Even before she was born, Vanessa Wong Wai-yin was destined to be a pianist. The 18-year-old bachelor of music student at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) recalls her first experience of the instrument that is now her life.
'I always feel the piano chose me. My mother used to play the piano during her pregnancy, so this was my pre-natal education. When I was about two years old, I learned how to climb and, according to my mother, I always headed for the piano stool.' By four, Wong learned the rudiments of music; and at five, she joined the Junior programme at the APA.
Subsequently, the young musician-in-the-making entered many local competitions and always did well, never seeming to suffer from stage fright. 'I loved the piano and would practise for about two hours a day. Otherwise, I felt really bad. That was my life after school.'
As a student at St Mary's Canossian College, an all-girls school, Wong struggled to keep up with her peers. At the end of Form Three, she enrolled at the HKAPA as a full-time student, while continuing to study on her own to achieve the minimum five passes in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education, to enable her to graduate with a bachelor of music degree.
'My parents were very supportive... Hong Kong schools expect students to work very hard, but schoolwork never came naturally to me. And I never had any ambition other than to be a pianist,' she says.
Wong's career choice was reinforced in October when she won first prize in the 2011 Southern Highlands International Piano Competition in Mittagong in New South Wales, Australia. She was the youngest-ever entrant, competing against 60 other aspiring pianists.
The 12-day biennial event involved four rounds. Wong's playing of Chopin's First Piano Concerto captivated the jury and won her the first prize. She was also joint winner of another section of the competition for best performer of two Chopin etudes. Her prize money is a substantial A$20,000 (about HK$159,000), and even more importantly, the award includes a number of opportunities to give international performances.
