Blanc Wan

Biography

Blanc Wan has established a profile as a pianist, musicologist and educator. His recitals and radio appearances have included over a hundred performances across Europe, Asia, USA and throughout the United Kingdom. He is a governor of the Royal Northern College of Music, the Chairman of Hong Kong International Pianists’ Association and the Artistic Director of the Hong Kong International Piano Conference. Blanc Wan holds fellowships from the Royal Society of Arts, Royal Schools of Music, London College of Music, and Trinity College of Music. He was elected as a Young Steinway Artist in 2011.

After working with Bryce Morrison in London, Blanc Wan later studied the piano at the Royal Northern College of Music with the celebrated Russian pianist Dina Parakhina, and earned his master's degree at University of Oxford, where he worked with the distinguished musicologist Laurence Dreyfus. Whilst a student he won every major piano award including the F.J.P. Drake Memorial Award, the McLusky Challenge Award as well as the Celia Morris Prize. He was also awarded the First Prize in the British International Federation Music Competition and subsequently, was a prize winner at the Euterpe International Piano Competition in Italy.

Wan has broadcast extensively on radio networks such as RTHK and other overseas services, and has given many highly acclaimed recitals throughout Europe and Asia including the Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and a recital in Poland to mark the 200th anniversary of Frédéric Chopin's birth in 2010. He made his Germany recital debut in 2007 and was praised by the German newspaper Der Odenwalder Zeitung as having "A very high musical sensibility" and as "an artist who inspires his audiences in his music". His solo recital in the Czech Republic also received critical acclaim from the press, where his playing was described as "brilliant, his performance exudes both excitement and elegance." He is the Artistic Director of the Hong Kong International Piano Conference as well as the Chair of the Hong Kong International Pianist Association. As the Editor-in-Chief of The Pianist magazine, he has published interviews with some of the world's greatest pianists including Lang Lang, Dame Fanny Waterman, Jörg Demus, Leslie Howard, Peter Donohoe, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Pascal Rogé, Pascal Devoyon, John Lill, Peter Frankl, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and Stephen Hough, among others. He has been invited on the juries of many prestigious piano competitions in Asia. In 2014, Blanc Wan will serve on the juries of Asia Piano Open Competition, Hong Kong International Piano Open Competition – The Liszt Award, as well as Macau Open Competition for Young Pianists, etc.

As a musicologist, he has published numerous articles on piano performance. His current doctoral research at King's College London, focusses on the Russian Piano Pedagogy Tradition. He taught undergraduate classes in performance at the Goldsmiths, University of London, and has given masterclasses in Germany, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.

Publications

Selected articles