By Public, International & Alumni Relations

Third-year Bachelor of Arts (Education) student teacher Mr Benjamin Lim Yi (right) was invited to perform as a soloist to raise funds for the Youth Talent Concert on 1 September 2007 at the Singapore Conference Hall. Proceeds from concert ticket sales were donated to the 32 appointed beneficiaries under President’s Challenge 2007. His major instrument is the Chinese reed pipe mouth organ, the sheng (笙), which he has been playing for a decade.

This concert was themed to be one that featured the Chinese art forms with the aim of nurturing the appreciation of Chinese culture and arts among younger Singaporeans.

"For this performance, I decided to play the famous sheng solo, Kong Que Kai Ping (孔雀开屏) - meaning ‘The Peacock Spreads its Wings’ - with a difference. On this occasion, I worked with a percussionist and we fused the special elements of the sheng and various percussive instruments to bring the operatic style of this piece to the forefront, in an updated and uncommon combination," Mr Lim shares with pride.

Some of Mr Lim’s past musical experiences include representing Singapore in 2006 at an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of Singapore-Japan diplomatic ties in Tokyo. In 2004, he was awarded the second prize in the solo combined category (Sheng, Guanzi, Suona) and first prize in the Ensemble open category of the National Chinese Music competition.

As a Visual and Performing Arts student teacher in NIE, he performed for the International Academic Advisory Panel dinner in February 2007, the International Physics Olympiad for three years, and as a soloist for the opening of Nanyang Technological University’s Confucius Institute. Mr Lim has also been using his semester breaks to further train on the sheng in the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China.