Alan Chu

Acclaimed as an immensely gifted pianist with “formidable technique and real musicality”, Alan Chu has made appearences at various major venues in Hong Kong as soloist and accompanist, and has performed extensively across the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany.

Born in Hong Kong, Chu began his piano studies at the early age of five. He has had numerous successes at various piano competitions under the tutorage of Choi Sown-le (pupil of Michelangeli), including prizes at the Steinway & Sons International Youth Piano Competition and the Hong Kong (Asia) Piano Open Competition. During his years in the U.K., he was First Prize Winner at several national competitions - most recently he has been named the Runner-up at the prestigious Jaques Samuel Intercollegiate Piano Competition in 2008.

A graduate of the Royal College of Music in London, Chu has obtained the Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours under the tutelage of John Blakely and Kevin Kenner (Top Prize Winner of the 12th Frederick Chopin International Piano Competition). For a year he has served as the Keyboard Representative of the RCM Student Association. In 2008, he was awarded an Erasmus Scholarship which encouraged him to study with Vassily Lobanov (pupil of the legendary Heinrich Neuhaus) at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, Germany. He has also worked with many prominent artists such as Lyall Duke, Rolf Hind, Simon Mulligan, Yonty Solomon, Stephen Savage, Eckart Heiligers, Pascal Neminrovski and Nelly Akopian-Tamarina.

Chu has recently completed the Master of Music course at the Royal Academy of Music where he furthers his piano studies with the distinguished pianist and teacher Ian Fountain. He gained distinctions in both his Final Piano Recital and Lecture Recital, for which he was awarded the Greta Parkinson Prize and 'Very Highly Commended' for the Lloyd Hartley Prize (for the Best Postgraduate Final Recital).

Besides his solo work, Chu is also a committed chorister. At the age of 17, he was appointed student conductor of the Diocesan Boys’ School Treble Choir in Hong Kong, bringing home the champion in the annual Schools Music Festival. As an accompanist, he has had regular collaborations with the Hong Kong Young People’s Chorus since its establishment in 2005, with whom he is recording for RTHK Radio 4 in July 2009. Chu is currently a music staff member at the Hong Kong Institute of Education.