Member Spotlight August 2024 - Winnie Su
Member Spotlight August 2024 - Winnie Su
Our member spotlight this month showcases talented pianist, Winnie Su. Winnie began her musical journey performing at eisteddfods in Australia and has now shared her talents on some of the biggest stages in the UK.
Winnie Su has won over 80 medals in Australia and overseas, notably the 2022 Kawai Senior Piano Scholarship. She has now joined the prestigious Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
Winnie will be one of the guest speakers at this year’s conference, as well as performing at our annual conference dinner. She spoke to BIFF about her journey from piano lessons, overcoming a potentially career ending experience, and bringing her passion of Beethoven to the stage.
I wanted to be like them and be on stage performing in concerts to large audiences. I was a bit of an attention seeker as child!
Recounting the first time she was interested in playing music, Winnie recalls how the sounds of music coming through her walls unlocked a new passion. “I suppose my origin story started with my neighbour!”
“I was 5 years old, and my neighbour played both the oboe and the piano. I really wanted to play those instruments. I begged my parents, but they perhaps thought I was going through a toddler phase. But after 2 years of consistent begging, they caved in and bought me my piano when I was 7 years old. That was how my journey started”.
“When I was 9 years old, I said to my mum 'I want to be a concert pianist!'. My idol at the time was Lang Lang. I knew some of the east Asian pianists like Yundi Li and Yuja Wang, but I didn’t know much about western pianists. I wanted to be like them and be on stage performing in concerts to large audiences. I was a bit of an attention seeker as child! I think all musicians have to enjoy the spotlight”.
Winnie turned her attention to performing in Australian eisteddfods. At one of Winnie’s first performances, the high-pressured environment got to her, but luckily an adjudicator was on hand to save her performance.
“The first year I was doing an eisteddfod, I had a memory lapse on how to begin the piece. I sat there and felt an awful embarrassment coming in, but the adjudicator smiled at me, gave me the sheet music and said ‘Take a deep breath. Calm yourself’.
“I started again and played the full piece with the score in front of me. Afterwards, I came third and my memory lapse was never even mentioned. Even though I will always remember that experience because it was one of my first festivals, it gave me a lot of confidence to go back on stage because it wasn’t the end of the world”.
“People are a lot more forgiving than we make them out to be. Adjudicators understand your nerves and look for the best you. They aren’t there to try to criticise you and bare down on you”.
I thought connecting directly with young people is where it begins and where it would make the most impact
Winnie carried on performing for years at eisteddfods becoming a recognised growing talent. However, another mishap at a festival was far more devastating for Winnie and almost spelled the end of her career.
“When I was 15 years old, I was participating in the concerto section of the Sydney Eisteddfod. On the panel was one of the tutors I really wanted to study with, and I really wanted to impress him. But that day, I think the pressure spilled over and I had a big memory lapse. My accompanist got extremely lost, and I totally screwed up the performance. I felt like I did irreversible damage to my career as I embarrassed myself in front of the tutor I wanted to study with”.
“My entire world crumbled, and I quit the piano for three years. I couldn’t handle the embarrassment. I was afraid and felt like the entire world had shut it doors on me.”
Winnie managed to build back her resilience and returned to the piano at 18 years old. She also ended up studying with the tutor with whom she thought she had ruined her chances.
“Those harder lessons cost me three years. Three years I suffered in fear and was afraid to touch the piano. I felt like I didn’t need to go through these three years”.
“Many young people today go through a lot of similar issues. They go through an immense amount of pressure and anxiety, and often the wrong lessons are learned out of the competitive environment.”
“I’ve come across many students who approach me and say ‘How do you do what you do? How are you not terrified?’ I started to think how I could make a difference to the next generation and how I could try and prevent other young people going through what I went through.”
Winnie has turned her own experiences into positive learning points for aspiring pianists, starting with a masterclass at the Sydney Eisteddfod.
“I thought connecting directly with young people is where it begins and where it would make the most impact, and then they could share it with their friends. Even if I haven’t shared it with that many people, the very few lives I can share with, and the small difference I can make, will be enough”.
There was so much opportunity and so many amazing world-class musicians gathered in one place
Winnie has now joined the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, one of the world’s most prestigious music conservatoires.
“Manchester has been fantastic. Everyone has been so supportive. Everyone is so happy and relaxed, and ready to support and help you”.
“Coming to the UK was more than I ever imagined. There was so much opportunity and so many amazing world-class musicians gathered in one place. They all visit each other’s conservatoires, so there’s this ongoing roster of amazing people you can meet and study with”.
“There are no closed doors. Anything I wanted to learn, whether that’s jazz, contemporary or sitting in on violin masterclasses, everyone is so welcome and say ‘Yes, why not!'. I wanted to come here to expand and become a versatile pianist. I don’t believe practicing 8 hours a day, by myself in my room is the way to enjoy my life and the piano, because I believe that the piano has so much more to offer than that”.
“I currently study with Professor Graham Scott. Meeting him was probably the best thing to happen to me. He has high standards, but I love the push, I love trying to work up to his expectations and working at his fast pace”.
Studying at the Royal Northern College of Music has also given Winnie a chance to perform at one of Manchester’s most revered concert halls, The Bridgewater Hall. As the winner of the RNCM Concerto Competition in 2023, Winnie performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the RNCM Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gergely Madaras.
“I was so inspired, and I admired just his musical capabilities and his ability to communicate to the orchestra exactly what he wanted. I admire people who have that talent within them and the hard work and effort all put together. Being able to work with them means I get to learn from them”.
“When I began my studies over here, Beethoven was my most feared composer. He is always this musical giant who can be a bit intimidating and overwhelming.”
“I was honest about that to Professor Graham Scott from day one, saying ‘I’m afraid of Beethoven, can you help me!’. Without fail every single year, he’s given me Beethoven to understand. He said if you can play Beethoven, you can play anything”.
The passion for Beethoven extended into Winnie’s 2022 winning performance at the Sydney Kawai Piano Scholarship Finals at the Sydney Eisteddfod. She performed Beethoven’s Sonata No. 30 in E major, op. 109 to rapturous applause.
“Having performed the piece a couple of times this year, it started to dawn on me the greatness of the music and the way it tells this profound story of life and his experience. I find that each variation in the third movement is telling a stage of life”.
“It blows my mind that he can write something like that and it’s incredibly profound and prophetic, and I’ve been sharing this with audiences who have loved going on that journey with me.”