’s Degree from the Yale School of Music and a Bachelor’s Degree with Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. In his time in the USA, he was privileged to learn from Oleh Krysa, Syoko Aki, as well as members of the Ying Quartet and Tokyo String Quartet. In the course of his studies at Yale, he received the Presser Foundation Award, a grant awarded to one promising musician each year.

Since returning home after his studies in 2012, he has been actively involved in the local music scene as both a teacher and performer, and is equally comfortable on both the violin and viola. Edward is currently the violist of the Concordia Quartet – where he previously served as first violinist – and regularly freelances with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra, and re:SOUND. He is passionate about educating the next generation of musicians and music lovers, working with students both privately and as adjunct faculty at the School of the Arts.

Edward’s love of teaching has also led him into conducting; he has been conducting orchestras at secondary schools and JCs for the past twelve years, and is currently also associate conductor of the Musicians’ Initiative. He often works with the string sections of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra and Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra, and has previously also been a guest conductor for groups such as The Philharmonic Orchestra and the Combined Schools MEP Orchestra.

Cello & Double Bass Adjudicator

James Ng

Cellist James Ng has performed in concerts across Asia, Europe, the United Kingdom and United States. As a founding member of Bossa Celli, Singapore's premier cello quartet, he has recorded for their debut album The Bossa Collection, and his arrangements for cello quartet have also been premiered by the ensemble.

James has been featured as a soloist with the Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM), OMM-SOTA Orchestra, Penang Philharmonic Orchestra and Selangor Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2019, he performed the Brahms Double Concerto alongside violinist Andrew Ng with the Penang Philharmonic Orchestra, and Joe Hisaishi's Departures with the OMM in 2021. His recordings as solo cellist with the OMM have been released in their digital concert Classics Restrung and recently in 2022 have been aired on Singapore Airlines’ KrisWorld.

Committed to performing regularly as an avid chamber and orchestral musician, James has had the opportunity to work alongside esteemed colleagues at the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Metropolitan Festival Orchestra, New Opera Singapore, Orchestra of Music Makers, Resound Collective, Singapore Lyric Opera, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, The Philharmonic Orchestra, Wayfarer Sinfonietta and Ensemble Virama. He has also recorded contemporary music scored for various local short films, movies and game music.

At the age of seven, James started learning the cello with Chan Ling Chee and subsequently with Laurentiu Gherman, Simon Cobcroft and Csaba Koros. He also served as Principal Cello of the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. At age 16, he was granted a bursary to the Oxford Cello School’s Advanced Performance Course, and was later on also offered a full scholarship to attend the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado studying with Darrett Adkins. He has performed in masterclasses with Alexander Boyarsky, Alban Gerhardt, Louise Hopkins, Ralph Kirshbaum, Shmuel Magen, Philip Sheppard and Wen-Sinn Yang.

James graduated from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore, with full scholarship under the tutelage of Qin Li-Wei. He also studied at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University with Alison Wells for a semester abroad. He then went on to pursue a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from the National Institute of Education, Singapore. In addition to his concert performances, James is also a dedicated educator with more than ten years of teaching experience, sharing his passion for cello playing with young learners and adults.