ABOUT

Hsiao Shan began playing the cello at the age of ten, and was a student of Herminia Ilano and Zhao Yu Er. In 2008, she was accepted as a cello major at the newly established School of the Arts, Singapore (SOTA), and came under the tutelage of Dr. Park So Young. During her 6 years at SOTA, Hsiao Shan regularly performed solo, chamber and orchestral works at the SOTA Arts Festival, Singapore Arts festival and other events, and has led the cello section of the SOTA String Ensemble since 2009. She has also played in cello masterclasses with David Commanday (USA) Franz Bartolomey (Vienna) and Inbal Meggido (Israel).

As a budding chamber musician, she was awarded Most Outstanding Performer (Chamber Music) at SOTA and Most Outstanding Player (String Section) by Singapore National Youth Orchestra. Alongside her string quartet, she was given many opportunities to perform including the 2009 MICA Cultural Mendallion Awards at The Istana. In 2013, Hsiao Shan was awarded full scholarship to pursue her graduate degree in Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (NUS) under the principal cellist of Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) Pei-Sian Ng. She has completed her course of study at the Conservatory as of 2017.

An avid and enthusiastic orchestra musician, Hsiao Shan has performed under conductors Gabor Takacs-Nagy, Alexander Polishcuk, Anthony Inglis amongst others. She is an active member in leading ensembles in Singapore such as The Base Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM) and performs regularly in internationally acclaimed performances and recordings. Hsiao Shan is currently leading the cello section of OMM and The Star Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2012, she collaborated with the Indian Fusion Ensemble from Temple of Fine Arts, Singapore for a concert tour in Southeast Asia. Abroad, Hsiao Shan has participated in the Interlochen Summer Camp (USA), and was selected to perform at the inaugural Shanghai Middle School Baroque Festival 2010. Being an orchestral musician has brought her to Aberdeen (U.K) with the SNYO and with OMM on successful international tours to Penang (Malaysia), Cheltenham and Lichfield Music Festivals (U.K)

In 2011, she spearheaded a youthful team in organizing the inaugural OMM's SOTA String Camp, which brought together young musicians all over the country which culminated in a sold-out concert at Esplanade Concert Hall. She has also been teaching for 7 years, including the cello and bass section of the string ensemble from School of the Arts (SOTA), Methodist Girls’ School (Primary) and Singapore Chinese Girls’ School (Secondary).

With a rich history of performance, Hsiao Shan is frequently invited to play for various gigs and concert appearances for external events like Les Miserables the Musical (International Tour), Michael Bublé World Tour, The Final 1, to name a few. She was also part of the World Youth Orchestra and opened for the Youth Olympic Games 2010 in Singapore.

Hsiao Shan’s belief in the importance of giving back to the community has led her to co- found a company with the vision to be the hub of all classically-trained musicians in the country and explore beyond the boundaries of classical music including assisting artistes to enhance their capability of taking on any event with their unique personality and professional competencies and seek to personalise every music experience in Singapore, educate people on the versatility and competency of classically trained musicians and grow the community of classical music lovers.