Samuel Tan earned his Bachelor of Performing Arts (Music) from the University of Malaya with First Class Honours, under the tutelage of Miss Geneviene Wong Jen – Pei.
Subsequently, he obtained a Master of Music in Piano Performance and Accompanying withDistinction, and an Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Performance with Distinction from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (UK), where he attended on a full scholarship. During his time at the conservatoire, he studied with esteemed professors Malcolm Wilson, John Humphreys, and Simon Nicholls, and participated in masterclasses led by distinguished pianists such as Louis Lortie, Steven Osborne, Peter Donohoe and Graham Johnson.
Among the awards Samuel has received are the Yamaha Asian Music Scholarship Award 2008 and the Champion in the Solo Classical Piano Category of the Roland Piano Festival Competition 2009. While studying at the Conservatoire, Samuel won the Delia Hall Accompanist Prize for Pianists, the John Ireland Solo Piano Prize, and the grand AdvPgDip Course Prize. He was also selected from the Piano Department to receive the Burke Trophy for Piano – Playing and was subsequently offered a full scholarship to study at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary. He was also a finalist in several competitions,including the Birmingham Conservatoire Piano Prize, the Reginald Vincent Lieder Prize, and the Gordon Clinton English Song Prize.
Since his return from the United Kingdom in 2011, Samuel has enjoyed a varied and rewarding music career. He is a collaborative pianist performing in a range of genres, including opera, musical theatre, chamber music, and contemporary music, both locally and internationally. His commitment to higher education in both classical and popular music programmes has been extensive, ranging from curriculum development to programme leadership. He held positions at the University of Malaya, the National Academy of Arts Culture & Heritage, International College of Music, and Sunway University.
Samuel is currently an accredited examiner for the Trinity College London examination board, while also pursuing a doctorate in ethnomusicology at Sunway University. His research interests center on the sociocultural and historical background of the Malaysian Chinese art song. Samuel also contributes to the music community as the pianist and arranger for the National Choir and Genius Seni Koir (children and youth choirs), under the National Department for Culture and Arts (JKKN). His research-creation initiatives involve arranging traditional and children’s songs for the choirs and recording local art songs.