ONG Lip Tat

Ong Lip Tat began receiving widespread and serious attention amongst musicians from a tender age. He began performing at age 6, gave his first solo recital at age 13, and played his first concerto at age 14 in Taipei.

At the age of 13, he was awarded the highly sought-after Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) scholarship on the strength of his LRSM (Performing) diploma examination. Thereafter, he studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he won many exhibition prizes. For the next eight years, Lip Tat did his postgraduate studies in Hamburg, Germany, at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater under the prestigious DAAD German Culture Scholarship and the Lee Foundation. His stay in Hamburg proved to be a spectacular success. During those years, Lip Tat presented many acclaimed recitals including a chamber music performance with the Julliard Quartet, and was a soloist with the Luneburg Orchestra, Kleckev Radio Orchestra, and Taipei State Orchestra. In 1985 and again in 1987, Lip Tat gave two highly successful concert tours in China from which he received outstanding reviews from renowned Chinese musicians. In 1979, he became the first soloist to perform with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, playing Beethoven's Emperor Concerto at their inaugural concert conducted by maestro Choo Huey.

In Singapore, Lip Tat was invited to give charity recitals for the opening of the National Museum Theater as well as the DBS Auditorium, for the National Theatre Trust, Culture Foundation, Kidney Foundation, as well as for the University Endowment Fund. In 1995, Lip Tat had three very successful concert tours in Taiwan, Malaysia and Japan. Shortly after that, he was invited to perform for the President of Singapore, Mr. Ong Teng Cheong, together with his honorary guests.

Besides being an acclaimed performer, Lip Tat is widely recognized in Singapore as a dedicated teacher who has turned many a young piano student into serious musicians. During the last decade, his students have won numerous awards, and many have been placed in leading conservatories such as Julliard and Curtis.

Worldwide, Lip Tat has been invited to conduct masterclasses and workshops at universities and conservatories in Taiwan, China, Malaysia, America, and Japan. In recent years, he was invited by Ruth Slenczynska (Southern Illinois University) and Kuni Kochiina Music Academy (Osaka) to conduct masterclasses. He has also released two CDs with Pavane in Singapore and ERA Classics in Japan.