Finger Waltz Music & Dance:Empowering the Musical Maestros

Finger Waltz Music & Dance: Empowering the Musical Maestros of Tomorrow

It would be significantly deplorable to define music simply as a harmonic arrangement of instruments to create sound. The connotations which it invokes are far more superior to what we can comprehend, and to harness those vivid emotions and their euphonic expressions can be more than ecstatic. Emphasizing upon the importance of teaching this art, it is a dire necessity to showcase the institutions which inculcate and maintain the best educational standards while molding a talented individual into a prominent artist. And one of those exceptional music schools is Finger Waltz Music & Dance.

Founded in 2014, this young music and dance school has already transformed into one of the most reputed music schools in Singapore and is renowned for its highly professional teaching quality. Finger Waltz specializes in providing individually customized music lessons for piano, violin, vocals and group dance lessons to students of all ages and levels. The school currently has four acoustically designed music rooms for individual music lessons, and one recital hall for concert, master classes, workshops, and dance lessons.

The recital hall of the school is equipped with a Steinway & Sons Model A grand piano. As the best piano around the world, the Steinway & Sons grand is the gold standard of all musical instruments and Finger Waltz is honored to be one of the few music schools who own and use it for lessons. The school also has a show room for displaying brand new pianos for sale.

Finger Waltz’s mission is to be professional, be responsible, and continuously offer high quality music lessons and performing platforms to their students. Its vision is to be recognized for its ‘small class, world-class,’ aspect. Finger Waltz also aims to become the best music school in Singapore and help its students to make their music dream comes true. It was also awarded as the best music organization by International Music Culture Association Singapore in 2018.

Leading through Example

Finger Waltz Music & Dance School is ceaselessly moving towards progress under the prolific and proficient leadership of Dr. Wu Yang, the Founder and the Principal. Dr. Wu graduated from the best music academy, Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with a doctorate degree in piano performance. As a pianist, she always devotes herself to the music industry, to help developing Singapore’s music culture, and enhance the music communications between countries. Dr. Wu has a prominent reputation in Singapore and is popular among music students and their parents.

Dr. Wu’s professional expertise can be mapped through a plethoric number of professional involvements and achievements viz.:

Experience:

2014 – Present, The founder and principal of Finger Waltz Music & Dance
2016 – Present, The artistic director of International Music Culture Association Singapore (IMCAS)
2016 – Present, member of Singapore Music Teacher Association
2017-2019, Judge of 1st, 2nd and 3rd Singapore International Classical Piano Competition
2017-2018, Judge of 7th and 8th Asia International Arts Competition
2016, taught master class in Singapore Raffles Music College
2014-2016, Lecturer in School of Young Talents, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Achievements:

Dr. Wu has performed in Russia, Germany, Italy, China, Singapore and Thailand, including Alexander Hall, Rachmaninoff Hall, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, City Hall of St. Georgen, Auditorium in square M.G. Serrao, and Theatre of Dalian etc. She has won prizes in several international competitions, including:

The Best Teaching Prize, 1st Singapore International Classical Piano Competition, 2017
The Best Teaching Prize, Singapore International Youth Piano Competition, 2015
Bronze Medalist, 5th “Paolo Serrao” Music Competition Citta di Filadeltia, Italy, 2013
Third Prize, All Russian Art Festival for Youngsters, Russia, 2013
First Prize, All Russian Music Festival for Youngsters, Russia, 2013
Second Prize, 5th International Piano Competition ‘Johann Baptist Cramer’, German, 2009
First Prize, Music Competition for the 100th Anniversary of Aram Ilitch Khatchaturian’s Birth, Moscow, Russia, 2003
First Prize, Russia Music Piano Competition, Moscow, Russia, 2000

Inculcating Confidence

Finger Waltz believes that only legitimate professional musicians can help its students to make their music dreams come true. The recruitment criteria in Finger Waltz are quite rigorous, which allows only the best teachers to join. All the teachers in Finger Waltz are graduated from famous conservatories with at least Bachelor’s or Master’s degree of music performance, and few of the teachers even have a Doctoral degree. They are adequately trained and highly experienced in teaching and performing, and all of them are capable enough to teach students from beginner to Diploma. Meanwhile, on the other hand, Finger Waltz always tries to provide more performance opportunities for its students, such as concerts, competitions, master classes and music camps.

