Deaf Pianist Wins Presitigious Young Soloist Award

Cool! A deaf pianist, Yew Choong Cheong, won the 2007 International Young Soloist Award. He performed this amazing classical piano at the Kennedy Center last year about two months ago. I have never heard of him. Not much info about him but I will certainly keep an eye out for this guy.

Watch the video and listen to his amazing piano repertoire. You'll have to listen very hard at the beginning. He starts off quietly and builds into a crescendo and fades, and then some more.

UPDATE: More info.

Pianist Cheong Yew Choong though completely deaf in his right ear and has less than 50%hearing in his left ear, played Fireworks from Preludes Bk II from Claude Debussy and the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 by Franz List like a maestro. His technical mastery of both songs is testimony of his belief that, “If I have the passion (for music), nothing is impossible.”

And here is the rest seen here with chockfull of info about him. He's getting his doctorate at West University Virginia.

Cheong, who is pursuing a doctorate in musical arts in the WVU Division of Music in the College of Creative Arts, studies under the tutelage of Professor Peter Amstutz. He considers the selection -- the first for a WVU student -- a great honor.

“This award is by far the biggest achievement I’ve ever had in my life,” Cheong said. “Receiving this recognition certainly motivates me to keep doing the one thing I love the most, playing piano. I really wish to dedicate this award to everyone with disabilities. Nothing is impossible if they have the necessary passion and perseverance in pursuing their goals.”

Cheong is also a graduate assistant and teaches applied piano to others while assisting with tuning and maintaining the University’s piano inventory. At the Kennedy Center, Cheong will perform “Piano Variations” by Aaron Copland and Franz Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6.”

“It’s a joy to see Yew Choong do so well,” Professor Amstutz said. “This is quite an accomplishment, and it’s especially amazing with his specific circumstances and the challenges he’s overcome. He’s a brilliant student -- both academically and at the piano, and I’m very happy for him.”

Cheong has a form of nerve deafness. He can read lips and carry on a spirited conversation, but his hearing impairment is so severe that he cannot use a telephone. He rents a room from Ed Keller, a professor emeritus in the University’s Department of Biology.

Read the rest at the link above.