Wong Sun Tat
Erhu Player and Educator & Head of Chinese Music Department, Nanyang Academy of Arts / Singapore
ABOUT
Wong Sun Tat is currently Head of Chinese Instrumental Studies at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). Prior to joining NAFA, he was an Assistant Gao Hu Principal in the Singapore Chinese Orchestra for more than 10 years. Sun Tat graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music, majoring in Erhu. He was the first international student to receive the full government scholarship for a diploma at Chinese Instrumental Department, The Attached Middle School of the Central Conservatory of Music, since the Chinese Economic Reform. Sun Tat has released two personal Erhu recordings, both produced by The Decca Records Company in Taiwan.
In May 2023, he was invited tobe judge of World Erhu Competition by Asian Art Association Singapore.
Performance
Sun Tat has performed in concerts in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan since a tender age. Some of his performances were broadcast on TV and radio. At the age of 8, he was invited to perform with the Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra in a fundraising concert - “The Platinum Super-Star Music Event” at the Hong Kong Stadium. The concert received rave reviews from local media and Sun Tat was dubbed “an Erhu prodigy”. Renowned composer, the late James Wong described him as “graceful and confident” and “a dazzling star” in a concert review titled “The Future Master”, published in his Mingpao column.
At the age of 9, Sun Tat won the First Prize in the Erhu Open Category, Hong Kong School Music Festival with “Ballad of North Henan Province”, being the youngest champion in history. He also won many prizes in other international Erhu competitions in China and Taiwan.
Sun Tat was frequently invited to perform in various prestigious international music festivals and events, collaborating with world renowned Chinese orchestras and symphony orchestras. He also represented Singapore for three years in “Spotlight Singapore”, held in Russia, South Africa and Mexico.
NAFA
Under Sun Tat's guidance, NAFA Chinese Instrumental students have garnered awards at the local National Chinese Music Competitions, as well as other international competitions in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Sun Tat has also overseen exchanges between students of NAFA as well as various music conservatories in China, in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Tianjin, and Xinghai, to much acclaim.