Quarterly concert: Finger Waltz organizes a quarterly concert for students in its own recital hall. All students are encouraged to perform in front of their parents and friends. Through the quarterly concert, students are able to expose themselves to an audience regularly which helps them to build up their self-confidence. Teachers listen to all students’ performance and evaluate their improvement from time to time.

Yearly concert: The school organizes a yearly concert in Singapore’s most famous concert hall, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. Students will receive a great opportunity to perform on the best stage of Singapore, with the best piano – Steinway and Sons Concert Grand. “They never forget this incredible experience of performing, moving a step ahead in becoming a ‘real’ artist. We hope our students will be inspired by performing in the yearly concert, and hope that they plant and nurture the seeds of music in their hearts,” Dr. Wu expresses.

SICPC Competition: In cooperation with other music institutions, each year Finger Waltz organizes a piano competition titled Singapore International Classical Piano Competition (SICPC). The aim of SICPC is to enhance the music culture communication between Singapore and other countries, and also provide opportunities for young musicians to perform and show their talents on an international stage. In 2018, there were over 1500 candidates from 15 countries, who joined the preliminary, and 180 of them exhibited their skills on the stage of final round in Singapore. “Our students had also joined SICPC and won several prizes in the last two years,” says Dr. Wu.

Other Competitions: Finger Waltz also encourages its students to join other international competitions, not only in Singapore, but also in Europe. In the past 3 years, the school has won 5 prizes from different competitions in Italy and Poland.

Master Classes: The school regularly invites several artists to conduct master classes, a few f which which include Steinway artist Adam Gyorgy and Poom Prommachart in 2018.

Music Camp: Finger Waltz organizes a summer music camp in Budapest, in June 2019. Students receive the opportunity to study with professors from Lizst Academy of Music, and rehearsal concerto with one of Hungary’s best orchestra, the Dohnanyi Erno Symphony Orchestra.

Exhibiting Excellence

Students at Finger Waltz are constantly encouraged to join concerts and competitions to get more exposure to music and its encompassing divinity. Following is the list of accolades and recognition which the students have received, pertaining to this encouragement and best-in-class training:

Second Prize, Category C, 2nd Singapore International Classical Piano Competition, 2018
Second Prize, Teenager B, 8th Asia International Arts Competition, 2018
First Prize, Category C, 1st Singapore International Classical Piano Competition 2017
ABRSM High Score Concert, Grade 4, Singapore, 2017
Absolute First Prize, Category B, 6th International Piano Competition “Piano Talent” Junior Section, Italy, 2016
First Prize, Category A, 6th International Piano Competition “Piano Talent” Junior Section, Italy, 2016
Second Prize, Category B, 6th International Piano Competition “Piano Talent” Junior Section, Italy, 2016
Absolute First Prize, Category A, 17th Valsesia Music International Junior Competition, Italy, 2016
First Prize, Category A, 17th Valsesia Music International Junior Competition, Italy, 2016
Silver Award, 6th Singapore Performers’ Festival & Chamber Music Competition, Singapore, 2016
First Prize, ABRSM Grade 2, Singapore International Youth Piano Competition, Singapore, 2015
Third Prize, Children Class D, Singapore International Youth Piano Competition, Singapore, 2015
Third Prize, Free Choice Children Class C, Singapore International Youth Piano Competition, Singapore, 2015
Outstanding Performance Award, Singapore International Youth Piano Competition, Singapore, 2015

Here are a few accomplished alumni of the Finger Waltz Music and Dance School:

Zuo Shenshen, accomplished ATCL diploma in piano in Finger Waltz and now already become a piano teacher in Singapore; Albert Xiong accomplished ABRSM Grade 8 at age of 10 and now trying to get his diploma; Iden Lim, received the highest score in Singapore for ABRSM grade 4, and accomplished ABRSM Grade 8 with distinction at age of 9, now trying to get his diploma; and Albert Xiong and Iden Lim also had won several prizes in different piano competitions.

In the near future, Finger Waltz plans to open another two to three branches in the next 3 years in Singapore. Finger Waltz also aims to expand its business to China and Malaysia if opportunities arrive. Besides providing music lessons, Finger Waltz will continually explore its business to music events and instrument selling.

Objective: Finger Waltz knows and understands that every student dreams of a stage and every family is happy to have an artist, and thus, the school continuously strives for achieving the same goal.